Friday, January 8, 2010

MP defends extended break -- By Richard Rolke (with my comments in red)

Okanagan-Shuswap MP Colin Mayes doesn’t believe the suspension of Parliament is a big deal for constituents.
I wonder how the employers of those constituents would react if the constituents decided to take a month of paid absence from their jobs. Giving up a month's wages by the MLA's may appease the electorate somewhat!
He says he was received no feedback since Prime Minister Stephen Harper prorogued the House until March 3. They were supposed to head back to Ottawa Jan. 25 after the Christmas break.

“Most of them don’t even know about it,” he said of local residents.
Perhaps if Mr Mays included that bit of news in his last message to his constituents they would know about it.
“People don’t pay attention to the national media. They pay attention more to what’s written locally.”
Don’t get your hopes up Mr Mays, after this news article people will start paying even more attention!
Mayes added that Okanagan-Shuswap residents are also concerned about the economy and not political maneuvering by the opposition parties.

Mayes denies that Harper’s actions go against parliamentary procedure and are an attempt to avoid debate over its policies.

“We have been a very transparent government,” he said.
Really??
“As an example, we’ve been doing quarterly reports on the Afghan mission and letting people know what’s going on there.”
That is not what Richard Colvin testified to in front of the House of Commons Committee. Here is an excerpt of his testimony:
He said unlike the British and Dutch, Canada did not monitor their conditions; took days, weeks or months to notify the Red Cross; kept poor records; and to prevent scrutiny, the Canadian Forces leadership concealed this behind "walls of secrecy."

"As I learned more about our detainee practices, I came to a conclusion they were contrary to Canada's values, contrary to Canada's interests, contrary to Canada's official policies and also contrary to international law. That is, they were un-Canadian, counterproductive and probably illegal...”
(CBC News)
Some critics have suggested the Conservative government wanted Parliament suspended so a committee would stop looking into the alleged torture of Afghan detainees. Mayes disagrees and says the issue has not been raised by constituents.

“It’s not an issue with Canadians and they have confidence that our forces abide by the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners,” he said.

Mayes says there is also a practical reason for suspending Parliament given that the Conservatives don’t have a majority of the seats.

“The Olympics are a great celebration and it would be a real conflict for MP's to be there in a minority situation,” he said, adding that could lead to the opposition having more MP's present in Ottawa.

See earlier comments.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I can think of no greater embarrassment to this region than Colin Mayes. His arrogance, his apathy and continual insults directed at his constituents should have people really concerned about this man. Yet, he always musters up enough support to win landslide election victories. The man has done nothing for the region and is simply lining up to the trough for his hefty pension. I don't have high blood pressure, but it certainly goes up whenever I read any of the drivel that he spews or see his phony mug in our local papers.

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I have been a resident of Coldstream since 1976. I have had 15 years of experience on Council, 3 years as Mayor. As a current Councillor I am working to achieve fair water and sewer rates and to ensure that taxpayers get fair treatment. The current direction regarding water supply is unsustainable and I am doing all I can to get the most cost effective water supply possible.