Your House, Your Time Orientation for the 2019 newly elected Members of Parliament Notes compiled by Louise Cockram (Carleton) and Ashley Fearnall (Carleton) Location: Sir John A. Macdonald Building, 144 Wellington Street Wednesday January 22, 2020 9:00 Orientation briefing from Maureen Boyd, Director of the Carleton Initiative for Parliamentary and Diplomatic Engagement Maureen Boyd: Welcome to Wednesday, we’re welcoming some new parliamentarians that weren’t here yesterday, but I hope those of you who were there found it relevant, informative and interesting. We are particularly pleased to welcome spouses; you are integral to the role of MPs. Our panelists and moderators represent the diversity of the country. I hope you will read their bios in the program as well as the messages from our sponsors. I hope you will also have the opportunity to meet our sponsors today, as well as the participants from Carleton University. I would like you to note that CPAC is livestreaming the sessions today and are taping sessions for future broadcast. We’ve asked our moderators to adhere tightly to the schedule. I’m delighted to open the second day of the orientation by asking President Benoit-Antoine Bacon to provide remarks. 9:05 Welcome Remarks by Dr. Benoit-Antoine Bacon, President of Carleton University Dr. Benoit-Antoine Bacon: Thank you for being with us today. It was wonderful to meet you over lunch yesterday. First, a very sincere thanks for taking part in the orientation for MPs. Thank you for your public service, what you do is very noble. I want to thank our sponsors and Maureen for making a very compelling program. Being in Ottawa is what we call the capital advantage, we always strive to be great partners. Carleton offers a broad range of courses, if you have any interest in future learning, we have a range of courses available to you. When we work together, we create win-win solutions for everyone. As university president I rely on our local MPs. Your community will rely on you too as you have an understanding of how the system and advocacy work. The opportunity to speak with us matters, education matters. You have the opportunity to help Canadians through education. For example, universities across Canada received funding in the last parliamentary session to expand their research capacity in our communities. Partnership is a big word for us. Partnership with industry on key research projects, on topics such as sustainability and the environment. In caucus, our on the ground knowledge of MPs are important to have these funding opportunities. You’re an important part of that. We have two big projects, I don’t want to say too much about these two great projects, but I will say they are bigger than us. These projects are about wellness and sustainability of the community. I hope that day two of the orientation is as good as day one. Thank you very much. 9:15 How Ottawa Works Presentation: Ian Shugart, Clerk of the Privy Council Ian Shugart: Thanks for the invitation. This presentation is entitled how Ottawa works. I’m pleased to have the conclusion that even though there are mistakes, our system works quite well for the wellbeing of all. I came to Parliament 40 years ago, even though Centre Block is shut down currently we still have that special feeling of the place. When I started my career on Parliament Hill, I worked very closely with a Senator. This was a good experience for me, and I have never lost sight of the lessons. It has been extremely useful and has made me a better public servant, a better Deputy Minister, I understand the reality that MPs have. I understand Senators but I particularly understand elected officials. I think it would be good to start with an overview of the highlights of the structure of government. We have the departments e.g. Health Canada, the Canada Revenue Agency. The departments are the responsibility of the Ministers and that’s the principal method of implementing the decisions. There is another portfolio that Ministers report to - quasi judicial bodies, federal granting agencies but they are not necessarily departments per say. You will hear about other departments – Treasury Board (based in statute), the Department of Finance (which pays the bills), and the Privy Council Office. As MPs, you will have varied interactions with government. As head of the Privy Council, I’m here to tell you that there are no actions you should resist. We are there in a spirit of openness, we are there to serve. If you do approach a department and you do not find it useful, let us know. Our objective is to coordinate information for you to receive a fulsome response. Typically, you will approach the public service to help a constituent (e.g. passport difficulties.) Sometimes you will do that through a Minister who is a parliamentary colleague or the staff through the Minister’s office, that is the most typical approach but it will have to go to the minister responsible on behalf of constituents and our goal is to help. You might want information, we have considerable info holdings, we will work with you and endeavor to help you. I see the Chief Statistician in the audience. Then there are my favourite means of interaction, parliamentary committees! I guess if you haven’t experienced that, then you will. Committees are an essential part of the democratic process. If you are a member of the opposition there is a particular sense of joy in holding government to account; if you are a member of government there is a particular excitement at committee; and if you are a witness it is a particular sort of fear. The work of a committee is not always a blood sport; it is a key part of our system. Committees have the ability to request witnesses. Normally the ministers will ask staff to represent the Department. I am answerable to Parliament for my Department; therefore, I will be at the table answering questions. I have found that the Parliamentary committee process is never one to be taken lightly by the public service but is a place where we develop resilience and how our system is supposed to work. You will approach the public service with points to make, things you want to unearth and that is part of the partisan interaction The first principle is permanency of institutions, not people. In the US, whenever an administration changes, five levels of the bureaucracy have to change and many of them have to be ratified by the Senate. Whenever there is a change in government, we have a permanent public staff ready to go. There may some changes (e.g. Deputy Ministers) but the system remains the same. The second principle is professionalism, whether that’s nurses serving Indigenous people, immigration officers guiding people to migrate to Canada, or auditors within government, there is a professionalism that guides what we do. The third and most important principle is non-partisanship. Our interest is not the party. I’ve said to Ministers, my job is not to get you re-elected, my job is to manage your department in a way that doesn’t get you ‘de-elected’. Treasury Board is the employer of public service. The Public Service Commission is a body that ensures that we have merit-based appointments. The public service is part of the executive level of government. Every government in the world has three branches – the judiciary, executive and legislature. In some countries the three branches of government are rolled into one. We [the public service] are accountable to Ministers, we are answerable to Parliamentarians (we can give you information) but we are accountable to Ministers in the executive branch. We do hold stakeholder sessions, but we are servants of the executive branch. 42% of the public service is in national capital region. 40% of public servants are between the ages of 35-54. You will find that there is a mutual need between the executive and legislature. There has to be a living dynamic between the executive and the legislature, we need each other. We need direction from Parliament, or we have no basis on which to serve the public. During the last few weeks we have been part of a tragedy [the Iran air crash], the public service has been interacting with Ministers to provide direction. Sometimes intimately, because they are helping people who have gone through a deep, deep tragedy in their lives. This help always includes weekends. I want to say that all of us, regardless of our role in this system are human. Regardless of the workplace, in party headquarters, we need a space that respects our mutual humanity. We bring our past, our hopes and what is in our lives right now. As new MPs think about how you feel today and in six months compare that with how you feel right now. Never ever lose that sense of expectancy that brought you here, that sense of purpose that brought you here. It is my personal advice that if you lose it then it would be time to go. We should never lose that germ of incentive and motivation that brought us here. We need to be aware of the things that might blow out that candle – unmet expectations. You are more than an element of a machine. You are Ottawa, you’re not just a mechanism to make Ottawa work. Take care of your mental health. We are custodians, we are custodians for our constituency, we are here only for a limited time.