MP Report for Okanagan-Coquihalla for week of October 17th, 2011 (Wheat Board & Forbes)

  This week I am back in Ottawa and the House is again in session after Thanksgiving and a week of activities in the riding. I had a chance to meet with many constituents and also attend a few meetings and events around our region. Some of the topics I heard about from citizens included the Air Canada labour dispute, challenges with immigration and more specifically deportation, and requests for information about current, previous and potentially incoming bills. I have also been asked when certain bills pertaining to specific areas such as the Long Gun registry will be introduced.

This week, aside from continuing debate on already introduced Bills, the legislation to provide marketing freedom to western Canadian wheat and barley farmers will be introduced into Parliament.   Although I have not heard extensively from local citizens on this issue it is expected to involve a fair amount of debate on Parliament Hill.   Also getting underway is debate on some of the Private Member's Bills that have been introduced over the past few weeks including my Bill (C-311) calling for an end to wine prohibition in Canada. There are roughly 12 Private Member's Bills that are expected to have some second reading debate prior to the next break of the House for Remembrance Day. If there is any Bill you would like further information on or would like to see covered in one of my weekly MP reports please do not hesitate to contact me through my Penticton office at 250-770-4480 or toll free at 1-800-665-8711

Some good news for Canada this past week as Forbes Magazine ranked Canada as the best place in the world for business to grown and create jobs. Over the past two years Canada has created over 650,000 net new jobs but as we also witnessed recently in protests around Canada there are still those who are looking for work and we must continue to work on lowering our national unemployment rate.    This week in the House of Commons we will vote to continue to move Bill C-13 forward. I believe this is an important Bill and will help to create more jobs in our region. Although we have much to be thankful for, we must continue to build on the success of our great nation.

During my week back in the riding I could not help but notice the gathering of election signs around our region. In most every community citizens are coming forward to stand for public office. It was only three years ago that I was out doing the same, and again more recently in the Federal election. Running for office takes more than just courage, it also requires volunteers and for many candidates, financial resources as well. Although some people dislike election signs, always remember that each sign represents a fellow citizen who is giving of their time to stand for office in an effort to build a better community. I believe it is a positive sign that many citizens are taking an interest in the local government elections in November and I am hopeful that residents come out and vote in support of this important democratic process.

  

Dan Albas is the Member of Parliament for Okanagan-Coquihalla and can be reached at dan.albas@parl.gc.ca