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To say that the past calendar year has been one of great change for my family is a considerable understatement. Truth be told, the past 12 months more closely represents the greatest period of unpredictability my family has ever experienced. So much so that it is impossible to summarize every event in a brief column. So even though this is only my second column for Castanet, I’m going to have to make it part 1 of a 2 part series and hope that you will read next week as well.
Following Werner Schmidt’s announcement that he was retiring as the Member of Parliament for Kelowna-Lake Country, I was contacted by the Conservative Party of Canada and asked if I would consider running in the forthcoming nomination. After much consultation and debate with family and friends, I agreed that this was a progressive step I wanted to pursue.
I was kind of stuck in limbo in May 2005 after I won a highly contested Conservative nomination bid characterized by a myriad of outstanding candidates. Thanks to some last-second dealing, Paul Martin’s Liberals passed the federal budget and Parliament remained intact for another day. As well, municipal elections were just around the corner and as such my third term as Kelowna City Councillor was nearing an end. I had no idea when the federal election was going to be held, no idea when if I would be elected, and my time as a City Councillor was running out.
While I learned a fair bit about politics during my 9 years as City Councillor, my knowledge of the federal political world was limited. As a result I thought it would be prudent to spend much of the summer of 2005 acting like a sponge and soaking up all the pearls of wisdom I could find. That and secretly hoping that the constituents of Kelowna-Lake Country weren’t too used to electing somebody with a perfect hairline although come to think of it neither of us ever has a hair out of place...
Justice Gomery’s scathing indictment of government misspending helped expedite the process of sending Canadians back to the ballot boxes. As a result, Parliament was dissolved on November 28th. From that day on the pace of my life quickened quite significantly. I was fortunate to be guided by a highly competent campaign team and a litany of exceedingly dedicated and hardworking volunteers. For 6 weeks they put in countless hours and I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t often humbled by their overwhelming encouragement and support. Thanks to the dedication of hundreds of incredible volunteers I was fortunate enough to be elected MP for this great riding of Kelowna-Lake Country.
So I was off to Ottawa. Nervous? A little. Anxious? A bit. Excited? You bet! The conclusion of the election allowed me a bit of time to catch my breath and prepare for the upcoming Parliament. However, two things became of seemingly dire importance almost immediately following January 22nd: finding a staff for my Constituency and Parliament Hill offices and going through the boxes full of letters that quickly began to accumulate in Ottawa. Thankfully, I was able to hire two outstanding members of Werner’s staff to complement two excellent new staff members. As for the letters… well, it took a while but we are all caught up!
So in approximately 500 words that is what I was up to prior to start of the 39th Parliament. Next week I’ll tell you what I’ve been doing since then and try to give you a little insight into what life on The Hill is really like.
This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
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