THE WEST BLOCK
Episode 34, Season 5
Sunday, May 8, 2016
Host: Vassy Kapelos, sitting in for Tom Clark
Guests: Brian Jean, David Lametti, Guy Caron, Randy Hoback, Lisa Raitt, Ruth Ellen Brosseau
Location: Ottawa
Vassy Kapelos: On this Sunday, Fort McMurray is deserted. Tens of thousands of people are displaced as wild fires wipe out entire sections of Canada’s oil capital. Wildrose leader and Fort McMurray resident Brian Jean joins us to talk about what was lost and what comes next.
Then, it’s the biggest trade deal in the world. The Trans Pacific Partnership exists on paper but will it ever become a reality? We put that to a panel of MPs.
And, is a work- life balance on Parliament Hill possible? We ask two politicians who are also parents on this Mother’s Day.
It’s Sunday, May 8th. I’m Vassy Kapelos sitting in for Tom Clark. This is The West Block.
***
Vassy Kapelos: It was a devastating week for the residents of Fort McMurray. Wildfires swept through the city leaving a path of destruction in their wake. Hundreds of homes are destroyed. Tens of thousands of people have had to flee and a state of emergency was called.
One of the evacuees is Brian Jean, the leader of Alberta’s Wildrose Party. Thank you so much for joining us Mr. Jean.
Brian Jean: You’re welcome, Vassy.
Vassy Kapelos: I just want to start off by saying of course that our thoughts and our prayers are with everyone in Alberta affected by the fires. I know you’ve been personally affected. You of course lost your home. I’m just wondering, I guess, what the past few days have been like for you?
Brian Jean: Well they’ve been busy for sure and difficult of course. A lot of people are affected by what’s happened with the fire. I spoke to a firefighter yesterday that had his home destroyed while he was working on another section of town that was burning. It’s been not great but what has been quite positive is I think where we are today relative to where most people expected us to be. We’re not out of trouble yet but certainly things look a lot better than they did a few days ago and better yet in the future. We do have a situation where probably up to 20 per cent of the homes are damaged in some way but that means 80 per cent of the homes are ready to be occupied once we get our services back up. We’ve also seen that very little of the major infrastructure is impacted at all. Whether it’s the City Hall, the provincial building, McDonald Island, the hospital or our Casman arena. All of those things are in perfect shape and that’s really good news. So that’s the type of infrastructure that takes a long time to rebuild and when you look at it, the downtown’s in perfect shape. Some of the smaller communities to the south are badly damaged, including where I live in Waterways and Beacon Hill. But truly, we are very lucky, very fortunate indeed to have so few homes damaged compared to what could have happened and I think we have a very bright future indeed, just based on my various tours throughout the city.
Vassy Kapelos: I know your home is among the 20 per cent that are extremely damaged, I’m wondering what it was like for you to see your house that way and I’m sure it represents what a lot of other people in your community are going through.
Brian Jean: Well certainly it wasn’t pleasant to come home and come to my front driveway and see that my truck was melted into the pavement, nor that my house was about a foot tall. But you know what did make me happy is the fact that nobody was hurt. No animals were hurt. No people were hurt. As far as we’re aware, there have been no casualties in the town itself or around the city limits even during the evacuation. We’re very happy with that and ultimately even though there are very significant memories and I will never be the same because I obviously don’t have some of those memories I would like to have and some of those things that I can’t replace, but I’m alive and my entire family has survived and we will rebuild. And I believe that based on the tenacity, the spirit and the hard work that we’re used to here in Fort McMurray, we’re going to rebuild it better than it’s ever been and I’m looking forward to that very bright future.
Vassy Kapelos: I know last month you had some pretty pointed words for the provincial government about a lack of resources for fighting fires. I’m wondering if you’re concerned at all that other communities might be at risk during this fire season.
