Veterans Affairs Critic visits riding

This week was a busy which saw me host a pair of town hall meetings on veterans’ affairs in Thunder Bay and Fort Frances as the NDP began our push for public consultations on the so-called “Fair Elections Act.”
I was happy to have been joined by a special guest, Peter Stoffer, for our town hall meetings. Peter is the Member of Parliament for Sackville-Eastern Shore and the New Democrat Critic for Veterans Affairs. I can think of no one better to have had at our meetings as Peter has served as our Veterans Critic for 15 years and held 10 different Veterans Affairs Ministers to account over that time. He is a tireless advocate for Canada’s veterans and has worked on every sort of issue faced by active and retired personnel that you can imagine.
The most common concern we heard from those who attended the meetings was related to the various cuts that have occurred to the Veterans Affairs department, including the cutting of direct program funding, the reduction of staff, and the closing of the nine regional offices including our Thunder Bay office. People just don’t believe the Conservatives when they say these cuts will not result in reduced service for Canada’s veterans. It defies basic logic and I would say that the people we spoke with know that they are being misled at best, and taken for fools at worst.
These meeting were one of many for Peter as he is touring the country and talking to Canada’s veterans from coast to coast to coast. When these meeting wrap Peter will brief our caucus on what Canadians, and most importantly Canadian veterans, are saying about these cuts and what policies, action, and leadership they are looking for from the next government in Ottawa.
Aside from meeting with veterans and members of the public this week New Democrats also began our push to have public consultations on the Conservative government’s controversial new ‘Fair Elections Act.’ BIt’s bad enough that this bill that makes it more difficult for hundreds of thousands of Canadians to vote and would change the rules governing elections to help their own party (i.e.: making sure Elections Canada can’t investigate future robocall complaints), but the Harper Conservatives have also shortened the time allotted for debate and limited the number of witnesses that can testify about the impacts of the bill. But hey, you know, it’s only our elections we’re talking about right?

New Democrats think that a bill that fundamentally changes the way elections are held in this country needs a full public debate and to hear from Canadians from all walks of life. Therefore, New Democrat Critic for Democratic and Parliamentary Reform, Craig Scott, has tabled the following motion which will be debated and hopefully passed next week;

“That it be an instruction to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs that, during its consideration of Bill C-23, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act and other Acts and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, the Committee shall: a) hear witnesses from, but not limited to, Elections Canada, political parties as defined under the Canada Elections Act, the Minister of State who introduced the bill, representatives of First Nations, anti-poverty groups, groups representing persons with disabilities, groups representing youth advocates and students, as well as specific groups which have been active in society on elections rules; b) have the power to travel to all regions of Canada, (Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ontario, Northern Ontario, the Prairies, British Columbia and the North), including downtown urban settings, rural and remote settings, and that the Committee request that this travel take place in March and April 2014; and c) only proceed to clause-by-clause consideration of the Bill after these hearings have been completed, with a goal to commence clause-by-clause consideration on Thursday, May 1, 2014.”

So it was a week where I held public meetings locally, while my New Democrat colleagues worked to have public hearings on a proposed new elections bill that restricts the democratic rights of hundreds of thousands of Canadians. I guess if this week had a theme, it would have to be standing up for democracy, which I think was time and effort that was well spent.