For three new North Shore MPs, the past week marked an important milestone as the “new kids” on the Centre Block got a crash course on how to be an elected representative.
Aside from the public events like the unveiling of the new cabinet, there were some quieter but equally significant personal moments.
For Burnaby North - Seymour MP Terry Beech, one of those came the first time he walked up to the front doors of Parliament with his wife, shortly after being issued a security pass. “We had this kind of sheepish moment and said, ‘Are we allowed to come inside?’” he said.
Another significant moment for Beech was being officially sworn in Friday morning. “It was a very humbling experience,” he said. “There’s a lot of tradition in Ottawa.”
For West Vancouver - Sunshine Coast - Sea to Sky Country MP Pam Goldsmith-Jones, one of the best moments was walking into the library of Parliament. “I love that room and I love libraries,” she said, adding there is an incredible research resource available there for MPs. “To me the library is the definition of open, democratic society,” she said. “I hope to spend a lot of time there.”
This week around the campus of buildings that make up Parliament Hill, “it was a little like going back to school,” said North Vancouver MP Jonathan Wilkinson, as new MPs began to learn the ropes and got to know each other.
The first week also involved a lot of less glamorous nitty gritty. Orientation sessions included everything from learning about constituency budgets, how to set up offices and track expenses to finding out where the cafeteria is.
MPs used to be handed a massive binder with detailed how-to instructions. These days, they are instead handed computer tablets with that information. But those details are still important, said Wilkinson. “The last thing you want to do is inadvertently get yourself into trouble.”
Information on how to set up constituency offices was one of the most important details to all three North Shore MPs.
Beech said he’s received more than 200 requests for meetings since getting elected, but until he has an office set up, that’s hard to take care of.
Other sessions for MPs included advice on how to juggle work and family life – particularly when home is a several hours’ flight from Ottawa.
“The big issue for a lot of us is how do you manage a work/life balance?” said Wilkinson. “It’s obviously a concern for those of us who have kids.”
Beech and his wife Ravi Bansal Beech hope to co-ordinate their work schedules between the riding and a secondary home in Ottawa “so we can be together as often as possible,” he said, adding he’s wary of the well-known high divorce rate among MPs.
All three MPs said while partisanship was evident on the campaign trail, on Parliament Hill there’s been a lot of goodwill between those elected from all political parties – at least so far.
“There’s a lot of really good people who have been elected to all parties,” said Beech.
So far, none of the new MPs have had Ottawa offices assigned. Part of the reason is they’ve had to wait for outgoing MPs to finish clearing their files out.
As the rookie MPs were finding their way around the Hill, former West Vancouver MP John Weston was sorting through boxes of things an MP accumulates over eight years, deciding what to keep and what to dispose of. Among his favourite finds: a Globe and Mail clipping from Oct. 2003 with the headline Deal Struck to Unite Right.
Weston said he remembers his first days in Ottawa as being full of awe at the majesty of the buildings, the sense of history and the honour of being elected to serve.
Prior to his last meeting in the Conservative caucus, Weston issued a “manifesto” detailing his thoughts on where the Conservatives ought to be headed. The bottom line, Weston argued, is to not be afraid of change.
Specifically, he’s recommending resetting the relationship with First Nations, sticking by core principals of low taxes and economic growth, encouraging the country’s wealthy to take more of a voluntary role in caring for the poor, shifting the emphasis of the health-care system to personal responsibility and fitness, limiting the party’s leader to eight years and decentralizing the power of the Prime Minister’s Office to give MPs more freedom.
Weston is spending his last days helping his staff find new work, dealing with insurance policies, saying goodbyes and thank-yous to friends and offering assistance to Pam Goldsmith-Jones in the transition. As for what Weston will do next, he’s finishing a book on the subject of “excellence in leadership.”
“You’re tempted to make many decisions you probably shouldn’t make about what you will do and make them quickly. They come at you very abruptly,” he said.