Brian Jean: Well I’m always concerned about the safety of citizens, especially when it comes to natural disasters and forest fires which can obviously devastate communities such as Fort McMurray. I lived through the Slave Lake fire as the Member of Parliament and I know how significant the impact can be losing your home, losing everything you have. So certainly I think that we should make sure our resources are significant in that area. But right now is not the time to talk about politics. This is not the time, nor the place. I’m going to save that for a later time. Right now, I want to concentrate on the people that I represent and make sure that they’re safe and secure that they have the quality of life that they deserve as a result of obviously what’s happened. And I think the Government of Alberta and the Government of Canada are going to step up to the plate in a significant way. They have both told me and assured me that they will and provide all of the things necessary to make sure that we support those people that have supported so many in the rest of Alberta during the floods in past and recent history. And also of course, around the world, we are the most generous area and the most generous province in the most generous country in the world and we’re very proud of that. And it’s good to see Canada respond in such a way. We’re actually humbled by that and we thank all of Canada that has contributed to our growth because it’s going to take all of Canada I think to rebuild Fort McMurray. Fort McMurray has been very good to Alberta and the rest of Canada and it’s so good to see Canada come to our help when we need it.
Vassy Kapelos: Let me just ask you quickly before we go on that rebuilding effort. Is there anything specific you’re looking for from Ottawa that you think will be needed in the coming days, the coming weeks and really into the coming years?
Brian Jean: You know cooperation and putting partisanship aside, I hope that all parties, whether it’s the NDP provincial government, whether it’s the Liberal federal government, whether it’s the Conservative Party of Canada Opposition in Ottawa that represents us as well, or whether it’s the Wildrose official conservative Opposition here in Alberta. I hope we can all work together and make it better for the people of Fort McMurray, make it better for the people of Northern Alberta and frankly, look for participation at all levels to have the best result out of the best plan, and that’s what we’re hoping for.
Vassy Kapelos: Well thank you so much for joining us today. I’m sorry for your loss but I’m so glad that you and your family are safe.
Brian Jean: My pleasure. Thank you very much.
Vassy Kapelos: Coming up, what will become of the world’s biggest trade deal? Three MPs take on the Trans Pacific Partnership.
Vassy Kapelos: Welcome back. The Trans Pacific Partnership was signed back in February but the trade deal is up against hard deadlines, massive public consultations and changes in governments before it’s ratified. It’s a sweeping deal that could change the way the world does business. Here’s your West Block primer:
Joining me now to talk about the TPP is Liberal David Lametti and New Democrat Guy Caron and Conservative Randy Hoback. Thank you all three for being here, I appreciate it. David why don’t I start with you. Is the TPP a good deal for Canada?
David Lametti: Well, we’re studying that. There are certainly positive aspects of it that are coming out from our consultations and there are also people who are critical of it and it’s up to us as a government to assess whether on balance it’s a good thing or not a good thing for Canada, and we’re not there yet.
Vassy Kapelos: You have though signed the sort of preliminary paper.
David Lametti: We signed the agreement, but the intention was to use the ratification process, the two-year window that we have to ratify, to look at the agreement. Again, we didn’t see it until very late in the election campaign so we promised we would look at it carefully.
Vassy Kapelos: What about you Guy? Are you as on the fence?
Guy Caron: I think the evidence is mounting that this might actually be a dangerous deal for Canada for many of its sectors. We’re thinking of the auto sector, the dairy sector. There are some interesting questions coming out regarding intellectual property. I think any deal we have winners and losers, that’s very obvious. On the other side, we can hardly understand why the government refuses to public or even to do an impact study on what it will mean for the Canadian economy and what it will mean on its sectors. So this is what we’re asking for right now and we haven’t received a sympathetic ear yet from the government.
Vassy Kapelos: Randy, your government is the one that negotiated this deal.
Randy Hoback: Yeah, exactly. This deal is good for Canadians. Let’s face it, Canada’s an exporting country. We need markets around the world. Our producers can compete with anybody if given a level playing field. This gives us equal access into Japan, into Vietnam. We’ve gone through a process of consultations as the deal was being developed. Then the committee itself did a pre-study on the deal in the last session. So now we’re studying it again and a lot of the witnesses we’re talking to are saying well why are you doing this again? We should just go ahead and ratify it and move it forward.
