With the federal election over with, the newly elected MPs are flooding to Ottawa to train on Parliament Hill.
“They take you through everything you need to know to get up-and-running,” MP-Elect for Hastings-Lennox and Addington Derek Sloan explains about the non-partisan program the House of Commons runs after every federal election. Over two days, groups of MPs are brought in to learn the basics of the job they will be doing over the next four years. Sloan explains he got his security pass, was issued a secured phone and laptop and was given information on how to set-up his riding office and staff it, among other things. “House of Commons has around 2,200 staff that are designated to keep parliament functioning,” he says.
“You can be assured that democracy is alive and well and they’re giving MPs all the tools they need to represent their riding,” Sloan tells My Bancroft Now.
While learning was his priority, Sloan says he also took the time to meet some of his fellow MPs. The MP-Elect for Parry Sound-Muskoka Scott Aitchison, Simcoe North’s MP Bruce Stanton – both Conservative – and Liberal MP Francis Drouin of Glengarry-Prescott-Russell are just a few of the MPs he’s been in touch with. Sloan says he’s also been chatting with other experienced MPs like Conservative Michael Barrett of Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes to get advice.
Sloan won’t meet all of his fellow Conservatives MPs until November 6th when the party’s first caucus meeting is held. Before then, he says he will continue to reach out to municipal leaders in the riding and hopes to hire an experienced Parliament staffer to help him get set-up. Even with all this preparation, Sloan says nothing will be able to get him ready for what it will be like to experience his first sitting of Parliament.