In mid May, news broke that budgetary shortfalls were forcing the Navy to take three coastal patrol vessels at CFB Halifax and three vessels based at CFB Esquimalt out of service. Rear Admiral McFadden, Commander of Canada's Navy, had written a letter in April to navy officials on the East and West Coast, officials with DND, and the Chief of Defence Staff, outlining the plans to reduce the number of vessels in service.
I was very concerned that a shortage of operating funds had forced the Navy to reduce their coastal patrol vessels on the East and West Coast. I issued a press release asking the Defence Minister to review this decision. This decision would impact both Halifax and Victoria's local economy and diminish the coastal patrol capabilities and surveillance of our waters. Many sailors and their families would be also affected by this decision.
Surprisingly, less than 24 hours later, Minister MacKay denied that the decision was finalized and Chief of Defence Staff, General Walter Natynczyk, ordered that these cuts be rescinded. Although I am very pleased with this turnaround, we will be watching this situation very carefully and awaiting the federal government's national shipbuilding policy.
New Rules for MP Public Spending Announcements and Mailings
The Ethics Commissioner recently reported that the use of partisan or personal names on ceremonial cheques for federal funding announcements goes too far. She suggests that this practise has the "potential to diminish public confidence in the integrity of Members and the governing institutions they represent." You may recall that dozens of Conservative MPs, including Nova Scotia MP Gerald Keddy, used ceremonial cheques with political logos and their personal names for Government of Canada public funding announcements. This gave the impression that the money came from these members or the political party they belonged to, rather than from public funds. I am pleased that the Ethics Commissioner has ruled on this matter as I felt it violated the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons. Several MPs, including myself, made requests to the Ethics Commissioner for an investigation into these practises.
I am also pleased that the House of Commons has curtailed the use of 'out of riding' mailings by Members of Parliament. MPs were mailing pamphlets, called 10%, into ridings that they did not represent, often with very partisan messages. The Speaker has determined that MPs can no longer mail these pamphlets to other ridings as a result of an investigation into the misuse of these mailings. I had filed a complaint to the Speaker, along with my Liberal colleague Irwin Cotler, after several inappropriate and misleading pamphlets were mailed into our ridings. This change in mailing rules will save approximately $5-8 million of taxpayers' money per year.
Status of Bill C-201
Unfortunately Bill C-201, was recently killed by the Conservative government at third reading. This bill aimed to eliminate the annuity deduction (clawback) from Canadian Forces and RCMP service and disability pensions. While the bill is defeated for now, I plan to reintroduce this bill in the next Parliament and will continue to press the government to fix this injustice. This would help alleviate the financial pressure on many disabled and retired CF and RCMP veterans. Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to move this bill forward, especially John Labelle, Roger Boutin, and Mel Pittman. These three individuals, who live in Sackville, gained the support of thousands of people across the country.
Congratulations to All Graduates
Congratulations to all high-school and post-secondary graduates in our riding. I wish you every success in your future endeavours.
As always, please contact my office if you have any concerns or questions at (902) 861-2311.
