Lloyd Longfield came to Guelph for a two-year adventure, 23-years-ago. After a long campaign, and even longer nomination period, Longfield was elected as a Liberal MP for the Guelph riding in the October 2015 election. Longfield captured 49.1 per cent of the vote, second in the record of the riding only to Progressive Conservative Bill Winegard who nabbed 49.91 per cent of the votes in 1984.
“It’s a busy time, and I think something what’s different for Guelph from the last couple of terms is that [the] Member of Parliament in Guelph is now a member of the governing party, the majority party,” said Longfield. “The work on committees is a little different. Instead of criticizing, we’re implementing. Instead of trying to influence decisions by the majority, we’re taking input from other parties.”
Before the members of Parliament get too used to their spot in the House of Commons, like any job, they have to be trained.
“I’ve been using a school analogy a lot—that it’s like the coolest home room I’ve ever been in,” said Longfield. “You’ve got a lot of talent; diversity—there’s issues being discussed that engage a lot of people, so you’re learning from the people in the house, and you are contributing whatever you can.”
With Longfield expressing that his parliamentary training is akin to school, it may bring to mind the fact that public sector education training has changed overtime. While diversity, inclusivity, and human rights-based training is taught to members of parliament, anti-oppression still lacks its own individual training unit.
“We have had training on ethics, and we have discussed diversity,” said Longfield. “A big part of our campaign was diversity being a strength of Canada. […] One of the main value pieces of our government is to look at getting opinions using diverse input across the country, across ages [and] across gender.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s choice to implement a cabinet divided along equal gender lines was praised as a step forward for politics in society, but opponents preferred a meritocracy. Longfield mentioned these actions of the Liberal party, and outlined more of what we can expect during the decision making process in the future.
“Women’s issues will be a part of every issue that we discuss,” said Longfield. “Gender oppression or imbalance will be addressed by specifically looking at the impacts of every policy we do on women.”
While Longfield said that he has been working with cultural groups across the region including the Guelph Black Heritage Society, he was unfamiliar with the historic C.J. Munford Centre.
“I’ve been working [with] the Black community in Guelph, but not the Black community on campus,” said Longfield.
Last November, the Black Lives Matter and Black on Campus campaigns appeared in the public eye, after receiving international recognition in traditional and social media.
“l saw it on social media, and I was following the comments […] but it wasn’t a part of our conversation, and I wasn’t familiar with it outside of campus, and what I was seeing,” said Longfield.
It’s been nearly 10 years since Guelph was represented by a member of parliament from the country’s majority party. With this new form of representation comes a new hope for the people of Guelph who were seeking better representation. The public is still waiting to see how elements of the platform relating to education and electoral reform pan out. Federal student loans and grants are being distributed across the nation this month, and according to the Liberal platform, the funds for some people will increase in the future.
“We don’t have a timeline yet,” said Longfield. “We know it’s a priority, and we know we have to work with the provinces.”
On electoral reform, and the realities of the last elections voter turnout, Longfield offered a frank sentiment.
“A lot of the 49 per cent that voted for me weren’t voting for me directly, they were voting for something else,” said Longfield. “The first past the post [system] may work for two parties, but when you get beyond that it doesn’t work very well, and over time it gets worse.”
The Liberal party is looking to make electoral reform happen within the first 18 months.
“We have had some internal questions already, we have discussed as a party,” said Longfield. “Each MP was asked what we are hearing in our ridings. […] Most of us have responded I’m going to say, I shouldn’t say. I can say that I responded that our community is very interested in electoral reform. I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of other communities were saying the same thing.”
The government will be striking a committee to address electoral reform in future days.