One of the things I really enjoy about my job as your federal representative is taking part in community events. I must congratulate the many volunteers who work so hard to create opportunities that bring people together in united cause. Whenever I attend events such as the Osoyoos Volunteer Awards, Transition Nelson, the world premiere of a film about the Siniixt called ‘Bringing Home the Bones’, the Grand Forks Agricultural Society’s AGM, the re-opening ceremony of the Brilliant Bridge, it brings home to me how rich we are in community spirit.
In addition to assisting people on a daily basis with immigration, EI, Canada Revenue, student loan and other issues, my staff and I work closely with local and provincial representatives on key issues. The ill-conceived stimulus-spending to widen the highways both in the Nelson and the Oliver /Osoyoos corridor caused much concern locally, and my efforts to try to reach an accommodation for local fruit stand owners along Hwy 97 met with some success. When Oliver was hit hard by the enormous mudslide, I again met with local constituents and carried their concerns forward to the federal government to try and solicit a fair and adequate compensation for damages to crops, farmland, businesses and residences.
Despite the sideshows and shenanigans that took place in the last session of Parliament I am pleased to say that none of it affected the important and relevant work my caucus colleagues and I were able to achieve. Months after Canada’s embarrassing performance at the Copenhagen conference, our New Democrat Climate Change Accountability Act was passed by the House of Commons – setting firm targets for real action on the environment. And among other things we passed a motion in the House of Commons demanding that any future prorogation longer than seven days be first approved by a majority of MP’s.
A special highlight for me was the release of the report on my “Food For Thought” tour. After two years of work and visits to twenty-eight communities, we have provided a blue-print that may now form part of the discussion towards the development of a Canadian Food Policy.
Another highlight for me was being successful in advancing my private member’s bill C-474, which deals with the economic impact of genetically engineered seeds and crops. The bill is currently at the Committee stage, and will come back to the House of Commons for third reading and final vote in the late fall.
Instead of working alongside the democratic and legitimate efforts of the United Nations to solve the myriad of crises facing all countries, we saw our Prime Minister spend over a billion dollars, mostly on a failed security strategy, to host an exclusive gathering, in downtown Toronto, of G8/G20 leaders who actually work to undermine those efforts. At the end of these provocative summits we were left with trashed storefronts, a tarnished democracy and the promise of deep cuts to our treasured social programs. In other words, we must all pay for the actions of the global financial institutes responsible for bringing the world to its knees. And despite the overwhelming evidence that free trade has had a negative influence on Canadian manufacturing, agriculture, forestry and public sectors, we are told there is no other choice but to have more of it.
I invite you to visit my website regularly for information on upcoming town hall meetings, Disability tax information sessions and other events I will be hosting this fall.
I hope you are managing to enjoy a relaxing summer.