CRESCIA: House of Commons irrelevant to how Canadians are represented

Once in your life, you need to go to Parliament and see your government at work.Once is probably enough. You will find what goes on there of no relevance to you or what you do. Let me explain.Last month, I made the trip, and went to Question Period in the House of Commons... QP.The experience was dominated by theatrics and devoid of substance. The debating sessions were monopolized by woke issues that the Liberals and NDP support, ranging from CBC funding, indigenous communities without drinking water, systemic racism, animal rights and women’s rights while Conservatives focused on cutting the HST from new home purchases and protecting Canadians from political discrimination. Official business in the House has been paralyzed as the Green Slush fund scandal unfolds but just like in the circus, the show must go on..Green slush fund execs still eyeing bonuses despite grinding parliament to a halt for weeks.The prime minister meanwhile, appeared glum as he battled a palace coup with twenty-four MPs presenting him with a resignation letter. His Housing Minister Sean Fraser, full of energy, stepped up and went after Pierre Poilievre on housing: "Mr. Speaker, I sometimes ask myself where they found this guy. He twists the facts to suit his narrative whenever he wants. It is almost as though the Conservative Party, when looking for a new leader, hopped on Temu and typed in “far-right Conservative”, so it spat this guy out. He opposes investments in affordable housing. He borrows lessons from his cousins south of the border when he opposes birth control for women. During the January 6 of Canada, convoy, he was not only telling people to stand by, but he was also bringing them coffee in the streets. It might be election season in America, but we do not need this far-right, right-wing populism here at home." Pierre Poilievre, looking sharp and prepared, hit back hard: "Mr. Speaker, speaking of leadership contestants, the member must be so uptight and angry because the polling shows that, though Canadians want to fire the prime minister, the housing minister ranks dead last in the polls to replace him. Why would he not? This is the guy who lost track of a million people when he was immigration minister. He ignored warnings from his own department that letting in 200% more people would cause a housing shortage, and his own government spent the last week trashing his entire immigration record. How can arrogance and incompetence so comfortably reside in one man?”The Liberals and NDP repeatedly spoke about women's rights and Trudeau came to life discussing abortion: "Mr. Speaker, my daughter is in the gallery today, so I wanted her to hear me as long as everyone else does. This government is unequivocally pro-choice. We will always defend a woman's right to choose, full stop. That is why we have pulled back funding from provinces that have not been delivering access to abortion in their jurisdictions and why we will continue to enforce the Canada Health Act. It is the Conservative Party, with its dangerous attack on women's rights, that should have people worried right across the country. At a time when we have seen Roe v. Wade overturned and attacks on women's rights, the Conservative leader cannot stand up to defend women's rights," beamed Trudeau.Unlike his predecessor, Erin O’Toole who was afraid to stand up to Trudeau, Poilievre attacks Liberal hypocrisy:"We stand up for women's rights every day on this side. It has been our 20-year-long policy in the Conservative Party that there will be no restrictions on women's reproductive choices or on abortion. Mr. Speaker, speaking of women's rights, just yesterday, the Prime Minister's former parliamentary secretary, Celina Caesar-Chavannes, came out publicly and said that she was abused, intimidated, and mistreated by this Prime Minister, and that he used her for his fake feminist agenda, and that he treated her like garbage."When NDP leader Jagmeet Singh spoke, it was an exercise in Orwellian doublespeak as he accused the Conservatives of disrespecting women’s rights, railed against corporate greed, and criticized the Liberals while continuing to prop up the government. His MP Laurel Collins went on a rant about abortion,” Mr. Speaker, it is our body, our lives, our choice. Abortion care is health care, but the Liberals keep letting Conservative premiers erode access, while these Conservatives creep anti-choice legislation into Canada." Both the Liberals and NDP are making abortion a top issue. Trudeau referenced the US Supreme Court decision Roe Versus Wade which has nothing to do with Canada. Canada is one of the few countries in the world that offers abortion rights to the point of a baby being born. In their desperation, the Liberals are importing fear from the US and want to make abortion a wedge issue in the next election. November is known as Movember when men worldwide grow a mustache to create awareness of men’s health issues. Canadian politicians pay little attention to men's health. The harsh reality is that for the past two decades, male suicide has been double that of women. Out of the 4,500 yearly suicides, three-quarters are male. Seventy-two percent of drug deaths are male. Men are 2.7 times less likely to seek mental health services than women. Eighty-two percent of young men between 18 and 21 are not attending university and not developing the skills needed for a changing marketplace where work in fields like manufacturing, farming, and oil and gas industries continue to decline. In sum, the Angus Reid Institute surveyed Canadians to describe what comes to mind when they think of parliamentary exchanges in the House of Commons: 54 percent said posturing, 46 percent said useless, and 38 percent said dishonest. I would simply add 'irrelevant.' as the House muzzles its MPs Under the current House rules, MPs are muzzled. At its best, the House debating sessions hold the government accountable for its policies and keep ministers on their toes. However, most MPs don’t get a chance to speak due to party lists that must be approved in advance about who can speak and what they can speak about and MPs cannot vote freely. Thus, important issues like men’s health and matters of war and peace are not debated because MPs don't have the freedom to speak about what's important to their constituents. The question period needs reform, more free speech, and less political correctness to regain the trust of Canadians.

CRESCIA: House of Commons irrelevant to how Canadians are represented

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