The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
It was an honour to be re-elected as Member of Parliament for the Churchill Riding on June 28. My staff and I look forward to working for the people of the Churchill Riding for another session of Parliament. While the House of Commons isn't sitting during the summer months, I like to take the chance to visit communities and constituents throughout the riding. I travelled by train with the Hudson Bay Route Association to Churchill to participate in a meeting of that organization on July 23. Most people in the riding will know that the Association promotes the use of the Port of Churchill for western grain shipments. On the 26th, I travelled to Split Lake for the Tataskweyak Cree Nation's treaty payments and sports days. While the annual $5 payment to each First Nation member may be historically symbolic, it still reinforces the existence of the treaties and the need for them to be adhered to. I was in Wabowden on the 27th to meet with Mayor Reg Meade and Cpt Brian Herrick of the Wabowden RCMP to discuss the possibility of a youth centre in that community. I was unable to attend the Manitoba Indigenous Summer Games at Opaskwayak Cree Nation and The Pas, but I want to acknowledge the tremendous amount of work that went into planning this sporting and cultural event. I would like to thank the many volunteers and the MFF in The Pas, for dedicating time and energy to the games and promoting sport amongst aboriginal youth. Summer is usually a quiet time, politically, in Ottawa, but this July has been very busy. With the June election over, the process of setting up for the new session of the next Parliament has begun. There are a lot of new faces in this new session of Parliament. The NDP welcomed nine new MPs into our caucus. We had our first full caucus meeting in Ottawa on July 8 and 9, and it was very productive. We discussed working on issues important to Canadians with other parties in this new minority Parliament and decided on critic areas. As critics, we are the New Democratic Party's spokespersons for certain areas of government. Each party assigns members who act as government watch dogs, monitoring the actions of the government, recommending amendments to legislation before it reaches the House, and ensuring that witnesses appearing before the committees present a wide perspective on the legislation being discussed. Once again I am pleased to take on the responsibilities as the NDP's Transportation critic, in addition to being the new critic for Crown Corporations, the Canadian Wheat Board, and International Development. The Liberals unveiled their new Cabinet this month. Prime Minister Martin made few changes to key portfolios but significantly reduced the number of women in his cabinet. There is great reason for concern over the effectiveness of this cabinet with only eight women speaking for the concerns of 51 per cent of the Canadian population. As a woman, and as a Member of Parliament, I am disappointed in the Prime Minister's decision. Prime Minister Paul Martin has scheduled three days of talks with the premiers, starting September 13, to hammer out the future of Canada's health care system. The talks will take place in Ottawa and will be the first ever televised First Ministers' meeting open to both the public and to the TV cameras. The next session of Parliament is scheduled to begin sitting on Monday, October 4, 2004. During the summer our offices will operate on a reduced schedule to accommodate for staff vacations. Please don't hesitate to contact any of the offices with questions or comments regarding federal government matters. Thompson 204-677-1333 or toll free 1-888-260-2231, The Pas 627-1440, Sagkeeng 367-6150.
