A New Year and a New Committee

Originally published on the DaninOttawa.com site on February 9th, 2012.

The House of Commons resumed session a few weeks back and for many of us MP’s that also created a fair amount of change to adjust to. One of the first changes at least on the Government side is a new house duty rotation schedule, also followed up by a change in the meeting schedule for the majority of our Parliamentary Standing Committee’s  and in some cases even the membership on Standing Committees has also been changed. For me this has basically meant an entirely new schedule on a day to day basis from my routine was like prior to the winter break.

One very exciting development for me was being named to serve as a Member of the Standing Committee of the Status Of Women. I am the lone male on this twelve member committee that is chaired by Opposition MP Irene Mathyssen who is from London-Fanshawe. Although I am still very new to this Committee I can relay that some of the important issues we are studying include abuse of older women and also violence against aboriginal women. These are issues that occur across our country.

My responsibilities on the Joint Scrutiny of Regulations Committee have also been increased and I remain actively part of the BC Caucus as well. It is a new  dynamic starting off in 2012 with a steep learning curve and another hectic schedule to sort out, however I am also excited at the prospect of spending time on a new committee and gaining more insight on Parliamentary affairs from an Ottawa perspective.