Area members of parliament, recently appointed to standing committees, will meet with fellow members this week.
Sarnia-Lambton MP Marilyn Gladu was appointed to the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, as well as the Standing Committee on Official Languages.
Gladu, who is bilingual, plans to push for a Francophone designation.
"With Sarnia having applied for the official designation of a Francophone riding here in Ontario, I think I am well positioned to represent there so I'm very excited," she said.
Gladu is also quite familiar with the transport challenges in the area with regard to ferry, rail, and air services.
"I'll be bringing a motion forward that the committee starts with a study on restoring rural air service," said Gladu. "I think with airports like Sarnia, where Air Canada basically abandoned the service a few years ago, there are other ridings in a similar situation and I think we need to figure out how we can restore service so that these communities can be linked."
Aside from pre-committee meetings and emergency meetings, Gladu said the committees typically meet twice a week for two hours at a time.
Gladu said the flooding situation in British Columbia and the resulting supply chain issues may be one example of an urgent issue the Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities may decide to address soon.
The Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities is expected to meet on December 16. Gladu said she expects a meeting for the Standing Committee on Official Languages to be called for December 15.
Meanwhile, Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MP Lianne Rood was appointed to the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics.
Rood said she's honoured to be appointed to the committee and looks forward to holding elected officials accountable for their actions and pushing for transparency.
"This government has put forward a bill that has $7.2 billion in spending right now and with no oversight, we've seen scandal after scandal, whether it was the SNC Lavalin scandal, the WE Charity scandal, multiple ethics violations by multiple members of the Liberal government," said Rood. "We'll look forward to holding them to account for the public good on anything that may come forward in the near future."
A meeting for the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics took place on Monday. Calgary Rocky Ridge MP Pat Kelly was elected chair of the committee.