Vassy Kapelos: Do you think those consultations are redundant at this point?
Randy Hoback: Well it seems to be redundant but I guess there’s never any harm in going out and talking to Canadians about any type of deal, I think that’s okay. But reality is what we’re seeing happening with the committee is they’re trying to use it as a consultation process. So for example—
David Lametti: That’s not true. Listen, Randy because we’re consulting in our own right.
David Lametti: Given the difference of opinion why we’re consulting—
Vassy Kapelos: But Canada’s consultations, I guess, don’t lead to anything concrete.
David Lametti: Look, we are getting new information. We’re getting interesting information. Remember that not everyone was consulted in that pre-consultation process in the previous negotiation process.
Randy Hoback: I think if you looked at that you would find most people saying that we’re the ones that are against the deal to begin with.
David Lametti: Well but we have to listen to people who are against the deal too and we have to listen to what people are for and we have to assess why. And yes the committee is doing consultations but we’re actually in—
Randy Hoback: But we are also, the minister, myself—I’ve been to eight of 10 provinces so far and I’m still going. The minister is doing the same thing. We are conducting our own set of consultations as the government. The committee is—
David Lametti: But the minister was part of the committee in the previous government. She could have attended all those consultations and she chose not to. So she was the critic and now she won’t even acknowledge the work that was done before.
Vassy Kapelos: Guy, I hear you trying to get in there, please.
David Lametti: We’re doing our own consultations as a government.
Randy Hoback: Let’s call it what it is.
David Lametti: We’re seeking out universities, think tanks—
Vassy Kapelos: Okay let me interrupt then for a second. I know you all have valid points. I guess what I’m wondering though is throughout the consultations, if it comes to your attention that perhaps the losers that that section of this deal are too great and those concerns you feel are valid, what options do you have going forward to renegotiate?
David Lametti: Well at this stage that’s not on the table. At this stage we have a take or leave it agreement. We have to decide, every country, all 12 countries are going through their own ratification processes. We are going through our own internal ratification process as Canadians. We’ve promised to consult or consulting in a variety of different ways. We are getting impact studies. We are taking in impact studies from third parties. We’re going to analyze the whole thing in the mix and if at the end of the day we as a government, after all of this consultation decide that on balance this is not a good thing for Canada, that’s the direction we’ll go in. Otherwise, if we decide it’s a good thing for Canada we’ll move forward with the ratification.
Vassy Kapelos: And is there a timeline for deciding that?
David Lametti: We have a two-year window.
Randy Hoback: Well it’s funny because the committee, we’ve been proposing timelines to finish the study and they keep rejecting the proposals of timelines. So it was just like anything else in committee, you put time in some places which you complete the study and then present it to the House. Now this is so bizarre because they won’t agree to a timeline. Secondly, if they do bring legislation into committee, is the committee going to redo all this work again for the third or fourth time? Or are we going to actually take this information that we’ve got now and just apply it and then rope track it through the committee. That’s the things we don’t know.
David Lametti: We’ve got a two-year window, but you know what none of the other 11 countries have ratified either. If you look at moving—
Randy Hoback: If you look at Japan, if you look at Australia, look at other countries they’re actually bringing legislation in to ratify it right away. We could show leadership on this file.
David Lametti: No one’s ratified it yet.
Vassy Kapelos: We don’t have a long time so I want to quickly get your thoughts on something else, just sort of the broader context of free trade and this deal. In the United States this is a hot topic. The two likely presidential contenders, one is dead set against it and the other one seems to be pretty much against it at this point. Are we sort of flogging a dead horse because if the U.S. doesn’t sign onto this if Canada’s position that it works—
Randy Hoback: So if we had showed leadership on this, if Trudeau went to Obama and says we’re going to pass it and Obama still has the ability during the lame duck session to pass it. It could be done before the next person takes the reins. But we’re not showing any leadership. We’re dragging our feet. We’re waiting and watching, seeing what the U.S. is going to do and then we’re going to react accordingly. That’s not leadership and that’s what the problem with this government is.
