January 5, 2016
Life in the 42nd
Parliament of Canada
Parliament is made up of the House of Commons (338 Members –
184 Liberal, 99 Conservative, 44 NDP, 10 Bloc Quebecois, 1 Green), the Senate
(105 Senators – currently 47 Conservative, 29 Liberal, 6 Independent, 1
Independent Conservative and 22 Vacant Seats), Queen Elizabeth II and Governor
General David Johnston.
The House of Commons is an interesting mix of history,
law-making and theatre. When we took our seats on December 3 for the opening of
Canada’s 42nd Parliament I couldn’t help but stop and think of Sir
John A. Macdonald, our first Prime Minister in 1867, and the fact that here in
the House is where Canada was “made” over the last 148 years! What a humbling
experience it is, and what an honor it is to be there representing the 107,589
people who live within the 64,000 sq km Kootenay Columbia riding. My sincere
thanks to the 74% of eligible voters who took the time to vote on October 19 -
it truly is the best way to demonstrate that you care about democracy and the
kind of country that you want Canada to be!
The sitting of Parliament begins with tradition, from the
knock on the door of the House by the Usher of the Black Rod with an invitation
to walk to the Senate to meet with the Governor General to officially open the
session, to the election of the Speaker of the House (Geoff Regan) who gets
reluctantly dragged to the Speaker’s chair by the Prime Minister and the Leader
of the Opposition. The staged reluctance comes from history where legend has it
that in jolly old England if the reigning monarch didn’t like the Speaker’s decisions
it was off with his head!
The next day it was down to business with the reading of the
Liberal government’s Speech from the Throne by the Governor General in the
Senate Chamber, which was then voted on in the House of Commons. While the
Speech included hopeful initiatives that will be good for Canada (as I said
during the campaign there are many similarities between the NDP and the Liberal
Party Platforms) it also led to the first disappointment.
As part of the debate on the Speech from the Throne we proposed
a sub-amendment whose purpose was to benefit “some of Canada’s most vulnerable
citizens, including: Seniors through an increase to the Guaranteed Income
Supplement; middle class families through reducing taxes on the first income
bracket (the approved Liberal’s tax cut for the middle class benefits people
making from $45,000 - $90,000+ – nothing for the lowest income earners); low
income earners by introducing a $15 per hour minimum wage for federally
regulated jobs; and support to those struggling to enter the workforce with a
robust and reliable Employment Insurance program.” Our proposal was voted down
by both the Liberal and Conservative parties.
While Parliament only sat for seven days in December it was
a very busy time with one session finishing just before 8 PM. I was privileged
to be one of the first Members of Parliament to give their maiden speech
(Hansard Volume 148, Number 003, 1st Session, 42nd
Parliament, Monday, December 7, 2015 – Page 76 or go to Youtube link: https://youtu.be/1uo9wkxKCDI ). We are
required to be in our seats in the House for our assigned Duty Days, for all
votes, and for Question Period. The House resumes sitting on January 25 and
goes through until June 23 with a total of 6 weeks off during that period.
I plan on providing you with regular updates but also want
to give you an opportunity to be a part of what happens in Parliament. While
being the 3rd party (we refer to ourselves as the Progressive
Opposition…because it’s true!) limits the number of questions we are able to ask
in Question Period, is there a specific question you would like me to ask the
Liberal government? If yes, please describe the issue and its significance to
the riding and/or Canada, including references and sources, and what the
specific ask is. I will do my best to get it on to the floor.
The second opportunity is longer term. Government Ministers
introduce legislation as they see fit; for the rest of us our names go into a
“hat” for the opportunity to put forward a private member’s bill for consideration
by the House. I was drawn 111th, which means I will be able to table
a bill in 2017 or 2018 as they are done sequentially. While this does seem to
be a long ways away it does take time to draft good legislation and there are
many Members of Parliament who won’t get any opportunity to put forward a bill
during the four years of this session of parliament. What do you think the
priority should be for our riding?
To provide your input or for any other concerns please email
wayne.stetski@parl.gc.ca or phone
250.919.9104. My next update will provide a complete listing of Constituency
office locations and contact information in Ottawa, Nelson and Cranbrook. In
the interim I am continuing my visits to communities around the riding along
with an opportunity for you to book one-on-one meetings. Prior to Christmas I
met with constituents in Elkford, Sparwood, Fernie, Kimberley, Cranbrook and
Nelson, with more to come.
Happy New Year to all – I do hope that 2016 is a great year
for you!
Wayne Stetski
Member of Parliament
Kootenay Columbia
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