Archive for April, 2005

Sometimes, if people just watch the news, all they think that gets done in Ottawa is Question Period: the time when the government gets grilled on the “question of the day.” (The Adscam scandal, has dominated the news recently.) However, a lot of other issues get covered and I thought I’d give everyone a brief look at a couple of things I tackled the week of April 18-22nd.

Agriculture: I joined a group of Conservative MPs seeking intervenor status on the court case in Montana that is keeping the border closed to Canadian cattle. We took this step to try to get the border open to Canadian live cattle exports as soon as possible. We believe the federal government should have taken this step instead of a group of MPs, but since they refused to act, we took action.

SJHL Hockey: The House of Commons gave preliminary approval to legislation that would protect hockey players from being taxed on room and board. I spoke in the House of Commons on behalf of this private members bill.

Do Not Call List: The House of Commons Industry Committee (the Parliamentary committee that I am on) began a study on setting up a Do-Not-Call a list. If implemented, this legislation would allow people to stop unwanted telemarketing calls from disturbing them at home.

These are just a few of the issues that have come up recently. I hope it gives you a better idea of what I’m working on for Saskatoon-Humboldt.

I’m Brad Trost, your Member of Parliament, and I welcome your feedback. Write or call my offices.

The police came looking for me the other day.

Don’t worry, I don’t have unpaid parking tickets or anything of that nature. The Canadian Professional Police Association had their lobby day on Parliament Hill, and I had the privilege of meeting three of Saskatchewan’s finest.

The police want to crack down on criminals. They need the right tools to protect you and me.

The police officers stressed that drugs are getting to be a big problem in Saskatchewan. Crystal Meth houses are springing up all over Saskatoon. Across the city, criminals are producing this harmful drug to addict and ruin people’s lives. Drug dealers put Crystal Meth in marijuana joints to addict their unsuspecting clients. The police officers also stated that rural Saskatchewan is becoming a favorite place for rural marijuana grow-ops.

I told the police that I would oppose any attempt to legalize these harmful drugs. I will fight hard to make sure that criminals actually serve their full sentences in prison. It is time we stop coddling criminals in Canada.

I’m Brad Trost, your Member of Parliament, and I welcome your feedback. Write or call my offices.

Since I’ve been elected MP people have asked me a lot of questions. They have asked questions on policy, questions about government grants, and questions about when the next election will be. However, the most frequently asked question is: What is it like in Ottawa? What do you do in Ottawa? So I thought I would share a bit of a typical day of my life in Ottawa.

8:00-9:00: Arrive in the office. Read and review briefing notes on committee business. This involves reading through bills, reviewing briefs submitted by witnesses, drafting questions to ask witnesses,

9:00-9:30: Discuss with Murray my research assistant future priorities. Typically we discuss: questions to ask the government in question period, positions we intend to take on bills we will be voting on, research we need to do for speeches, plan for newsletters etc.

9:30-12:30: This is the time of day when I do a bit of everything. I write this column, write letters to constituents, I may speak in the House of Commons deal with office administration, and meet with people. I meet with people representing a large variety concerns. Some people I have met with represent paramedics, mining prospectors, Taiwan, agriculture, diabetics, and marketing companies. The list is endless.

12:30-1:00: Lunch, I never miss this.

1:00-2:00 Time open for interviews, meeting constituents, referencing Green Book issues (The Green Book is where all correspondence, invitations, etc. are placed)

2:00-3:00: Question period. This is the daily circus that most people see on TV. It is not the main work of Parliament.

3:30-5:30: Committee work. This is where we study legislation in very specific detail. We call witnesses and debate the bill clause by clause. This is the most important part of legislation; this is where we can fix mistakes the government may make when they first draft the bill.

Evenings: Votes are held in the evenings; some evenings there are receptions to attend and some evenings are spent calling constituents. Debates on emergency issues are always held in the evenings. (We’ve held two on BSE alone.)

So that pretty much sums up a typical day in the House of Commons for me. It is not always the most glamorous, and it can be long but it is the way I represent you the people of Saskatoon Humboldt.

Since January, I’ve completed a few tours of the local coffee shops to try to get a feeling of what’s important to people all over the riding. You may have seen some of these tours advertised in the papers and on radio, as they had set times. Other visits have been much more informal. I have tried to do this to keep up with what’s important in Saskatchewan rather than what’s up in Ottawa. So here’s a report of the issues and concerns that people brought up to me.

At the end of January, the provincial government had just announced its brand new smoking policy in regards to bars, hotels, etc. I had not really been following the debate. Being in Ottawa, I hadn’t thought it was that important. I sure was wrong. People brought this issue up to me all over the constituency. There were two major concerns: First, a lot of people were worried about the effect on businesses, particularly rural hotels and bars. Secondly, there was a lot of concern that the Aboriginal-run casinos were getting special privileges. A considerable number of people made a very valid point: What’s fair for one should be fair for all.

Another big item of concern that I heard about was the marriage issue. Almost everyone who spoke to me was opposed to the government reinventing the definition marriage. Most of you already knew that I had spoken out on the issue, but for the few who weren’t sure, I re-stated my steadfast opposition to “gay marriage.”

The continual problems with agriculture were also a main concern — particularly the U.S. border closure to live cattle. Everyone was still wondering when (and some were wondering if) the U.S. would open the border. It was agreed that despite all the government announcements, not a lot of money was getting to the people who were really hurting.

I really appreciated people giving me their input on these issues. It helps me to focus my efforts for you in my job as your MP.

I’m Brad Trost, your Member of Parliament. I welcome your feedback. Write or call my offices.