On Parliament Hill

On Monday, as the new session of Parliament began, I had the privilege of officially taking my seat in the House of Commons. Escorting me into the House was the Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada and the Hon. Shelly Glover, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages.

While the constituency work in my Steinbach office has been ongoing since the Provencher by-election in late November, I am pleased to now see the work begin in Ottawa as well.

In addition to representing the people of Provencher in the House of Commons, I have also been asked to serve on the Public Accounts and Canadian Heritage committees. These committees meet twice each week.

The Public Accounts Committee reviews the federal government’s consolidated financial statements and attempts to identify financial shortcomings of the government in light of issues raised in the Auditor General’s report.  The committee then makes recommendations to the government for improvements in spending practices.

The committee focuses on:

• the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of government administration;
• the quality of administrative practices in the delivery of federal programs;
• government’s accountability to Parliament with regard to federal spending.

The second committee that I have been assigned to, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, has the power to review and report on the policies, programs and expenditure plans of the Department of Canadian Heritage and most of the agencies, tribunals and Crown corporations that fall under it. These include: the CBC, CRTC, National Film Board and the Canadian Museum of Human Rights.

This week I was also pleased to make a statement in the House of Commons officially recognizing the emergency crews that worked day and night to restore natural gas to many areas of Provencher after the gas line explosion near Otterburne.

More than four thousand homes and businesses in several municipalities, including my own home, were affected. While many found a warm place to stay with friends, neighbours or extended family, others made use of the emergency warming shelters which were quickly opened.

On Saturday I visited the Hanover Emergency Operations Centre and witnessed the incredible organization behind the scenes. On behalf of myself and the residents of Provencher, I want to commend the emergency personnel who did an outstanding job keeping the public updated on the situation and on the progress being made to restore the flow of natural gas to the homes and businesses affected.

I was proud to see how our communities and emergency crews in Provencher banded together to work through this crisis.