Peter Milliken Just Sent me a Ten Percenter. I'm in Shock!

I just got a ten per center in the mail from Peter Milliken, who broke all the rules in sending this to me.

First off. He is my Member of Parliament. These are supposed to come from people who have never been to Kingston or have no idea what our concerns are.

Calgary MP Rob Anders knows the rules. He's sent me two so far. Tom Lukiwski from Saskatchewan, Mike Wallace from Burlington, Blake Richards from Alberta, and Rob Clarke from whatever hole he crawled out of; have also helped to fill up my recycle bin.

But can you imagine the nerve of a Member of Parliament, and the Speaker of the House no less, sending this to his own constituents? Shocking!

And what a load of propaganda. The Reformers know what to put in a ten per center. Silly polls with arrows pointing to Stephen Harper, grammatical errors, informing me that Michael Ignatieff may have once thought of himself as a Samurai Warrior; that he was "just visiting" or would raise our taxes.

How can you even call this an abuse of tax payer money?

Instead, Mr. Milliken is telling me about the Home Renovation Tax Credit, the Children's Fitness Credit and provides information on H1N1. He also devotes a complete page to Veteran's week, and promotes 'fringe groups' like the volunteers of HMCS Cataraqui, the Burmese Star Association and tries to get me to go to a ceremony, honouring the Battle of Britain. And then of course there's the subliminal message about passports, clearly wanting us to leave the country.

This is an outrage!
-------------------
Way to go Peter.

I think what was so shocking, when I first started receiving the ten per centers on behalf of our local Cons candidate Brian Abrams, was the fact that in the 20 years that Peter Milliken has represented this riding; he has never resorted to these tactics. Our current government has shown me what tax abuse looks like.

Ironically, last night while my husband and I were discussing the fact that Harper's Reformers had resorted to blackmail to scrap the Gun Registry, and their general incompetence; there was a knock at the door. Turned out it was someone who actually had the nerve to be canvassing for the Ref-Con Party.

To my credit, I did not turn the hose on him, but was tempted to release the hounds. (Not really hounds, but a Jack Russell and a 100 pound lap dog).

I just said "are you kidding me?" He got the hint.

Congratulations to Peter Milliken. Longest Serving Speaker of the House

I have to admit that I didn't vote for Peter Milliken until 2008. He has served Kingston for more than 20 years, and has done a great job.

I was just never really a Liberal supporter, though I have voted for all of the top three at some time.

My allegiance, if I had one, was with the Progressive Conservatives. However, I have been following Stephen Harper and his Reform movement for many years and just knew that his goal of dismantling our social safety net, is the absolute wrong thing for Canada. Like Bob Rae recently stated. He is a Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde. I call him the Devil you think you know.

Mind you, he hasn't won his majority yet and I still have confidence in the Canadian people, that they will come to their senses. If Harper was honest with Canadians, he would ask us how we feel about losing our public health care, Canada pensions (many seniors quit the Reform Party when they learned of this), public education and help for the most vulnerable. He would ask us how we feel about supporting a nuclear war in the Middle East to fulfil a Biblical prophesy.

But he won't ask, and hoping that Stephen Harper could be honest, is like hoping the Maple Leafs will win the Stanly Cup. It's never going to happen. Sigh.

Commons Speaker Milliken marks milestone today
The Canadian Press
October 12, 2009

OTTAWA — Peter Milliken's job might be compared to herding cats, but he's done it longer than anyone in Canadian history.

Milliken is the Speaker of the House of Commons and, as of Monday, he will have held the job for 3,178 days, surpassing the tenure of Lucien Lamoureux, a Trudeau-era Speaker.

While few people are likely to recognize the name, they'll likely know the face. On the evening news clips from the Commons, he's the white-haired chap in the black robe trying to keep the exasperation from his voice as he tries to calm a raucous question period.

The 62-year-old MP from Kingston, Ont., was elected the 34th Speaker on January 29, 2001, and has since been acclaimed once and re-elected twice to the post. It's probably an apt vocation for a man who, as a teenager, subscribed to Hansard and wrote a college thesis on question period in the 1960s.

The short, elfin-faced Milliken says, though, that he never aspired to the Speaker's chair. "I think when I first got elected I wanted to be a minister, but it didn't happen," he said in a recent interview.

He grew up in Kingston, where he attended high school and Queen's University. He came to Parliament in 1988, as the Liberal member for Kingston and the Islands, which takes in much of the riding once held by Sir John A. Macdonald.

