EXPRESS. Goodale voices concerns

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Celebrating 100 Years! Ralph Goodale, Liberal MP for the Wascana district, was in Moose Jaw on June 9 to discuss issues important to Saskatchewan residents as part of the Liberal’s outreach project to help expand and rebuild the base of the Liberal Party nationally. Goodale has been travelling to several areas across the province to meet with voters and listen to their concerns. According to Goodale, a number of issues keep popping up in his discussions. “What I’ve heard on this trip has largely been focused on two sets of issues—one substance and the other process. On the substantive side, it is the budget bill that is primarily on peoples’ minds. It is this 500-page monstrosity that attempts to amend 70 pieces of legislation at one time, everything from environmental regulations on one side to supervision of the Canadian spy agency on the other side. And somehow all of that is in the same piece of legislation,” said Goodale. He adds that the budget is so large that it prevents people from really understanding what and who is being affected. In particular, he noted there was concern about the cuts to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (including the closure of the office in Moose Jaw), as well as ending the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (PFRA) program and its community pastures. “There is a lot of concern that this government just doesn’t have its priorities properly aligned,” said Goodale. Goodale says there are also concerns regarding how the government conducts its business and what he describes as “Mr. Harper’s total lack of respect for democracy.” “The omnibus bill [Bill C-38] is a classic example, preventing reasonable debate on all issues related and unrelated to the budget. Or using closure 25 times in the space of the last year to just terminate debate,” said Goodale, who also decried the practice of going “in camera” in parliamentary committees to discuss certain items, preventing the public and the media from knowing more about the decisions being made. “There is just something anti-democratic about this approach.” Goodale was the only member of the Liberal Party to get elected in Saskatchewan in the last election. In fact, he is the only nonConservative member representing the province. Goodale says he is glad to be the voice of those who are not happy with the Harper government. “You actually carry an extra load of responsibility because there are a lot of folks in Saskatchewan that did not vote Conservative and they have only one avenue for getting their point of view expressed, and that’s me. So I try my best to reflect all those points of view,” said Goodale, who pointed out that, if he were not in Ottawa, there would be no one to ask the federal government what it is willing to do to help Saskatchewan residents with Multiple Sclerosis. Although his party had a rough outing at the polls during the last election (the Liberals had their worst showing at the polls in party history), Goodale remains positive and feels there is hope for the Liberal Party’s future. “We came through the last year since the election in remarkably good condition, considering how things stood on March 3, where everybody was wondering where was the bus that hit us. We had an improvement in membership sales after the election— memberships went up by 15,000. We had our best fundraising year ever under the current fundraising rules, and raised over $11 million...It’s still not as much as the Conservatives raised, but substantially more than the NDP,” said Goodale, who added that the party’s convention in January featured 3,500 delegates, which he says makes it the largest non-leadership convention that any political party has ever had in Canada. The Liberal Party continues to search for a new leader and Goodale is unsure whether he will toss his hat in the ring or not. “When the process starts, I think you think about it, and I will do that. I think it’s unlikely that I will run, but I will think it through before I make a decision.” Regardless, despite his many years in Ottawa (Goodale has been in the House of Commons since 1993) Goodale enjoys what he does. “It’s a fascinating life,” said Goodale. “As long as you feel that you are properly doing the public’s business and performing a useful function and it is enjoyable, then you keep doing it because it is worthwhile.”