MPs: Day care a big issue

By Jeff Helsdon Staff Writer

Tillsonburg News — Local MPs were looking forward to the resumption of Parliament in Ottawa Monday.
 
Oxford MP Dave MacKenzie said not a lot happens on the first day except the election of the speaker. He doesn’t believe it will be a session with a lot of controversy. The Throne speech followed Tuesday.

“The last one (first day) was interesting,” he said. “It was the first minority in a long time and took everybody time to get used to.”

“I think it will be an interesting session because there’s a new government,” said Elgin-Middlesex-London MP Joe Preston. “I think we’ll see unprecedented levels of co-operation between the parties. Canadians asked for change and all the parties know that.”

MacKenzie said the party has its top 5 priorities, the first and foremost being the accountability act. MacKenzie expects that to be the first piece of legislation and thinks the other parties will find it difficult not to support it.

“The only people who would vote against it will be those who have something to hide,” Preston said.
 
MacKenzie expected the one per cent cut from the GST, another of the five priorities, to come in the budget.
“At the end of the day it’s what Canadians want,” the Oxford MP said. “Some parties will go through posturing but we’ll find support for that in the House.”

Haldimand-Norfolk MP Diane Finley, the minister of human resources and social development, said her government is solid on it’s campaign platform, but acknowledged the opposition doesn’t agree with all aspects.

In his role as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Public Safety, MacKenzie may have to stand in for Minister Stockwell Day if he is absent during question period. One of the bigger issues facing Day, and also Justice Minister Vic Toews, will be a campaign promise to abolish the gun registry that was part of the justice reform proposals. MacKenzie said he’s not directly involved in those efforts. The pledge also involved increasing enforcement.

“Some of these changes are going to be a little more intricate because we don’t have a majority,” MacKenzie said.

One of the top 5 in the new government is creating more child care spaces and a $1,200 child care allowance for each child under six years of age. As the minister overseeing child care, implementing the program has been one of Finley’s top priorities. If the program receives royal assent, Finley said it will take effect on July 1 and cheques will start going out shortly after that.

Both Liberal and NDP members have voiced opposition to the program, although Finley said in an earlier interview neither would cause the government to fall over the issue.
 
“It’s hard to see any party that would want to deprive parents of this money,” Finley said. “We want to assure they get it.”

She said there is resistance to the subsidy from special interest groups, but she is hearing a lot of support from parents.

“There are some advocacy groups that are in favour of it, but they don’t receive the media attention,” she added.

For Preston, some of the other issues are the port/ferry issues at Port Stanley and Port Burwell. He also wants to try and stop the proposed cutbacks at Ford’s Talbotville plant.

MacKenzie said his government is aware its largest support base is in rural Canada and it will stress rural issues. He said a $500 million commitment for more agriculture spending will be honoured.

At a meeting with Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl last week, MacKenzie said the minister encouraged farmers to attend a rally in Ottawa to raise awareness of their plight.

Finley said one of her personal priorities is help for tobacco farmers. She said she spoke with Strahl frequently on the issue. As yet, there is no target date for the establishment of the forum on the issue the tobacco board has requested. Finley said the minister’s office is trying to determine the process that will be involved and she has been consulted on that regularly.

Preston, who has been appointed the Conservative point man on the tobacco file, said he has also met with Strahl many times on the exit strategy. He doesn’t believe an exit strategy would have to come before Parliament, but said, if it does, it won’t be in the spring session. Preston did say the process would be moving along before the spring session ends.

“It’s a big piece of work but it’s so needed we’re going to make sure it happens,” Preston said.

The other two priorities of the Conservatives top 5 are justice reform and reducing health-care wait times.
MacKenzie said the parties all need to work together to make things happen.

“If we thought Canadians didn’t want to go back to an election the last time, I’m doubly sure they don’t want to now,” he said.

“I think we’ll see unprecedented levels of co-operation between the parties. Canadians asked for change and all the parties know that.”
 
-- Joe Preston