He drifted into the arcane world of parliamentary procedure after his re-election in 1993. He was parliamentary secretary to the government House leader for just over two years. He then moved into deputy chair and deputy speaker's jobs as he mastered the intricacies that govern Parliament.

He was finally elected Speaker and was dragged, feigning protest, to the chair, which he has held for eight years, eight months and 13 days. It's a job drenched in tradition and wrapped with precedent.

The traditions range from the tricorn hat, black robe and white collar tabs of his office to the historic oil paintings that hang in his chambers. The precedents that govern his rulings stretch back to the 17th century and Westminster.

It's a tough job. He has to cut himself off from his own party and caucus to avoid any perception of bias. He must maintain order among 307 often-fractious MPs. He has to handle his own constituency work, like any other MP. He's basically the chief executive officer of Parliament, overseeing budgets and operations for the Commons and the various buildings that make up what's called the parliamentary precinct.

He's a member of various international parliamentary groups. Plus there's a busy social schedule of dinners and receptions for MPs, ministers and visiting dignitaries.

"It's time-demanding, very demanding, time-wise," he said. "You start reasonably early in the morning and you go fairly late at night every day."

Traditionally, the Speaker steps away from his party and caucus and takes an impartial stance, voting only in the event of a rare tie.

Since Confederation, Speakers have voted only 10 times. But Milliken - who has presided over three minority governments - has cast five of the tie-breakers himself, the most recent just last week.

He's the only Speaker ever to break a tie in a confidence vote. On May 19, 2005, he voted against an NDP non-confidence motion, sustaining Paul Martin's minority Liberal government.

But that vote was essentially pre-ordained because, as Milliken explains, the Speaker is required to vote either for the status quo, or to continue debate. A vote for the government met both conditions. But there's one case he hopes to avoid, that would be a tie on third and final reading of a major bill.

"The argument would be, what you do on third reading?" he said. "What if it had been third reading? When you're supposed to vote for the status quo do you then vote to throw the bill out so that you don't change the law? Or do you argue that the status quo is maintaining the government?

"I haven't had to face that one and I'm quite thankful I haven't."

One topic that always comes up in discussing the Speaker's job is decorum. The Commons often echoes with hoots, cat-calls, boos, cheers and the affable Milliken is charged with calming the din and getting things back on track.

Although many complain that the House has become a bedlam in recent years, Milliken remembers sitting in the galleries as a student in the 1960s, when the boom of fists slammed on desk tops could be deafening.

"There was a lot of yelling and desk thumping. ... It was so loud it drowned out anything," he said. "You couldn't hear a thing when people were pounding their desks and that's exactly what they did. It would start in the middle of an answer or the middle of a question."

Today, desk thumping is out of style on the House, replaced by booing or cheers and ovations. "I don't think it's that much worse than it was," Milliken says. "It's bigger - then there were 265 (MPs) now it's 308 - so it is bigger. ... But I don't think the noise is particularly worse."

What has changed is that more people see the question period uproar. "Because it's on television, people see it more than they did before. I think they're thinking: 'Boy! Look at this.'
"You can see what they're doing and they are making a lot of noise."

Milliken is the third Speaker to be elected by the MPs themselves. Until 1986, the government selected the Speaker. Milliken says election means MPs have a stake in ensuring the Speaker succeeds.

They were always quick to jump on an appointed Speaker for real or perceived flaws.

"Now, having been elected by everybody, they are prepared to be a little more forgiving if the Speaker's making errors or making rulings they don't like, because they have to take some responsibility for having chosen the person themselves.

The elections aren't always easy. He was first elected to the post on a fifth ballot and took four ballots to win last November.

For all the long hours and procedural wrangling, the job does have perks. The Speaker gets a cabinet minister's salary. He has a country residence called The Farm, at Kingsmere in the scenic Gatineau Hills north of the capital. It was once owned by Mackenzie King and one room holds the very bed where the former prime minister died.

The Speaker also has a suite of rooms in the Centre Block, looking out toward the Ottawa River. They are panelled in hand-carved wood and furnished with antiques and heritage pieces, including the chair used by the very first speaker in 1867.

A giant enlargement of Karsh's famous photo of a glowering Winston Churchill dominates one wall.

At one time, Speakers alternated between anglophones and francophones. Tradition dictated that an anglophone Speaker would hang a portrait of Maj.-Gen. James Wolfe in his chambers. A francophone Speaker would hang a portrait of Louis-Joseph de Montcalm. The generals, both killed at the Battle of Quebec, maintained two solitudes.

