A parliamentary committee travelling Canada on a G-8 summit fact-finding mission is a waste of time and money, says a member of the committee.
Canadian Alliance MP Keith Martin says the final report resulting from the cross-country public hearings will likely wind up gathering dust rather than influencing policy decisions -- all at "great cost" to taxpayers.
"I frankly doubt whether this (committee report) is even going to be used by the prime minister," Martin said during the three-member committee's stop Wednesday in Calgary.
Martin was recently censured by the House of Commons for grabbing the ceremonial mace in protest after his private member's bill was rejected.
"These committees are make-work projects for MPs. We make the documents, put them together at great cost to the public, and then they're thrown on the shelf to collect dust."
The House of Commons standing committee on foreign affairs and international trade is gathering public comment on the topic of the North American relationship and the G-8 agenda.
The committee hearings are intended to be a forum for academics, social justice and environmental groups, business leaders and interested citizens.
The committee intends to compile its findings and hand a report to Prime Minister Jean Chretien in advance of the June summit in Kananaskis.
Turnout at the hearings has been fair from organized groups giving official presentations.
Attendance from the public, however, has been dreadful.
In Calgary -- the closest city to Kananaskis -- no one from the public bothered to attend the hearings.
Indeed, the number of committee assistants, sound technicians, translators and reporters there actually outnumbered the number of groups giving officials presentations.
"It's disappointing that we don't have greater engagement with the general public," Martin said.
"Canadians are perhaps more interested in putting food on table, having safe streets, (finding) a job."
John Harvard, a Liberal MP and chair of the committee, rejected Martin's suggestion that the hearings are a waste of time, saying Chretien will be presented with the final report before the summit.
Harvard said low attendance could be blamed on "having no budget for advertising.
"Wherever we've gone, this is the kind of turnout we've had."
If Calgarians had attended the hearing on Wednesday, they would have enjoyed a wide range of presentations, including:
- Aaron Cosbey, senior advisor with the International Institute for Sustainable Development, urged Can-ada and the United States to change free trade laws to better protect social justice and environmental concerns;
- Randy Rudolph, co-chair of the G-6B conference at the University of Calgary, stressed the importance of universal access to education for the world's poorest children;
- United Church Rev. Clint Mooney called for the creation of an international code of ethics for businesses that requires them to respect human and environmental concerns.
The committee travels today to Edmonton to continue its hearings.
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