Hon. Carolyn Bennett

One of the huge privileges and joys of being an MP is getting to travel across the country and listen to Canadians talk about their needs, as well as hear their thoughtful proposals for real solutions. It means that we spend a lot of...

Monday in Question Period I asked Minister of Health Leona Aglukkaq a simple question:

Mr. Speaker, unbelievably, the Minister of Health has made Aboriginal health the number one target for cuts in her department. She has cut programs for diabetes, youth suicide and Aboriginal health human resources. She says she...

In sport, in business, in politics, winning is generally viewed to be better than losing. Winning by cheating is never to be celebrated -- not in Russia, not in Burma, and certainly not in Canada.

The question is no longer whether there were nefarious activities to secure a Conservative victory...

For 21 years, we've been commemorating Dec. 6 as a day of mourning and remembrance for the 14 young women at École Polytechnique brutally slain by an angry male who hated feminists. For 21 years we have read the wonderful poem that Stevie Cameron wrote the next day....

Last month Quebec's Minister of Justice, Jean-Marc Fournier, came to Ottawa to plead with the Conservative government to look at the evidence-based approaches to crime his province has pioneered. These approaches lead to safer communities. He explained that the C-10 "tough on crime" approach doesn't actually work. When accused by...

The Ontario election outcome was hugely important for Canada. Ontarians have traditionally preferred to put in place the checks and balances of divided government -- Trudeau/Davis, Mulroney/Peterson, Chretien/Harris -- and this election was no different. Ontarians chose a Liberal Government to provide a counterbalance to the Harper Government and, in...

Last week the Conservative government introduced Bill C-10, "The Safer Streets, Safer Communities Act," which, according to all the experts and the evidence, will not produce safer streets or safer communities. It may, in fact, do exactly the opposite.

Statscan reported this summer that "the...

I once heard Maurice Strong explain that you just need to look to the top of the globe and you'll find the countries with the most developed social programmes. He explained that in the cold countries in the north, communities figured out that they truly needed to help...

Next week the Canadian Medical Association meets in Newfoundland. The program looks interesting, as always. The education sessions on Sunday afternoon will be on Health Care Transformation and preparing for the renegotiation of the Health Accord between the federal government and the provinces and territories in 2014.

As always,...

Recently Toronto mayor and chair of the city's executive committee pulled an 'all-nighter' to hear from approximately 300 of the roughly three million people who live in Toronto. They were invited to share their views of the KPMG study that outlined the areas for possible program cuts in the City's...

Over the summer I hope to develop the theme of 'Democracy between Elections' -- the two-way accountability that is meaningful citizen engagement. The goal is to provide in chunks a framework for a 'Politicians Guide to Listening and a Citizens Guide to Being Heard'. It seems imperative that we move...

Every year, July 1 is the day we get to pause and celebrate our truly wonderful country.

Canada means "village" or "settlement" in the Saint-Lawrence Iroquoian language. Somehow our "village" or "settlement" has evolved into a beacon of diversity and tolerance for the world. We need to look to...

I've often heard it said that, the time has come for many of us when politics has become too important to leave to the men only.

I agree, but not just to be fair to the 52 per cent of the population who are women. Nor because as...

Last week, Bob Rae named me the Liberal Party 'critic' for Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. I have always preferred the title in French, 'porte-parole' -- the word for 'spokesperson' instead of 'critic.'

I thought being the spokesperson for the party and stakeholders was more positive. I had always...

Over way too many years, divisions within my party have made it very difficult for talented leaders to work together, and for all our members to feel at home in their own party.

This dysfunction has put our country in the hands of a prime minister who campaigns instead...

On the morning of election day 2006, my team arrived at the campaign office to find that the lock to the front door had been glued shut. When the property manager -- a recent immigrant to Canada from Afghanistan -- let us in through the back door, he said, "Oh...