By Jamie Irving
Despite rumours that he intends to retire from federal politics, Ottawa Centre MP Mac Harb says he isn’t going anywhere.
Recent published reports have indicated Penny Collenette, wife of Transport Minister David Collenette, is interested in running in Harb’s seat.
For some time, rumours have circulated in the riding that Harb is headed to the Senate or to Lebanon as ambassador. But Harb says none of it is true.
“All these rumours are unfounded, unsubstantiated and hysterical gossip by some of the local papers,” he said. “Nobody is after my job, everyone in the party is very supportive — particularly Collenette who pledged to work on my campaign next time around.”
Collenette said she would not be seeking Harb’s seat, though she did not rule out running in the next election.
“Mac Harb is a fantastic guy and a well-rounded MP for Ottawa Centre,” she said. “I would be happy if he stayed MP for Ottawa Centre for the rest of his life.”
Harb says if proof is needed that he is not going anywhere, people should look at his record in the Commons.
“Actions speak stronger than words,” he says. “I have over 54 private member’s bills — making up 40 per cent of all private member’s bills in Parliament. That speaks volumes of the fact that I am here to serve my constituents.”
Many of the bills are holdovers from the last House. They died when Parliament prorogued and have now been reintroduced.
Harb’s bills deal with a host of issues. However, two bills, if passed, will have far-reaching implications. One deals with a plan to install seat-belts in every vehicle on the road — including school buses. The second will change the definition of child to persons under the age of 18.
“In Canada, we find approximately 34 different pieces of legislation that define children differently. Some define the child under the age of 10, others under the age of 12, others 16, and some under the age of 18,” says Harb.
The UN has already defined child as anyone under the age of 18. Harb’s bill would change all federal legislation to conform with the UN’s definition.
Harb’s other bill would change the face of public transportation in Canada.
“The only way to save lives is to make it mandatory for all vehicles to have a seat-belt,” says Harb.
Most vehicles already have seat-belts, but Harb wants to extend it to all vehicles, including passenger and school buses.
“There were a number of accidents where school children were injured in school buses last year, accidents in B.C., Saskatchewan and Ontario,” says Harb.
School bus safety was the main reason Harb started his seat-belt campaign, but as the legislation took shape it grew to include all vehicles on the road.
But the Canada Safety Council says the most recent research questions the usefulness of seat belts on school buses.
A joint US-Canada study by Transport Canada and the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration, says seat belts on school buses might actually be harmful.
“Their preliminary findings, which we knew, are that there are no advantages to seat belts being implemented in this type of situation,” says Laurie Leclair, the council’s supervisor of traffic and safety training. “In fact, there may be greater drawbacks to it.”
She says the research indicates that children wearing seat belts over their stomachs could actually receive more serious injury in an accident than when not using them.