Evidence of meeting #55 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was opposition.
A video is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Vance Badawey Liberal Niagara Centre, ON
On a point of order, Mr. Chair, can I ask for the committee's consent to speak, please?
Liberal
Vance Badawey Liberal Niagara Centre, ON
David, I think you need a drink, and maybe a possible rest.
NDP
David Christopherson NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
—it's uncharacteristic so far from the government benches, but I'll take you at your word, Vance.
NDP
David Christopherson NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
Sure, please go ahead.
But I have the right to yank it back if he jerks me around.
Liberal
Vance Badawey Liberal Niagara Centre, ON
Thank you, David, and thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I just want to say a few words. It was me who spoke earlier about the constituency and, of course, the work that's so important. Quite frankly, I've always been a great believer that most of our work, if not all of our work, is most important when we're actually working in our constituencies.
I know that Friday coming, for example, if I have the opportunity, which it doesn't look like I will have, to go back to my constituency, I would have a schedule between eight in the morning until 10 at night. I would have everything from meeting with a constituent at nine o'clock in the morning, to meeting with the Niagara cricket organization at 10 o'clock in the morning, to meeting with Hockey Canada at 11 o'clock in the morning, to meeting with the retirement association, CARP, to talk about health care and to talk about different issues that they're dealing with on a regular basis at noon, to meeting with government relations officers from different organizations at 1 p.m., to meeting with Tommy Frew.
You have to hear this, David. This is really neat. Tommy Frew wants to be the youngest rookie to play in the NHL. He's older. He went through some challenging times health-wise when he was a teenager. Now Tommy is looking at being the youngest rookie to play in the NHL. He wants to raise money but also awareness for those who are playing sports who might run into a health problem early on, and from there they could get support, whether it be from the NHL, Major League Baseball, the NFL, and different sports organizations. I have to give Tommy a shout-out because we're hoping that he does accomplish what he's set out to do.
Then, of course, I lead into the evening, when I would be giving out awards to local sports organizations in Welland and possibly other communities.
How important it is, working with you folks as well, to look at the opportunity to get back to our constituencies at least one day a week, besides the one week a month that we get. Once again, I personally feel, as I'm sure many do throughout the House, that it's important to get back to our constituencies as much as we can to do the work that we're best at doing.
I also have to say to the committee, and it was mentioned earlier by David, that it was something that we campaigned on. There's no question that we campaigned on giving Canadians a voice in Ottawa. This is exactly what we're trying to do, give them a voice in Ottawa by getting back to our constituencies, listening, learning, and hopefully reacting accordingly, working together, as we mentioned, from the onset, working together with three or five parties to really get some of these changes made. Of course, how palatable it would be—not just for us—ultimately all boils down to the resident, the citizen, the people we represent on a regular basis.
I have to say this. Today was a perfect example in the House when we listened to the Prime Minister speak and answer every question. This is something we want to institute in Standing Orders, because although it may be a habit that we can get into during this session, we want to ensure that in future sessions down the road—it could be 10, 15, 20 years down the road—our future prime ministers also hold to that Standing Order as well, and that they take the time, not only to spend days in the House, every day answering questions, but at least one day to answer every question given to them. We think that's important as well.
Not to be repetitive, Mr. Christopherson wanted to mention it, and it was me who threw it out earlier about the constituencies. Like I said, and not to be repetitive, I'm a first-time MP. I'm a former mayor, and being a mayor, you're in the grocery store, you're at the hockey arena, you're at the ball fields, you're walking down the sidewalks, and you see people every day. Every day you see people, and they tell you about their problems, the potholes in the streets, the sidewalks, the soccer fields, the challenges that they're having on a daily basis.
Being up in Ottawa now as a rookie MP, I don't get that, because we're up here in Ottawa a lot. It's nice to get back and hear what I used to hear when I was a mayor for those 14 years—actually 17, as I was on council as a city councillor as well. It was nice to hear those thoughts again, to hear what Canadians have to say, and bringing their voices back here is imperative.
As one idea, get back to our constituencies at least that one day a week so we can spend that eight in the morning until 10 at night, yes, at events, but quite frankly listening to folks speak and ensuring that we can bring their voices back here.
If I may, Mr. Arnold, as you mentioned earlier, to take advantage of that courtesy that this committee allows our members—and to Mr. Doherty, too—I have to give you my full appreciation for that courtesy. I do make those comments. I would hope that while we're moving forward, we'll keep those in mind.
Thank you.
Conservative
Todd Doherty Conservative Cariboo—Prince George, BC
Yes, Mr. Chair.
You know, I respect all of our colleagues' comments and feedback. While I can't speak for other MPs, I can tell you that I have, without a doubt, probably one of the longest travel schedules. I still am here on Fridays. I do my very best to be here for afternoons and QP, and then I do head home. I'm home Fridays. I leave earlier if I have an event on a Friday evening.
I'll put this in B.C. time, because that's ultimately what I'm going back to. I leave my apartment at 3 a.m. I'm on the plane at 6 a.m. I arrive back into my constituency anytime between 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday. This is all B.C. time. Then I go to my events for the evening and spend Saturdays in my riding.
Again, forgive me, Mr. Chair, because I don't mean to put alternate facts out there, but I think I probably have one of the largest ridings as well. It may not be the largest riding, but I can go 1,700 kilometres for one meeting. To give you an example, last riding week I put anywhere from 2,800 kilometres to what have you on my truck. Last year I put in over 200,000 air miles.
To Mr. Badawey's comments, I think it's very important that we are the voice of our constituents. I've had the opportunity to travel with Mr. Badawey. I really respect what he's saying. I think all levels of government, all levels of elected officials, have value, and I think we all do valuable work. But to that point, I think we know what we're getting into when we put our name forward.
