Week in Review
February 17, 2017
Welcome to Elizabeth May’s parliamentary week in review! This weekly e-newsletter recaps 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 10, 2017 to February 17, 2017.
Key Moments in the House
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Debates
Feb 14 – Addressing the Opioid Crisis while Protecting Civil Liberties
Feb 16 – Motion M-103 and the Disinformation Surrounding It
Questions
Feb 15 – Question on the Delay in Implementing Lindsey’s Law
Update on Electoral Reform
On February 11, Canadians joined rallies in cities from coast to coast to demand that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau honour his promise on electoral reform.
Elizabeth spoke at the Reform the Vote rally in Victoria, B.C., attended by hundreds. Rallies took place in nearly 30 communities including Vancouver, Whitehorse, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, Wolfville, Saint John and St. John’s.
Meanwhile, the parliamentary petition to ensure the Liberal government revives the electoral reform debate in the House of Commons rocketed through the 100,000 signature mark – currently sitting at 119,354 signatures!
Click here to sign Petition E-616, if you have not already.
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
Media Updates
Canadians Rally from Coast to Coast to Hold Trudeau to Electoral Reform Promise
Statement on National Flag Day 2017
Statement on the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement
Island Tides: Dissecting the Prime Minister’s Excuses for Ditching his Promise of Fair Voting
In the Media
CBC News: Mulcair, May and Joly remember Stuart McLean
Petitions
- Institute a national affordable housing strategy to comfront the crisis of homelessness.
- Address the ongoing threat of neonicotinoid insecticides to pollinators.
- Require labelling of products which contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
- Ban genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Read the government responses to petitions Elizabeth has introduced here
Committee Briefs
*Brief Submitted to the Expert Panel Reviewing Environmental Assessment Law
*Newly posted submission
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 17-19, 2017 – Elizabeth Attends the 8th Annual Galiano Literary Festival