The NDP Caucus is preparing over the coming weeks for the new session of Parliament, which will begin on Monday, January 29th, 2001.

The first order of business for the 37th Parliament will be the election by secret ballot by all MP's of a new Speaker of the House of Commons. After the election of the Speaker, the next order of business will be the Speech from the Throne, which is read in the Senate Chamber by the Governor-General.

The Throne Speech sets out the government's priorities for the new session of Parliament. After it is read in the Senate, it is debated in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister usually starts the debate, and each party has the opportunity to reply.

All legislation from the last Parliament (including Government bills and those motions and bills introduced by individual MP's) which were not passed or defeated before the election are considered "dead" on the Order Paper and must be reintroduced.

The NDP Caucus will be pressing the government when Parliament returns to reintroduce a.s.a.p. Bill C-44, which was supposed to change the Employment Insurance Act to assist seasonal workers. We will also push for the introduction of an improved version of Bill C-33, An Act respecting the protection of wildlife species at risk in Canada.

NDP caucus members are committed to working with others to rebuild and renew our party in this post-election period. We will miss our colleagues who lost their seats in the last election, but will continue their fight in and outside of Parliament. And we welcome our new caucus member Joe Comartin (Windsor-St. Clair, Ontario).

As NDP House Leader, I look forward to the coming months and opportunities for our caucus - to challenge the Liberals to live up to their campaign promises, and fight on behalf of Canadians for action on agriculture, education, the environment, health care, and poverty. We will also continue to be the only party in the House of Commons to critique the Liberals' wholesale acceptance of globalization and the multinational corporate agenda.