Guy Caron: That sounds (like) what the Conservatives were doing in the climate change.
Randy Hoback: Which they just copied it and just called it their own.
Guy Caron: I don’t disagree. What I’d like to say about this is yes this is a hot topic. It’s a hot topic in the U.S. because we’ve seen the Americans I think are seeing that with all the deals. And a trade deal is not a bad thing in itself. It’s really the content. It’s really how it basically changes your economy that actually might have a good or detrimental effect on the economy and its people.
Randy Hoback: Yeah you’ve got to mitigate losers, there’s no question like the dairy sector for example.
Guy Caron: It will be and this is why. This is why it’s actually crucial for parliamentarians and for Canadians to actually have an idea of what will the impact be on the economy. What will the impact be on citizens?
David Lametti: We’re studying that and we are going—
Vassy Kapelos: We’ve got like 15 seconds left. So I’ll just give you the last word. Ten seconds sir.
David Lametti: We’re a pro-trade party. We promise to consult. We’re consulting and we are going to come to the right conclusion on this. We’re not going to speculate on what’s happening in the United States.
Vassy Kapelos: Well thank you all three of you for being here, I really appreciate it.
David Lametti: Thank you for having us.
Vassy Kapelos: No problem. Up next, parenting on Parliament Hill, can that elusive goal of striking a work-life balance be achievable?
Vassy Kapelos: Welcome back. Work-life balance is often an elusive goal for Canadian parents and Parliament isn’t exactly known as the place to find it but that could be changing. A committee has been struck to figure out how to make Parliament more family friendly. Joining me now to talk about their own experiences are two MPs and mothers, Conservative Lisa Raitt and New Democrat Ruth Ellen Brosseau. Thanks so much for being here, Happy Mother’s Day to you both.
I’ll start off with you, Lisa. Tell me a little bit about what life is like as a mom on the Hill?
Lisa Raitt: Well on the Hill, I’m the MP so my kids stay in the riding and I keep in touch with them through text now because they’re of that age; 14 and 11. But when I’m home on the weekends it’s all about them. I really do compartmentalize and I focus very clearly on what’s going on. And right now what’s going on in our lives is a lot of soccer and football and basketball and a lot of time spent in the car driving around the GTA. And that’s kind of what we do when you find those moments to have conversations and you watch basketball games together and you just kind of hang out. And I try not to let anything else come into the picture from a work perspective on the weekends.
Vassy Kapelos: And you have two children, right?
Lisa Raitt: I have two boys. John Colin, we call him JC, and Billy. And they’re excellent kids. They’re great so far, but you never know. You find out from other people if they’re nice ones or if they’re little jerks.
Vassy Kapelos: And what about you, Ruth Ellen?
Ruth Ellen Brosseau: So, on the Hill it’s a little bit different. My son goes to school in Gatineau. I’m a single mom when I was elected in 2011, Logan was 10. He’s 15 now, so every morning it’s a mad rush trying to poke him and wheel him out of bed and making sure he gets off to school. But at least I get to see him. I try to make sure that I can get home and hopefully go over his homework or try to make a rugby practice. But mine’s a little bit different because my parents help out a lot to make sure that when he gets home from school he has somebody to help him do his homework, make sure he eats and that’s he’s up to some good stuff. I’m really lucky to have the support of my family. But when I go back to the riding it’s different. I usually go alone because I make sure that my days are jam packed morning till night and I’m meeting with constituents and doing activities. But it is important to have that balance and make sure that when I have that few hours alone with him that the cell phone is away. We’re talking about weather, rugby, friends or stuff like that.
Vassy Kapelos: How does it compare trying to strike the balance now as a politician versus what you did in your past jobs, career, that kind of thing?
Ruth Ellen Brosseau: Before being elected, I worked sometimes two and three jobs at the same time. I worked minimum wage and then I worked at the bar and I was trying to pick up tips. So I always had to work hard. I had the support of my family which made it really easy—easier because without them I wouldn’t have been able to do the work at the time. So I think my experience before really helped me be prepared for the kind of crazy work we do in the House of Commons and juggling. But both sides, they’re not easy, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Vassy Kapelos: And what about you Lisa?
