Couch Potatoes

Originally published on the DaninOttawa.com on June 25, 2011.

I am not sure what is less comfortable- sleeping in your suit or trying to sleep on an uncomfortable couch. However I do know that trying to sleep on an uncomfortable couch in your suit is difficult to do and that is what led me to posting another update for you as sleeping didn’t seem to work for me today.

The debate within the house has now reached the point of coming full circle. Points have been made, positions taken and the lines are drawn. The question that hangs over the house now is how long will this process continue? One day? Two more days? Into next week? However there also comes a point where I believe that we as Parliamentarians have to collectively ask ourselves to what end do we continue and at what cost? The longer we continue to sit at an impasse more and more Canadians will suffer. I have heard from constituents who literally cannot buy groceries or pay bills because the money they are desperately waiting on is in the mail. I have heard from citizens waiting on ashes in an urn for a funeral, another who may have to cancel a wedding, seniors waiting for important medical lab tests results, small business owners that may have to start laying people off.

We must also be careful not  to forget the postal workers as they are impacted as well. I spoke with a gentleman in the riding this morning. They are not getting a full pay cheque and their benefits are suspended. And meanwhile literally thousands of Canadians are sharing with me they are setting up for direct deposit, electronic billing and whatever else they can do to prevent becoming victimized in these labor disputes in the future. None of this is good for our Country nor does it serve the long-term interests of Canada Post.

There is no perfect solution but in the interests of the citizens, who we serve, the taxpayers who pay the bills, we need to get Canada Post working again. The opposition can continue this filibuster as long as they choose, and on the Government side of the house we will stand united to serve the citizen’s who gave us a majority government to move Canada forward during these difficult times. However we must move forward and get Canada Post working again. No solution is without criticism and not all parties will agree but I believe we owe it to our fellow Canadians to minimize the impact this labor dispute is having on their lives. There are citizen’s who are unemployed, and who do not have a pension or a job with six weeks of vacation that are horrified at what is going on in Ottawa right now. We must not forget them, nor the working seniors or the small business employers who are the backbone of our Canadian economy. 

As Parliamentarians I believe we need to be part of the solution and I dare say that we are soon to become part of the problem if we do not recognize that importance of serving the interests of all Canadians as opposed to the interests of a select few.  That is what this debate is really all about.