OTTAWA – This upcoming week in Ottawa promises to be a very important one and one that I have been looking forward since the evening of Wednesday May 26th, 2010. On that evening my Private Members Bill, C-501, passed its first test in the House of Commons with flying colours. It passed by a margin of 144 to 111 and was then sent to the Industry Committee for debate, testimony from experts, citizens, and other stakeholders and to make any necessary amendments.
The Industry Committee will begin this important work on Bill C-501 on Tuesday November 16, with four meetings set aside over the next two weeks. During that time, we will be hearing from experts, stakeholders and pensioners from all across the country. They will testify about how important this legislation is and why we need to move ahead with this legislation now. As the member who brought this bill forward I will be the first to testify before the committee on Tuesday. I have already had some good discussions with my colleagues I am also looking forward to working with my colleagues in the Industry Committee to move this bill closer to becoming law.
This week I also wanted to give everyone a kind reminder about the Riding Calendar Photo Contest that is currently underway. I have received a great response so far from all across the riding and I want to thank those who have submitted photos. In an effort to allow for more people to have a chance to take part, I have extended the deadline for entries to Friday November 26, 2010. As for how to take part here are the rules of the contest:
- This year only digital or scanned photos will be eligible for the competition.
- With the help of my staff, I will select twelve or more winning photos to be included in the 2011 calendar.
- The contest is open to all residents of the riding of Thunder Bay – Rainy River.
- All photos must be submitted electronically to the following email address raffej8@parl.gc.ca in JPEG, TIF, PNG, or GIF formats.
- The higher the quality the picture the better, but 2 Megapixels must be the minimum acceptable size due to the need to print the photos on paper.
- Winning photos will be judged primarily on composition, but winning selections will come from all areas of the riding and extra consideration may be given to submissions from small or remote communities.
- All entries must be received at my parliamentary office email (raffej8@parl.gc.ca) no later than Friday November 15, 2010.
- All entries will remain the property of the photographer, but by submitting their photo(s) the photographer gives my office and I the right to use and distribute the photo externally with photo credit being given to the owner.
My staff and I look forward to seeing your submissions and putting together another memorable edition of our constituency calendar. So please do send your photos – old or new – to my office so that we can build the best calendar possible for 2011-12.
John Rafferty MP
Thunder Bay Rainy River