Entries Tagged 'Election 2006' ↓

Actually had a few things to share with you tonight, but I am in a small town where the phone line cannot hold a connection and I’m stuck here typing with my thumbs.

Alas, Blackberries were never made for blogging so I will put my digits out of their misery and pick this up in the morning.

In case you were wondering, I am apparently still in caucus! Wonders never cease.

So, it’s off to Ottawa for a couple of days of national caucuses. This comes against a background of bloodshed today in Montreal and the inevitable anti-gun sentiment that will raise in Quebec. It also comes as Canadian troops struggle to stay on top of an increasingly overwhelming task in Afghanistan, and as we muster more fighters and, now, tanks.

Caucus happens just a few days before an expected confidence vote on a softwood lumber deal most Canadians have slept through. It also sets the scene for a same-sex marriage vote everybody has an opinion on, which I hear will take place a week from Monday. Not a second too soon for this weary MP, I’ll tell ya.

The PMO has surprisingly planned a “PM rally” for Friday at noon, even cutting short our national caucus in order to squeeze it in, down the street at the Chateau Laurier Hotel. The guys running this shop just never cease to amaze me at how they have so quickly converted lawmakers into pom-pom twizzlers.

(Thursday afternoon news flash: The PM rally has been cancelled – wisely – after the events of yesterday.)

And our meetings will also kick off a session that could see a government-rattling showdown with the Lib-dominated Senate over the accountability Act; Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s pre-budget schmoozing; Environment Minister Rona Ambrose’s eagerly-awaited this-is-not-Kyoto green plan; and the jewel event of the autumn – the October 3rd National Conference on pension-splitting, hosted by two million seniors and me.

But, seriously (actually, I was serious), this reconvening of the House of Commons, leading up to the selection of the new Liberal leader and laden with issues unrelated to Harper’s five election priorities will be a true test of the neo-Conservatives. The PM has a lot of files to juggle, any three or four of which could cause serious electoral challenges. The polls are squishy right now, and the opposition is nothing less than a gathering storm. The Government whip is about to incarcerate the entire caucus for expected votes and the party leadership is well aware there is at least one giant issue that even Ian Brodie and Sandra Buckler can’t control, over there outside Kadhahar.

Meanwhile everybody in Ottawa has been in semi-election mode since the last federal vote, especially me. I have now been through two nomination contests and a federal campaign in the last 15 months. As a consequence, I have boots on the ground all over Halton and a leadership team itching to field test their new smart weapons.

But personally I have no desire to see another federal election anytime soon. I did not run to be elected, to run to be elected again. Instead, I went through this crap (three times now) in order to fight for middle class tax relief, property rights, income-splitting, better retirement strategies, less government and a political agenda that puts voters first for a change, not last.

And, yeah, I am hardly there yet. I’ve lobbied my shorts off with Flaherty, giving him that 68-page report containing 11 major budget recommendations. I have organized this Parliament Hill conference on pension-splitting, paving the way for a total assault on family income-splitting. I’ve created this interactive web site and launched a video service, MPtv, to try and bring Parliament closer to the people. I’ve spoken out on middle-class issues, like spending tens of millions shipping former Canadian residents halfway around the world, and shamelessly giving MPs money to subsidize their mortgages. And I stuck with my principles, saying it was wrong to put people in Cabinet who were never elected to be members of the governing party. The voters should pick our leaders. Period.

And I am just getting revved up.

So, PM rally or no PM rally; election readiness or not; confidence vote or no vote; caucus cheers or opposition jeers, I just want to be an MP a while longer. It’s what I was elected to do, what the people intended and I am part of a Parliament that the Canadian people put on a lease.

So, sit!

Worth watching.

One reason we’re in Afghanistan: Justice.

And, thank you.