Lisa Raitt: I worked in Toronto. I was a CEO at the Toronto Port Authority. So I commuted early in the morning and I was gone and the kids were babies then so I would get up before they got up in the morning and then sometimes I get home after they went to bed and I found that hard. I find I have a little bit more flexibility being an MP because I can actually pick some events that I want to go to for them and I can schedule it around. Work was a lot more restrictive. There’s not as much flexibility. Certain things you have to do here in Ottawa. You’ve got to vote and you have to show up and you can’t stay at home in your riding as much as you like. But, if you talk it through with your whips, sometimes they do let you do some cool things with your kids. So more flexibility but busy, it’s always busy.
Vassy Kapelos: I mentioned earlier there’s that committee that’s now looking at how to make Parliament more family friendly. A couple of the options that they’re examining would be a four day work week, voting by proxy or electronic voting, standard working hours. I’m wondering what you guys think of those changes? Lisa?
Lisa Raitt: I’d like to know what Ruth Ellen thinks because I actually have thought about this an awful lot. Making a decision to run for elected office knowing that it’s in Ottawa, when you have kids, it’s a decision you don’t take lightly and you kind of know what you’re in for and you make the decision to do it anyway. And it is a team sport. Everyone has to be involved, family and everything. Four day work week doesn’t work for me. I also believe that you should be showing up to vote. I think when you’re here, when people send you here, you have to do the job and you try to make it work out. And as I said, my kids are good. They’re well-adjusted. They don’t want to go into politics. They have no desire to go to any political events with me whatsoever. But their teachers tell me they’re nice kids and they help other people, so they’re learning that through example that there is sacrifice that does happen in life to make people’s lives better and that’s an okay thing.
Ruth Ellen Brosseau: I’m not for a four-day work week at all and it is working with your whips, right? And some people get to leave a Thursday after question period and they go home. If you want to have a birthday party you’ve just got to work with your party, work with your whips, switch it up your shifts and make it work. Scheduling on weekends, we decide what we want to do.
Vassy Kapelos: Do you guys have any advice for other moms thinking about entering politics?
Lisa Raitt: Yeah and for women who aren’t moms yet thinking about politics. My advice would be you can do it all and you should. If you have a desire to have kids you should have kids. And it should not be an impediment to anything you want to do in life. And it can be tough and you can work it out, but life isn’t easy. Life is choices and I think it’s great to have mothers on the Hill.
Ruth Ellen Brosseau: And we have more and more mothers on the Hill. Just yesterday, well this week we had Christine Moore who’s always in the House with Daphnee. It’s possible. We have change tables. We have a room now for parents where they could have some quiet time and maybe breastfeed and just play. So things are changing on the Hill. It’s getting better, not just for moms but also for dads too. We can’t forget it takes two to tango.
Vassy Kapelos: So your advice would be to enter politics as well, not let something like your desire to have kids or the fact that you already have them hold you back.
Ruth Ellen Brosseau: It’s possible and it’s a great job. It’s a great opportunity and it’s an honour to serve our constituents. And I think we elected more women this time around. We’re far from having parity in the House of Commons. We’re still only 88 out of 338. We still have a lot of work to do, but I encourage women to reach out. I’d love to talk to women that are interested or men that are interested about getting involved in politics. It’s possible.
Lisa Raitt: Every parent works hard. Even in our ridings, every parent works hard. Everyone juggles. We just do it in public.
Vassy Kapelos: Well thank you both so much for the advice and for those great answers. We really appreciate it, Happy Mother’s Day.
Lisa Raitt: Thank you.
Ruth Ellen Brosseau: Happy Mother’s Day.
Vassy Kapelos: That is our show for today. We leave you with some powerful images of the helping hands in the midst of the Fort McMurray disaster. Thanks for joining us, I’m Vassy Kapelos. Tom will be back next week.
-30-
Comments