Peggy Revell
A bill to protect pensions was the centrepiece of 2010 for Thunder Bay Rainy-River MP John Rafferty—and will continue to be a focal point for his efforts heading into 2011.
“It’s still a struggle, but introducing that bill to protect the pensions of millions of Canadian families, I think, is certainly one of the highlights of my past year,” said Rafferty.
“C-501 is still front and centre,” he stressed. “We have one more day of hearings in the committee that will be in February, I hope, and then we’ll get the bill back to the House for another vote and send it to the Senate.
“Hopefully, the bill is acceptable to senators and becomes law.
“So this could be a very, very big year for this bill, so I’m quite excited about that,” he added.
Meanwhile, Rafferty admitted he’s “torn” when it comes to the possibility of an federal election in 2011.
“While I would like to see this government changed, I’d also like to see my pension bill get through—because, of course, if there’s an election, my bill dies,” he explained.
“And then I’d have to start all over again.”
In speaking with people across the riding, Rafferty said he’s getting that most are ambivalent about having an election.
“Some say they’d like to change the government [but] I’m not entirely sure that would happen if there were an election held right now,” he admitted.
“This spring period is going to be a very interesting one,” Rafferty added, noting that assuming there isn’t an election, it will be “very good” for his pension bill.
Rafferty said the danger facing his bill comes not from the House of Commons but from the Senate—pointing to Thunder Bay-Superior North MP Bruce Hyer’s climate change bill which the upper chamber refused to pass even though it passed in the House.
“There are all kinds of roadblocks still,” he warned, though stressing he and his staff are working hard to move C-501 forward.
Rafferty said another one of his accomplishments this past year has been “putting Northwestern Ontario on the map.”
“Every time I’ve stood up in the House, I’ll talk about Fort Frances and Thunder Bay and Rainy River and Atikokan, and I don’t think there’s one MP there who doesn’t know about Thunder Bay or Rainy River,” he remarked.
The past year also has been spent working hard to keep the “lines of communication open,” and build relationships with government members and ministers, Rafferty added.
Looking forward, Rafferty said there were signs that “we’re going to see a little more strength in the [forestry] industry.”
But it’s also likely Canada will face a number of lumber disputes in the upcoming year, predicted Rafferty, who is the NDP’s critic for forestry.
“So I’ll be front and centre letting the government know that we can’t be bullied, and we shouldn’t be bullied as a country, on these sorts of disputes because they’re sort of endless,” he said, pointing out the lumber and forest product lobby in the U.S. is “very, very strong and very well-funded” and has a lot of influence on Capitol Hill in Washington.
So for the upcoming year, Rafferty said he will be pushing the federal government to deal with these disputes in the “proper manner,” and also look towards establishing more markets outside of the U.S. for Canadian lumber and forest products.
Rafferty also extended a thank-you to his constituents for their support over the past year, including those who have taken the time to fill out surveys sent out or contact him about any concerns they may have.
“That’s great for me because although I have things that I pursue as part of my critic duties, or things that I know need to be done on behalf of the constituents of the riding, there’s still other things that come to the fore that people are concerned about,” he said, citing the two bills on fetal alcohol syndrome he tabled this past year.
“Those ideas come directly from constituents, and I really appreciate when people take the effort and take the time to let me know that these are the sort of things that they’re concerned about, and can I do anything about them,” he added.
