Moves like molasses?

Originally published on the DaninOttawa.com site on June 14th, 2012.


This is not our first all nighter in the 41st Parliament and I suspect it may not be our last. “All nighters” are part of the Parliamentary tradition in the House of Commons when Government and the Opposition decide to vigorously disagree on an issue.

What is relatively new is the ability for Members of Parliament to be in the House during these marathons all night session and to hear from constituents on a real-time basis. I first discovered this interesting revelation during last year’s all night sessions as we worked diligently to get Canada Post working again for the benefit of Canadians during the labour challenges.

In the wee hours of the morning there is a segment of our population who is active and engaged. In some cases through the requirements of employment and in others simply the time of day they most enjoy. From the surprising amount of people I heard from, they appeared to welcome Members of Parliament joining in on the exclusive club of post midnight activities that occur before sunrise. I enjoyed hearing from a surprising number of people and appreciated many of the comments that were passed on to me.

It is currently roughly 3 AM here in Ottawa and votes are fast and furious with many, many more to go. Within the past hour I have started to receive some interesting comments from many different observers. One comment I noticed came from an individual who uses a stopwatch. According to the “stopwatch”, I am told that the opposition takes almost twice as long  to vote while the Government, in spite of having larger numbers, continues to vote with energy and enthusiasm in roughly half the amount of time.

Is this true? Is this on purpose? It was interesting to hear that some citizens have taken the time to pass on such comments. I have also heard from many citizens who participated in tonight’s massively popular BC “Free My Grapes” winechat on Twitter and of comments about Bill C-38, with some strongly in favour and others very much opposed.

I do appreciate hearing from so many of you in these wee hours of the morning and hope to share coffee with you at some point in the future.