Between introducing a bill to disassemble the controversial anti-terror Bill C-51 and carrying Sooke’s voices to Ottawa, NDP MP Randall Garrison has kept busy since last fall’s federal election.
The MP, who serves the Sooke-Esquimalt-Saanich constituency, said he’s received lots of response from constituents.
“First Nations leaders are quite concerned that legitimate dissent in defence of their treaty rights is captured by Bill C-51, and I believe they are correct,” Garrison said, adding that it needs to be repealed.
On a less national scale, Garrison said he will also be raising issues that come out of Sooke in particular, such as lack of childcare and transportation.
“I hear that repeatedly from many people in Sooke because that’s where young families can afford to live, but it doesn’t have the healthcare to accompany it, and then they end up to have to commute on Sooke Road,” he said, adding that insufficient funds hasn’t helped the matter.
“We’ve been asking the Liberals about what happened to their promises for better funding for transit, because they’re short for what they promised they would do,” Garrison said.
Under Garrison’s radar is also CFB Esquimalt, after receiving a report based from both an internal audit and the auditor general identifying “very serious” workplace problems because of the failure to keep up with maintenance and repair on military bases.
“We have a number of buildings more than 50 years old that have asbestos in them, and we all know asbestos has been a proven threat to those who have to work in those buildings,” he said.
Garrison noted that he’ll be asking the Department of National Defence what the plan is to protect the health of the people working on the base.
