Nickel Belt MP Ray Bonin says he’s spending his last months in parliament watching the Conservatives unravel the programs his party put in place when they were in power.
“The economy is in a standstill. Social programs are being eliminated. The work Canadians have done for 13 years is being eroded. I’m very sad about that. I’m very anxious for the next election so we can remove this government and replace it with one that has a social conscience.”
Parliament started up again last week after the Christmas break and politicians will sit until the end of June, or until an election is called. Bonin announced in December he will not run in the next election, which he believes will probably happen sometime next fall.
“Everything I do, it sort of goes through my mind that it probably will be the last time,” he says.
“I’m in a different state of mind where now I’m thinking about retirement a lot, whereas before I was planning projects for the years to come.”
Bonin says he’s frustrated at being an opposition MP when he spent so many years as a member of a governing party. He finds it harder to get things done for the people of Nickel Belt.
“I keep chipping away, but since the Conservatives are in, even the local bureaucrats, we don’t have access to them as we did before. Small, minute decisions that were being made locally before now have to go through the ministers’ offices.”
Bonin predicts “a lot of hot air, a lot of rhetoric and very little commitment” during question period over the next few months.
“They will make a lot of promises knowing the election will happen before they do anything. They’re playing with people’s minds. I believe they will not succeed because unknown to the Conservative government, Canadians are a lot smarter than they think.”
He is disdainful of the new Conservative “attack” ads, which call into question new Liberal leader Stephane Dion’s record as a previous minister of the environment.
“It’s typical of the Reform group which have infiltrated the Conservative party. Canadians have said it time and time again that they don’t like dirty politics. Their way is if they can’t find solid arguments on issues such as the environment, then you attack the person. That’s what they’ve done.”
The Liberals will not broadcast counter-attack ads because “it’s not in Stephane Dion’s nature. We have respect for the politicians and their families.”
Sudbury MP Diane Marleau seems more optimistic about the next few months in parliament.
Marleau, who plans to run in the next election, is the chair of the government’s operations and estimates committee. It is rare for an opposition MP to lead a committee, she says.
The committee looks into anything to do with the treasury board, the minister of public works, contracting, human resources and budgeting.
Marleau says she’s still able to look out for her riding to some extent as an opposition MP, although it’s difficult.
“I look out for Sudbury all the time, especially when it comes to making sure the government is spending taxpayers’ dollars in the best way,” she says.
“There are a number of other areas that also interest me, including the mining research centre. Getting federal funding for the centre is sort of in a hiatus. We’re not quite sure whether the government will agree with it or not and provide funding.
“We have to keep working at that one. I’m hopeful that when we form the next government, we’ll be able to get it done quite quickly.”
The MP will not place bets on when election will happen because “this is a minority government, and no matter how much people guess, there’s no set answer.”
The timing of the election depends upon the NDP, which holds the balance of power in parliament, says Marleau. So far, they seem to be propping up the Conservatives, she says.
“The NDP complain about a lack of social housing, homelessness and child care, and they were the ones that brought us down in 2005 so we weren’t able to implement these things, and now they’re working with the Conservatives who don’t believe in these things,” she says.
“I think of it as the pyromaniac that burns down the house and questions why he doesn’t have a house.”
Marleau calls the Conservative ads criticizing Dion “funny.” They must be really worried about the new Liberal leader to do something like that, she says.
