RSVP for events & Monthly round-up
Join us for two in-person events next week and a busy month of
Before jumping in to the monthly update, here are two events you might be interested in next week:
Former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole will join me for a live Uncommons podcast recording on Monday November 25 at 7 pm at Brunswick Bierworks. Tickets are free, but they won’t last much longer. We’ll be talking foreign interference, the current political landscape, and more. RSVP here.
Our local riding association is hosting our annual holiday party on Thursday November 28 from 6-9 pm at Local 1794 on Danforth. This may well be my last big event as the MP with our riding association and volunteers, so I hope to see you there. RSVP here.
Turning to our monthly update, Parliament remains entirely dysfunctional. We have lost almost 30 sitting days to a Conservative filibuster.
Canada isn’t broken, but Parliament currently is.
Parliament has been stalled for almost 30 days. Stalled is putting it politely, actually.
Here's a rundown of why Parliament is currently broken.
You can read my longer rundown of why Parliament is currently so broken. In short: the opposition has ordered that documents be turned over to the RCMP when there is no evidence of criminality, the documents can’t be used by the RCMP anyway, and the order amounts to an abuse of parliamentary process.
I’ve been a little surprised that certain Conservative colleagues have been so quick to jump to character assassination. But then I saw this article that gives an in-depth run down on the centralized and authoritarian approach that Poilievre takes to his own caucus. So it’s no surprise that they are expected to follow dear leader. While I’ve had my frustrations with the Liberal government over the years, I couldn’t operate in a political party that stifles dissent the way Poilievre’s team seems hellbent on doing.
President Trump 2.0
Season 2 of the Oval Office Apprentice has kicked off in even more bizarre fashion than I expected. Reality TV has truly taken over American politics.
On the one hand, I’m thankful that the new US Ambassador to Canada is a serious person.
On the other hand, there’s everyone else. We need to be prepared for what comes next. And I know people like hating on the Prime Minister and Chrystia Freeland these days, but they defended our interests successfully in the first Trump presidency and we need that same Team Canada approach now.
Immigration changes
After high profile Uncommons episodes with Prime Minister Trudeau and Mark Carney last month, we did a deep dive on immigration policy in a two-part series with labour economist Mikal Skuterud and Century Initiative CEO Lisa Lalande.
I like that the Prime Minister is starting to do longer form explainers and he recently posted this one on immigration changes, albeit less wonky and more political:
And if you head over to the Prime Minister’s YouTube channel, you’ll see a familiar face in the banner.
On the Hill
In addition to the Public Accounts committee, I’ve also participated in the Public Safety study on foreign interference.
I asked Lauren Chen what you call a person who accepts $10 million from Russia to run a covert propaganda operation. You can read more about that story here.
There have been plenty of meetings on the Hill, including with canola farmers, family doctors, and students campaigning for human rights and nuclear disarmament.
And it feels like a long time ago now, but there’s always the occasional scrum.
Beaches Santa Claus Parade
Turning to our east end community, we had a great time kicking off the holiday season with the Beaches Santa Claus Parade. Thanks to Community Centre 55 for making it happen (they make many good things happen) and to so many families for coming out for the holiday spirit, warm weather, and candy canes.
It’s a little strange now knowing that each one of these bigger community events will be my last as the MP. I’m reasonably confident I’ll still get to break out my ridiculous yellow suit for the Easter parade, and we’ll see if we get to my red one for Canada Day.
As I told a few constituents during the parade, I wore my all-too-colourful Christmas jacket for the first time in the parade many years ago, before Don Cherry had been cancelled. A week later, he was wearing the same suit jacket. Trend setting.
Remembrance Day and the Ulster Accordion Band
After the 2015 election, the very first official event I attended was for Remembrance Day. I remember looking at the program and wondering who the dignitaries were.
It’s one of the most important roles we play in an official capacity in our communities, representing Canada during Remembrance ceremonies. As usual, I raced from the big ceremony at the Kew Gardens cenotaph to a luncheon at Legion Branch 001/42 to an afternoon march and ceremony at Legion Branch 345 in East York to a smaller indoor ceremony at the Naval Club on Gerrard.
The Ulster Accordion Band is an integral part of Remembrance Day ceremonies in our east end (at Kew Gardens and Legion Branch 11). Since Branch 11 wasn’t able to do its normal service (the building is soon to be under construction), we brought the Ulster Accordion Band to YouTube with a poem called The Poppy, read by Bobby Glencross.
I ended up reading a range of other poetry in the lead up to Remembrance Day and came across this lesser-known poem by the great John McCrae. It’s called Disarmament. And with everything going on in the world (the war in Ukraine recently reached a terrible 1000 day milestone), McCrae’s message of peace is a welcome one.
I hope to see many of you in person next week at either the Uncommons recording with O’Toole or at our riding holiday party. And you can always reach me at info@beynate.ca otherwise.
Nate
You can end the stalemate in Parliament if you want to. It’s not your decision about what is criminal or not. That’s the role of the RCMP. They must be allowed to make that decision. You can make parliament work as soon as you stop trying to cover up those documents. Just do it.