Our mmber of parliament gets a photo treatment in Maclean's magazine - and explains how well the Prime Minister did on his road trip

By Pepper Parr

February 1st, 2017

BURLINGTON, ON

Now that she is the Minister of Democratic Institutions expect to hear a lot more from our Member of Parliament Karina Gould.

She recently got a photo essay in Maclean’s magazine. And she will be heard more often in the House of Commons where she will have to answer any questions on what she is doing as Minister of Democratic Institutions.

Karina Gould – looking out her office window over the Parliament buildings.

Before Gould took over that Ministry there was a survey “MyDemocracy.ca” done. The survey was designed by Vox Pop Labs who developed the questions, in consultation with the Government of Canada and an advisory panel of prominent scholars in areas such as research design, survey methodology, and electoral politics.

The panel members included the following academics: André Blais, professeur titulaire, Université de Montréal; Elisabeth Gidengil, Hiram Mills professor, McGill University; Richard Johnston, professor, University of British Columbia; Peter Loewen, associate professor, University of Toronto; Scott Matthews, associate professor, Memorial University; Jonathan Rose, associate professor, Queen’s University; Laura Stephenson, associate professor, Western University; and Melanee Thomas, assistant professor, University of Calgary.

Gould explained that the Government of Canada wanted to engage as many Canadians as possible in a conversation about electoral reform. Postcards were sent to every Canadian household inviting them to participate in MyDemocracy.ca.

The breakdown of expected costs for the postcards includes $1,673,921.08 for postage and a total of $295,128 for the printing and preparation of the cards, which were done by the same firm. There were no other individual costs.

Minister of Democratic Institutions Karina Gould at her desk in Ottawa – bigger desk now that she is a Cabinet Minister

The contract with Vox Pop Labs for the development of the application along with analysis and reporting of results is expected to cost $369,058.00, including HST.

The process for developing, reviewing, and providing feedback on questions was an iterative, consultative, and collaborative process. Final approval for the questions included in MyDemocracy.ca was given in November 2016.

So there you have it.  The government asked a lot of questions – the public answered xxx

When you are a Minister you also have to toe the party line.

In a response to what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did when he toured the country Gould said “he travelled across the country to 10 town halls, seven provinces, and 12,000 Canadians where he was open and accountable.

Strolling through the House of Commons with her Chief of Staff Jamieson Burlington MP and Cabinet Minister has a much busier day.

He let people ask whatever questions they chose and he answered Canadians. That is something that we are incredibly proud of on this side of the House: engaging with Canadians, listening to Canadians, and being open and transparent.

Part of the reason the Prime Minister had to get out into the boonies was to let Canadians hear him explain the cash for access he was running – that matter still hasn’t been resolved to the satisfaction of many.

Gould will get into running her department and at some point we will hear what she wants to bring forward – she first has to develop a policy, then get it through Cabinet and then be part of the process of selling it to the rest of the country.

Karina Gould: Stopping to pick up lunch. Part of a photo feature in Maclean’s magazine on the youngest female member of Cabinet the country has ever had.

Many wonder if there is enough time to get all this done before the next federal election.

If Gould can create the impression that she is working on it and dribble out information so that the public doesn’t give up on her the way they did with her predecessor – she will be fine but at some point Gould is going to have to come up with a policy that bears some resemblance to the election promise Trudeau made and that the public really bough into.