Week in Review
Welcome to Elizabeth May’s parliamentary week in review! This weekly e-newsletter will recap her work in Parliament when the House is in session. At the links below, you can watch videos of Elizabeth’s interventions in the House, keep up with her media releases, and read articles she has written. This newsletter covers Elizabeth’s work from February 3, 2017 to February 10, 2017.
Key Moments in the House
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Speeches
Feb 9 – The Government’s Commitments Regarding Electoral Reform
Debates
Feb 6 – Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation Act (CETA)
Questions
Feb 8 – Question on Government Response to US Travel Ban
Feb 9 – Question on Electoral Reform during Adjournment Proceedings
Feb 11th – National Day of Action on Electoral Reform
The Trudeau government is trying to abandon their promise to upgrade Canada’s voting system ahead of the 2019 election. But we’re not going to let them.
This Saturday, February 11th, join Elizabeth, Fair Vote Canada, and the Every Voter Counts Alliance for a Day of Action against the Liberal reversal on Electoral Reform.
Join us if:
- You think it’s unfair that under our current voting system, a party that receives less than 50% of the votes can hold 100% of the power in Parliament.
- You don’t like that votes in “swing ridings” are more important than votes in “safe ridings.”
- You like that voter turnout is generally higher in countries with proportional representation.
- You like the fact that countries with proportional voting systems have a higher number of female and visible minority legislators.
Here’s what you can do:
1. Sign petition E-616 to ensure that the Liberal government revives the electoral reform debate in the House of Commons.
2. Find your MP on Twitter, and tell them how you feel about Canadian democracy.
3. Hit the streets for the National Day of Action for Electoral Reform on Saturday, February 11.
- To find an event happening in your area, please consult the current list of events on our website here, or the live google doc of events here (where you can also add your own event).
Lyme Disease Update: Draft Framework Online and Open for Comments
On Tuesday, the Public Health Agency of Canada released the Draft Federal Framework on Lyme Disease. You can read it here. The draft framework was written by the Public Health Agency and is the summation of the information gained during the online consultation process of summer 2015 and the conference of spring 2016.
The framework is required to meet the guidelines set out in Elizabeth’s Private Member’s Bill, which include the following:
- the establishment of a national medical surveillance program to use data collected by the Agency to properly track incidence rates and the associated economic costs of Lyme disease;
- the establishment of guidelines regarding the prevention, identification, treatment and management of Lyme disease, and the sharing of best practices throughout Canada; and,
- the creation and distribution of standardized educational materials related to Lyme disease, for use by any public health care provider within Canada, designed to increase national awareness about the disease and enhance its prevention, identification, treatment and management.
We hope that the final federal framework reflects the input of stakeholders, especially patients’ groups, who have been so dedicated to improving the quality of life for all those suffering from Lyme across Canada.
If you can, please comment on the draft federal framework within the 30 day consultation period. You can do so my emailing your comments, by March 8th, 2017, to:
Lyme.Framework.Consultation_Consultation.Cadre.Lyme@phac-aspc.gc.ca
You can also mail your comments, again by March 8th, 2017, to the following address:
Centre for Food-borne, Environmental and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases
Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Branch
Public Health Agency of Canada
130 Colonnade Road
Mail slot 6502A
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0K9
In the News
Saanich News: Electoral Reform Reversal Dissapoints May
The New Yorker: Canadian Scientists Know What to Expect from Trump
Media Updates
Press Conference with Elizabeth and U.S. Energy and Climate Policy Expert Daphne Wysham
Hill Times Article: Canada’s Innovation Agenda – Can Moon Shots Work?
Petitions
- Create a national affordable housing strategy.
- Require labelling of products which contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
- Institute a permanent tanker ban on the entire west coast.
- Address ongoing threat of neonicotinoid insecticides to pollinators.
- Move animal cruelty crimes out of the property section of the Criminal Code.
- Make it clear to the People’s Republic of China that the persecution of practitioners of Falun Dafa and Falun Gong must end.
- Take action to disrupt the shark fin trade, which is endangering many species of sharks globally.
Read the government responses to petitions Elizabeth has introduced here
Committee Briefs
Private Members’ Bills
Elizabeth May has introduced the following bills:
Bill C-269: This bill will abolish mandatory minimum sentences for all crimes of except murder and treason.
Bill C-258: This “Think Small First” bill would require that every new bill introduced in the House undergo an assessment to determine how the bill would impact Canadian small businesses.
Bill C-259: The Open Science Act would require all federal departments to make all publicly funded scientific research available to Canadians on their websites.
For a list of private members’ bills Elizabeth May has seconded, please visit elizabethmaymp.ca
Upcoming Events with Elizabeth May
February 10, 2017 – Join Elizabeth at the Sidney Spring Reading Series feat. Lorna Crozier and Patrick Lane
February 11, 2017 – Join Elizabeth at the Victoria Reform the Vote Rally
February 11, 2017 – Join Elizabeth at this year’s Seedy Saturday on Salt Spring Island