Melinda Visits Seniors During Mississauga Constituent Week

The focus of constituency week this month was helping others, both within Mississauga East-Cooksville and beyond our border. MPP Damerla regularly meets with an impressive number of seniors groups to disseminate helpful information to help seniors live more active and healthy lives and this time I was able to help. I spent some time before our meeting updating our presentation information to ensure the seniors are getting the most up-to-date accounts. We announced the new seniors community grant program which is meant to enhance social inclusion by helping seniors participate and was outlined in the Fall Economic Statement. The Italian seniors group we visited received Italian versions of the Ontario Seniors Guide; the guide is also printed in various other languages to help our seniors find information relevant to them.

I also had the opportunity to visit Roger’s TV in Mississauga for MPP Damerla’s taping session and try out the teleprompter! Her guests included the brother of Manoranjana Kanagasabapathy (who died after a distracted driver collided with the TTC bus she was boarding). Manoranjana’s brother discussed the potential positive effects of MPP Bas Balkisssoon’s bill to toughen consequences for distracted drivers. She also discussed the Kalayaan dinner fundraiser happening in November to benefit the Filipino people affected by typhoon Haiyan.

The rest of my week was spent researching for other projects and learning about Ontario’s interactive digital media market for our exciting roundtable discussions with representatives from design universities, Google, Yahoo, Ubisoft, Stitch Media and the Entertainment Software Association of Canada among others.

Working for Uncle Ernie: An Update on Mitchell Davidson’s Placement

 I was warned that working in a member’s office would be busy. I never knew it would be this busy, but it is amazing. While in Ernie Hardeman’s office I’ve been exposed to the inner workings of the legislature in a very unique way. Mr. Hardeman, affectionately known as Ernie by anyone that has ever stepped foot on Queen’s Park premises, has been a very busy man this fall session.
 
First, his Private Members’ Bill making carbon monoxide detectors mandatory in Ontario homes is included in the recent programming motion. This not only means that the bill will almost assuredly pass, it means that the timeline for the passage of the bill is greatly accelerated. Essentially, most interns have the opportunity to contribute to a bill while in an office but never see it come to fruition. In my case I will be present for second reading, committee, third reading, and royal assent all in the fall session.
 
Ernie, and his executive assistant Tara Barry, have been fantastic in incorporating me in the process by allowing me to write press releases, speeches for the bill, and even draft the wording of an amendment to the bill, creating carbon monoxide awareness week which will become law.
 
Seeing as this bill has been introduced five times over the course of five years it is of great importance to Ernie and thus being included in such a significant way is quite special.
 Ernie has also been very active with the passage of the Local Food Act, various stakeholders through his agriculture and food critic portfolio, and with up and coming issues in his riding of Oxford.
 
In the meantime, I’ll keep writing speeches and continue trying to keep up in what is truly a busy office. So far, the program is everything I thought it would be and more!

Jessica spends time in MPP Mitzie Hunter’s Riding

 On Monday, after attending the Remembrance Day ceremony at Queen’s Park, I turned to a few fellow interns and said that I was looking forward to constituency week. I figured with the house not sitting, there would be more time to hunker down and get work done, less distractions, and overall maybe a bit of a slower pace.

Turns out I was very wrong about that. Who would have thought constituency week would be so fast-paced!? I had been to the Scarborough-Guildwood constituency office a couple times before, but this week was an especially busy time in the office of MPP Mitzie Hunter. 

We decided on the Tuesday that we were going to organize a breakfast business forum in the riding for two weeks later.  With that tight of a deadline—we got right to work, quickly figuring out who our keynote speaker would be (thank you Minister Duguid!), sorted logistics, and came up with the theme for the event: “Grow Your Business: Tools for Success in Your Small Business.” The purpose of the forum is to connect local employment agencies and businesses in the riding so that businesses can apply for the Youth Employment Fund. 

My time in the riding really reminded me of one of the most important parts of an MPPs job: helping constituents. A lot of incredible work is done on the ground in the riding, and the breakfast forum is just one example among the myriad things Members and their staff do to help the people they represent.

OLIP Meets OCUFA

 OLIP had high hopes as we trekked to the quaint office of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA).

 Firstly—in the effort of full disclosure—our Director Dr. Jacek was their former president, so we already knew they do wonderful work and hire top-notch staff (including former OLIP intern Erica Rayment!)

 Secondly, as we are all recent grads, various post-secondary issues, such as faculty and teaching assistants—remain fresh in our mind. Therefore, we entered the meeting eager to offer our unique student perspective and, true to form, the meeting did not disappoint.

 OCUFA staff Erica along with Executive Director Mark Rosenfeld and Communications Manager Graeme Stewart explained how their organization serves as the voice of 17,000 university faculty and academic librarians across Ontario. They explained they serve two distinct functions, advocacy and collective bargaining and the fact that there often exists a tension between working in an advocacy capacity while simultaneously wanting access.

 They also discussed some key issues and trends, including the currently difficulties faced by PHD students attempting to gain teaching positions. As some interns are currently considering doing their PHDs, this certainly gave us some food for thought.

 Given our (obviously) vested interest in post-secondary education issues, the meeting went longer than expected, clocking in at almost two full hours!

 OLIP would like to thank Erica, Mark and Graeme for chatting with us, and being extraordinarily generous with their time!

Vanessa Hits a Homerun! – Covering all of the BASes of Learning with MPP Bas Balkissoon

It is remarkable how time flies when you are having fun! Working with MPP Bas Balkissoon for the past 5 weeks has been nothing short of an amazing experience thus far. He has given me the opportunity to work on tasks that I enjoy, which include writing, research, and communication. Writing speeches and briefings for events was a daunting task at the beginning of my placement, but I have transitioned into understanding Bas’ speaking style and timing to a point where I feel very comfortable knowing that it will be a good fit for him.

I have also performed extensive research for Bas’ Private Member’s Bill, which went through second reading on October 31st. Bill 116 is an act that proposes increased penalties for the use of hand-held devices while driving, including increased fines and the assessment of three demerit points. The Bill received unanimous support from all parties, and has been referred to committee. Working on a Private Member’s Bill is exciting because I have had the opportunity to write Bas’ speech, get in touch with potential supporters of the Bill, attend meetings, write a petition, and meet the family of the woman who the Bill is named after. Overall, the whole process has been an excellent learning experience. 

Last week was constituency week, so I was working in the constituency office in Bas’ riding, Scarborough-Rouge River. The work and daily experiences in the constituency office are vastly different from working in the Queen’s Park office. The staff in the constituency office are mainly focused on case work, planning and scheduling, and preparing material for Bas’ attendance at local events and celebrations. It was good to work in the constituency office again after having more experience at Queen’s Park – it was a great change in perspective, and a reminder of the vast spectrum of duties that are required of MPPs.
I would like to thank Anna for providing me with the opportunity to work on meaningful and interesting tasks that have positively contributed to this learning experience. She has been extremely helpful in guiding and supporting me throughout my successes, and my difficulties. Finally, working with Bas has been amazing. He has such a wealth of experience, is not hesitant to share both work and life lessons with me, and he really takes the time to ensure that I am doing okay. I would also like to thank him for attending our OLIP reception on Monday! I look forward to what the next two and a half months have to offer!