Milliken, however, follows an example set by Lamoureux 40 years ago and has both portraits on his wall. Although Milliken keeps a serious face in public, he isn't a fuddy duddy. The Trailer Park Boys dropped into his office one day and he promptly threw a headlock on one of the lads.

He's a fan of the Tragically Hip - not so much the music because he favours classical - but because they're from Kingston and went to school with his younger sister. He cultivates a dry sense of humour, which can slip out with a twinkle even in the House.

All in all, Milliken says he's satisfied with his lot. "I've quite enjoyed the experience and continue to do so."

More Postings on Peter Milliken:

1. Peter Milliken Just Sent me a Ten Percenter. I'm in Shock!

My First Official Liberal Meeting and I Only Embarrassed Myself Once

I attended my first official Liberal meeting last week, where the guest speaker was Kingston's own Peter Milliken, a man who has not only served our city for more than 20 years, but is Speaker of the House.

I'd never actually met Mr. Milliken before. My husband went to school with him and said that he was always bright; exhibiting leadership qualities even then. I also remember in high school, passing his picture everyday, since he had once been head boy at Kingston Collegiate.

As a cousin of John Matheson, a former Liberal Member of Parliament who is best known for his prominent role in adopting the red maple leaf as the Flag of Canada, patriotism is in his blood.

From his resume, I know that he holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Economics from Queen's University, a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Jurisprudence from Oxford University in England, and a Bachelor of Laws degree from Dalhousie University.

He was a perfect fit for his current role, since he has subscribed to Hansard since the age of sixteen, so was already well-versed in parliamentary procedure before being elected to the House of Commons.

When he took the podium, he was very relaxed and spoke of this year as being turbulent at best. During the Parliamentary crisis, when the Conservative caucus had reduced itself to a pack of mental patients on day parole (my words), it was very stressful. He mentioned that 'traitor' seemed to be an oft repeated accusation.

I think secretly he was glad it was over, though with another confidence motion possible in the fall, and rumblings of Harper's plan to again prorogue Parliament (meaning they would sit out until January of 2010 if his request is granted), I think he's prepared for another bumpy ride.

I sat at the 'newbie' table, along with others trying to blend into the background, but as each member of the local riding association got up to speak, I felt more comfortable, realizing that we all shared a common goal. Getting rid of the Conservative party so we can get our country back.

We did learn, that Kingston and Islands is a riding that the Conservatives want badly and have pulled out all the stops to get their candidate, Brian Abrams elected. He has apparently, like Harper, hired an American Republican polling firm, so we know what we're going to be up against.

We can expect a little visit from Karl Rove, or one of his clones, and things will probably get nasty soon. Fortunately Abrams can't use our money to run push polls, but he will no doubt try to muddy the waters. Another ex-RCMP to add to Harper's fascist regime, if he 's elected.

Last election he made the mistake of engaging in a public battle with Robert Baker of the tragically Hip, over arts funding. In Kingston you don't mess with the 'Hip'.

My husband used to coach Gord Downie when he played hockey (he was about 10), and Mr. Baker was once a neighbour, so I'm thinking of sending him an email. He's a strong Liberal supporter, and I just want to see if he has any strategies. It can't hurt to try.

Encouraging news was that membership in the Kingston chapter has risen by almost 40% since December, due in part to the campaign of lies launched by Harper and his clan.

The couple I spent the evening with were both retired professionals who joined the Liberal Party after attending the Town hall meeting, with Scott Brison. They were impressed with his presentation and intelligent answers to some tough questions. The husband was currently reading one of Michael Ignatieff's books (I' m on my fifth), so we engaged in a discussion about the attributes Mr. Ignatieff would be bringing to the PMO.

There was a sense of optimism, but also of urgency. We were all grandparents, so were pushed into political activism, because we want our grandchildren to grow up in the same kind of Canada we grew up in. Not the horrendous vision of the Harper government.

Oh, and about that embarrassing moment.

Near the end of the evening, Mr. Milliken joined us, beer in hand, and sat down like we had all been life long friends. Brazenly, I called out 'Peter. Can I take your picture?'

I immediately realized my error, and tried to regain my composure, calling him Mr. Milliken, and maybe your highness; I was too horrified to remember. He just laughed and said that at these functions there were no formalities. He asked my name and extended his hand. He then reminded me of a barbecue at his house on July 12, and settled back to enjoy the positive energy in the room.

A barbecue? ... at the home of the Speaker of the House? ... the House of Commons?... Yikes!!! I just hope I get to report about it and you don't have to read it on the front page of the Toronto Star.

'Crazy lady sets Speaker on fire in BBQ mishap'! I can see it now.