Navdeep Bains more minister than MP, leaving Malton without a voice

Members of Parliament are required to be a local voice on a national stage. Local issues, at least in theory, get the ear of the prime minister so they may be addressed in a timely manner. 

Some of the local elected officials get lucky enough to have additional titles to their names. They can become committee members, opposition critics of cabinet members or assume the title of minister — a much sought-after position. In cases like these, the public expects the individual is capable of adequately dividing their time between their additional portfolios as well as their local constituents.

Mississauga—Malton Liberal incumbent Navdeep Bains

MP for Mississauga—Malton Navdeep Bains has been serving as the country’s minister of innovation, science and economic development since elected in 2015. While there are definite local wins he can boast about, his focus appears to be national concerns rather than his riding. Ministers typically focus on the challenges and issues related to their cabinet portfolios, on behalf of the whole country, but are also in Parliament to directly represent the local constituents who send them there.

Mississauga—Malton is a generally working-class area with lower average income, precarious housing and higher crime rates than the region overall. In mid-September, 17-year-old Jonathan Davis was killed during a brazen gangland shooting that also left five people injured, including a 13-year-old girl. Bains has not brought up Malton’s troubles once during House debates, nor has he tabled any bills that would have specifically benefited his city. He only mentioned the shooting once on his Twitter account: “My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and families impacted by yesterday’s shooting in #Malton. I’m determined to keep working hard to make our #Mississauga community a safer place for everyone.”

While Toronto police received $28 million in anti-gang and gun funding provided by Ottawa and allocated by the provincial government, Peel police received no such funding. The Pointer could find no record of Bains advocating for such public safety funding, despite mounting calls from Malton leaders asking for help to address rising violent crime in the area. Bains did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

A Bains tweet about the Malton mass shooting was sandwiched between others

He stood in the House of Commons to speak 510 times during the 42nd Parliament, the most of all Mississauga MPs. Cabinet members like Bains often take the lead during Question Period, when members from both sides of the aisle get a chance to interrogate the government. Yet despite such a high hit rate for speeches, Mississauga has only been mentioned four times in his current term.

That means that about 0.8 percent of his time in the House of Commons was spent talking about his city. When he did so, Bains did not raise the specific concerns of constituents, speaking only about the importance of a given piece of national legislation and how it might benefit Mississauga. 

“For example, in Mississauga–Malton, and the surrounding regions, there has been an enormous change in demographics and population,” Bains said in January 2017, answering a question from MP and now Attorney General David Lametti regarding Bill C-36 — Bains’ move to amend the statistics act. Lametti was parliamentary secretary to Bains at the time. 

“Good quality, reliable data will allow, for example, municipalities and our communities to plan better, particularly in my riding … To plan for schools and housing, those types of changes require good quality data so we can provide better services and outcomes to Canadians.” 

Bains’ other mentions involved him simply thanking a fellow Mississauga MP and thanking his constituents for putting him in office.

The Pointer asked Bains’ campaign team to explain his focus on national issues but did not immediately receive a response.

The Malton community police station was closed last year, angering residents. It's unclear if Bains tried to advocate for badly needed public safety funding in his riding. 

Alongside Bill C-36, Bains submitted Bill C-25 to amend the Canada Business Corporations Act and Bill C-11 to amend the copyright act. No doubt there are people in Malton who would benefit from these bills, but they do not address the core issues of the area. 

Huge sums of money are available to the federal government to combat the social ills plaguing Malton. The feds have the $327.6-million Initiative to Take Action Against Gun and Gang Violence, a $40-billion affordable-housing fund introduced in March of 2018 and a mammoth $188-billion Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program. 

Bigger-picture projects, such as addressing the automotive industry, telecommunications and foreign investment, appear to be higher on his priority list.

“As he has highlighted, our government has recently announced a policy directive requiring the CRTC to look at competition, affordability, consumer interests and innovation, because wireless data plans are up to 32 percent cheaper than the national average in regions with strong competition,” Bains said in February, responding to a question by fellow Mississauga MP Peter Fonseca.

The apartment complex in Malton where more than 130 bullets were fired. The federal government denied a $3.7 million grant request by Peel police this year to fund youth crime prevention initiatives. It's unclear why.

He spoke about the automotive industry 37 times throughout his term, particularly in reference to ongoing labour disruptions at the GM plants in Oshawa as well as investment in Windsor’s automotive sector. “We will never give up on the workers in Oshawa,” he said during a February 2019 debate. “I went to Detroit to meet with [GM CEO] Mary Barra, and I also spoke with [Unifor Nation president] Jerry Dias to talk about a solution. If there is a solution to be found, we will be at the table.”

He spoke about foreign investment 70 times. Much of 2017 for Bains was dominated by questions regarding the purchase of two Canadian companies by Chinese business in Vancouver.

Peter Kent, Tory MP for Thornhill, asked in April of that year: “Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have approved China's acquisition of a Montreal high-tech company. The company's fibre laser technology has several applications, including military development of directed energy weapons … Do the Liberals realize that in their rush to please China, they are putting the security of Canada and our allies at risk?” 

Bains answered Kent: “Let me be clear. We never have and we never will compromise on national security.”

That sort of advocacy on behalf of Malton and Mississauga as a whole was absent in his parliamentary record.

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