I know that western MPs have the highest level of divorce in Parliament. Therefore, I've always maintained that my wife, or, when I can, my children, will come out and spend time with me. I think we have an incredibly valuable program here within Parliament, which is the parliamentary spouses program. Our spouses have an opportunity to actually be part of our journey and part of the process. My wife, Kelly, comes out here with me.
I get emotional just thinking about it. I'm a softie.
Conservative
Todd Doherty Conservative Cariboo—Prince George, BC
Even if it's just a matter of 10 minutes in the evening, I have an opportunity to just say hello to my wife and see how things are, even if it's just as I get into my apartment at 11 o'clock at night.
I think we talked about this on the last trip, Mr. Chair, so I'll indulge you.
I'm a workaholic by nature. That's just what I do, whether it's this job or the previous jobs I've been in. It's just the way I'm wired. I don't sleep much at night. I'm in my office. Mr. Arnold can attest that he gets emails from me. My staff, who are listening in, get emails from me at all hours of the night. It's just who I am and the way I am. I'm in my office usually no later than seven o'clock, regardless of what time I got in. Usually it's actually quite a bit earlier than that. Usually I leave my office late in the evening because, again, when the House adjourns it's still business hours back in British Columbia. We find a way to adapt our schedule here.
While I appreciate the comments about being in the soccer fields, the baseball fields, and the grocery stores, the point I'm offering in this brief intervention is that I still manage to do that. I'm still a valuable member of our community. I think my community sees me.... Well, they see me every weekend. I'm still able to manage to celebrate successes, mourn the loss of family members, take in the events that matter the most, and still be present to hear our constituents.
The point I'm trying to make through this intervention is that we knew what we were getting into. We know there's a sacrifice. The greatest honour we have is serving our country. When I signed the book when we were sworn in, when I was given the pin, and knowing the volunteers who put in the hours to get me where I was, the sacrifices of those who came before us in these halls, and the honour to sit in the House with the 337 other members of Parliament....
There are always times we have a debate, argue, and heckle back and forth. It's always good-natured. I always tell people—and this might even be your quote, Mr. Badawey—that politics are for QP and elections. What people see on QP isn't really what happens all the time. We work very collegially and collaboratively behind the scenes.
Again, going back to what I was saying, it is a great honour to be a member of Parliament. We know that with honour comes sacrifice. It's our duty to do whatever we can to still manage to be the loudest voice of our constituents that we can, and represent them as truly and as a strongly as we can. Where do we do that? We do that here in Ottawa. That's what my constituents expect of me. They work Monday to Friday and they work 60 to 80 hours a week. It sends the wrong message if.... They still know that we travel. We still have to travel, but if we took a Friday off, I'm still travelling. I'd have to leave Thursday instead, which means I'm here for three days.
My intervention is obviously about me, but I'm just using that as an example about my travel schedule. It is a 12- to 15-hour day on top of what we put in when we're here. I'm not complaining. I love every single minute of what we do. Are there frustrating times? Absolutely. Is this part of it, where we...?
The strongest message that we as parliamentarians have given over the last while since we've been in here, honestly, is the votes on the private members' bills, and mine was one of them where we stood at 284; and what we did today—283, 284—when we stood together, and when we saw the backbench from the government stand up, vote their conscience, and vote what was right. It sent a message to Canadians. If we can do that more often, we don't need electoral reform. I'm telling you, we have the voice of our constituents. We're doing it.
Mr. Chair, you're signalling me to wrap up, so I'll keep it at that. My point with Mr. Badawey is that, as western MPs, we have that travel anyway. I knew exactly what I was going to be in for. I adjusted. I never let my personal life interfere with my business life, and when I'm not at work, I invest in my family.
It took me a long time to learn that. I'm not perfect, but I'm doing everything in my power to make sure that my family is part of this. I think we all need to do that. I think it sends the wrong message when we talk about Fridays and taking Fridays off.
I'll leave the rest of that to when I hopefully get a chance to speak. Respectfully, I just wanted to comment on that.
Liberal
Liberal
Alexandra Mendes Liberal Brossard—Saint-Lambert, QC
Thank you so much.
Get your earpieces on, because I'm going to speak French. Apparently nobody else is, so I will do a little bit of French to get our interpreters some work.
First of all, thank you for the opportunity to share my view, Mr. Chair.
I would actually like to expand on Mr. Doherty's comments.
Indeed, I think we all know what we're getting into when we enter federal politics. At least, I hope we all have some vague idea. It is quite different from politics at the municipal, school, or even provincial level. I'm one of the lucky members, because my riding is just two hours away. A two-hour drive and I'm home. I really have nothing to complain about, so my situation shouldn't serve as the reference point.
Instead, I want to echo the sentiments expressed by my colleague about what an honour it is to be elected and to work here, in the House. I consider our work as lawmakers extremely important. It is just as important as the work we do with our constituents, if not more. We bear the enormous responsibility of passing legislation for the entire country, and I believe that has to happen here, in the seat of our federal Parliament. That is not something we could ever do from our ridings. In that sense, I don't entirely agree with my colleagues. That said, I think we play a very important role.
Is there a way to fulfill that role in a more productive manner? Absolutely, I believe so. Many of the suggestions put forward by the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons are therefore worthy of serious consideration. In fact, I think they will make our lives easier and improve our experience in Parliament. I would not stop with the measure that deals with Friday sittings. Many other proposals are worth considering, in my view. We should not stop with the Friday measure.
I would like to conclude by saying that being a parliamentarian is a tremendous honour, one I hope to have for some time to come.
Thank you very much.
