Our Canadian Parliament
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have had the good fortune to visit many parliaments and legislatures around the world. I often traveled with our Parliamentary Speakers to represent the Canadian Parliament and compare it to other systems.    The goal on these missions was to bring the Canadian approach to Parliament to other parliamentarians. During these visits I soon learned that many so called  democratic parliaments are not real parliaments as we know them.   Members are elected but in many places they have no power to access government information, budgets, laws, or any of the things we've come to take for granted.  Instead there is a leader at the top who could be called a president or prime minister but he/she has total power over all of the real functions of government.

 

By having an "elected parliament" these countries can qualify for funding from organizations such as the IMF and the World Bank.    Having an elected parliament also qualifies for admittance to the United Nations and other international organizations.   They are not democracies as we know them.  Over the years I have concluded that ours is the best parliamentary system anywhere.

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 I served as a member of Parliament for seven terms over a period of 30 years. I have been on the government side and I have been in opposition. I have had seats in the front row and I have had seats in the back row.  I have had seats in every corner,  but they are all good seats. The magic of our system to me is that every day that the "House" sits,  I sit in the same room as all of the government ministers and the prime minister.   

 

Generally all of the ministers and prime minister are in attendance at Question Period.  They are also present during votes. There is always some time before or after Question Period to approach a minister and explain your issue.

 

Over the years I established a method that seemed to work really well and helped me accomplish goals for my riding.   As a result I was able to be elected for 7 elections.

 

I know of no other parliamentary system where backbenchers, opposition members and everybody who was elected as an MP has access to the leadership of their government.  Certainly in the United States, Members of Congress have ZERO access to their "secretary's".  Even the seating arrangement in our parliament provides much better access to ministers than that of the British Parliament. Ours is just a better system. It means that every member of parliament..... government and opposition, can play a role and have a voice.

 

As an example, around the year 2000 it was determined by infrared photography that a ridge of land near Amherst, Nova Scotia might possibly have been the site of an Acadian village that was burned to the ground in 1750. The infrared photography showed 43 little black dots on the developed film taken from an RCAF aircraft.  We didn't know for sure what those little black dots were, but suspected that they might be remnants of the Acadian Village of Beaubassin.   We needed to know if this was really the Acadian Village. 

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                                                                                 The RCAF aerial photo of the Fort Lawrence ridge                                                                                            showing the 43 dots which have proven to be                                                                                                      foundations from the Village of Beaubassin 

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I approached the regional Parks Canada office first and then several of the ministers, including the minister for Parks Canada. Then I approached the Government of Nova Scotia,  and then back to Parks Canada. All of these departments were either not interested or they had no funding to explore this potential priceless Acadian village to see if it really was an historic site.

 

Out of frustration one day, I just walked across the floor and I sat down with Prime Minister Chretien.  I said "I have a problem in my riding and I need some help".   He said "Come up to my office after Question Period".  At the time, I was a member of the opposition party, the Progressive Conservatives.  

 

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                                                                                                                               My seat in the 3rd  party

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                                     The route I took to sit with Prime Minister Chretien

 

Shortly after Question Period, I was in the Prime Minister's office.  I showed him the pictures and the maps and the details. He was quite familiar with the area as he had been elected as the Member of Parliament for the riding of Beausejour in a by-election earlier.  It was like magic.  He understood the problem and the potential value of this historic find....if it was actually the village.   

 

Prime Minister Chretien then said "There's a man over at Parks Canada, he's a friend of mine ...I think he likes me. I can never remember his name but he has an Anglo first name and a French last name . I will get his name and call you in the morning". 

 

At 8:00 o'clock the next morning my phone rang and it was Mr. Chretien.  He just said "The man's name is Alan Latourelle and here's his phone number....call him"... and then he hung up.  Just like he said....Anglo first name and French last name. 

 

 I immediately called Mr Latourelle.   Halfway through the dialing process, I thought to myself " I have no idea who Mr Latourelle is".   In any case, he answered and I asked to come to his office.  He insisted that he would come to my office.

 

A short time later Mr. Latourelle was in my office.   Then I learned that Mr. Latourelle is the President of Parks Canada.   I started to give him the presentation about the infrared photography et cetera and he said "I'm going to save you some time.... we've already engaged Mr. Charles Burke, the Chief Archaeologist for Parks Canada in Atlantic Canada.  We will start an archaeological dig right away to see if there's anything there".   Obviously Prime Minister Chretien had called Mr. Latourelle.   It was only 9 oclock in the morning and the ball was already rolling. 

 

 Within two weeks, an archaeological dig was underway.  That dig has now revealed 53 foundations of the burned down Acadian village and 7000 artifacts.   Some of the artifacts are Acadian, some are British and some are indigenous. It has turned out to be a treasure trove of our history.  Many of the buildings can be identified by the artifacts found in them.   It may be the most intact original Acadian village in existence. 

 

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                                             Mr. Charles Burke, Chief Archeologist for Parks Canada for                                                                                                                                        Atlantic Canada who lead the dig from start to finish. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                           Metallic "seals" from bolts broadcloth found outside the tailor shop at Beaubassin                     

                  

 

 

 

 

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                                            "Jews Harp" found outside a house foundation at Beaubassin.                                                                                                                                 I wonder who last played this instrument.  

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This absolutely would never have happened if I was not able to walk across the floor and sit down with the Prime Minister and say "I have a problem in my riding".   The Prime Minister took personal action and got the wheels turning to have the site investigated.   The site of the Village of Beaubassin has now been purchased by the Government of Canada is designated as a National Historic Site. 

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Below is a photo of Prime Minister Chretien looking at the paper map that I had to show him on that day after question Period.   I consider this a photograph the most meaningful 30 seconds of my 30 year career. 

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This is all thanks to the access that our parliamentary system allows.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                           

 

                                   

 

 

                                       A copy of the RCAF photo of Beaubassin is the coloured paper on the desk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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