A democratic society

Today I engaged the political process in a way I'd not-yet attempted before..

It was an appointment in the office of Harold Albrecht, Kitchener/Conestoga MP for the Conservative Party.  The incentive for the visit was to bring petitions against and conversation concerning problems with Bill C-4 (formally known as Bill C-64).  The working title for this Bill, due for debate in the House of Commons this Winter, is as follows:  "Preventing Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada's Immigration System Act"  The thing is, much if not most of the content in this bill pertains to detaining persons seeking asylum for refugee protection and prohibiting refugee applicants from reasonable assimilation into Canadian society.  In other words it hardly addresses the issue of human smugglers and threatens to contravene several human-rights policies already signed onto by our nation.

The delegation consisted of myself (representing I suppose Hawkesville Mennonite Church), George Tompkins ( pastor of the Waterloo chapter of The Meeting House, Waterloo  ) and Eunice, with Mennonite Coalition for Refugee ServicesMennonite Coalition for Refugee Support.  While there are many easily accessible examples of why this bill should be of concern, here are a few links to some one-page summaries of concern posted by reputable sources:  Canadian Civil Liberties Association  , Refuge Lawyers Association of Ontario , Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops , and The Canadian Bar Association.  Anmesty International also has several helpful resources to dissect what's really going on with this bill.

Harold and staff gave us a warm reception and slightly more than 40 minutes to dialogue with himself.  While we did feel listened to, Harold was careful to communicate with us that the majority of communications he receives from his constituency are in opposition to what he understood us to be lobying for.   Thanks to media coverage from the shipload of refugees docking in Vancouver last year, I get the impression that he hears his constituency expressing fear of unwanted asylum seekers taking advantage of Canada's 'soft' immigration policies.  It was a bit of an education for me to hear that it is an MP's perception of the majority opinion in his/her constituency that sways any influence on an MP.  My lesson is that increased communications to his office from more and more sectors in his riding will have an effect!

Coming away from the meeting I'm reminded of a few things I'll want to ponder: 1) Bill C-11 is a document Harold kinda wanted us to recognise as an example of Federal Government support for increased acceptance of refugees, so I guess I'll want to read that one sometime soon (my suspicion is that bill attempts to hand-pick refugees with specific skill sets for optimum employability); 2) the best ways to ensure an MP might work with a cause include: extending multiple forms of relationship, recognising work already done in support of similar causes, and increasing the numbers of contacts from enough constituents to justify an MP stepping it up on behalf of what appears to be a shared opinion in the broader constituency.

All in all, I appreciated the whole experience.  And I do have a new appreciation for the role(s) an MP fills.  And I do affirm this: Harold is a well-meaning gentleman, even if our politics do not align.  And if nothing else, I did come home with a complimentary Canadian Flag - thats something!

Anyhow, here's a link to Bill C-4  - the complete text to read through now that you've read a bit about the opposition for the bill.