A day in the life of your Mississauga Streetsville MPP
Following Bob to work on a typical day

Many students ask Bob what his day as an MPP is like when he visits schools, to help them grasp what an elected official does. Though the days vary, here are typical examples:

While the Legislature is sitting:

Normally Bob and Andrea's cat, Obi-Wan, comes to wake up the household with the rising sun, but if Bob has an early meeting, he may need to be on the first GO Train out of Meadowvale at 6:35 a.m. That means a 5:15 a.m. wakeup, even ahead of the cat. Bob tends to take the GO Train if he does not have 'night duty,' at the Legislature, which means attending the sitting until the House adjourns, which may be 9:30 p.m. or midnight. Evening sittings that end at 9:30 p.m. are fairly regular, and midnight sittings happen on occasion each session, depending on the agenda. With the last GO Train leaving Toronto at 7:00 p,m., Bob tends to take the car downtown if he has an evening sitting.

Monday morning is used for meetings at Queen's Park, followed by a Legislative Strategy session at noon. The government caucus meetings normally take up all of Tuesday morning. The Legislative sitting starts at 1:30 p.m.

MPPs like Bob occasionally have a 90-second Members Statement soon after the House is in session. Most Members are in their seats through Question Period, and Bob normally has a petition to present after Question Period. The sittings are all carried live on Cable TV, Channel 70. You can see the proceedings for yourself live, or on re-broadcast after the Legislature adjourns for the evening.

Some committees will meet after Question Period, normally about 4:00 p.m. Bob has served on four such committees: Justice Policy (as vice-chair); Legislative Assembly (as chair); Estimates and Regulations and Private Bills. As well, Bob sits on the government committee on Legislation and Regulations. The government side must also maintain quorum in the House, which means at least 12 government members must be in their seats at all times. Everyone takes turns maintaining quorum in the Legislature.

Some trade and professional associations, or other organizations, rent rooms at the Legislature and host receptions to talk to MPPs, their staffs, ministry officials and others. It's called "lobbying." In the private sector, suppliers gather together existing and potential clients for the same purpose. It's called an "executive briefing." They are usually helpful, and assist in building contacts and learning things both ways. These receptions generally happen during lunch hour, or in the late afternoon.

When the Legislature sits in the evening, there is a 45-minute break for dinner, between 6:00 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. precisely! Everything at Queen's Park starts and finishes on time. Companies in the private sector could pick up some valuable lessons on managing committees from the procedures that have evolved over time in government.

The dinner break is one of the very few precious times that MPPs get to be alone in one another's company. Staff don't attend the dinner, just so that MPPs can talk to one another.

Bob is a frequent speaker during Legislative debates. MPPs 'sign up' to speak on or opposition government bills, in the Whip's office. Normally, MPPs speak for periods like five, seven or 10 minutes during debates. Responses to other speakers are limited to two minutes! That is not much time, and it means if you want to make a point, you'd better do your homework before the Speaker recognizes you, because the speaking time flies. If you try to go past your time, the Speaker may let you finish a sentence, but then he cuts the speaker off and goes to the next MPP on the speaking list.

If Bob's day finishes when the Legislature rises for dinner at 6:00 p.m., he usually takes the GO Train back to Meadowvale, and arrives home at about 7:20 p.m. He gets to change into his casual clothes, have dinner with Andrea and return a phone call or two, or attend a meeting in the evening. Before bed, he has his reading for the next day to do, just like lesson preparation for school, and after watching a bit of TV to relax a bit, it's lights-out sometime between 11:00 p.m. and midnight.

If Bob has night duty, he normally drives home straight after the House adjourns for the night, arriving home about 10:30 p.m. (if it is a 9:30 p.m. adjournment) or about 1:00 a.m. (if it is a midnight sitting). He'll get a quick snack, talk to Andrea for a bit, do a bit of reading or preparation for the next day, and go straight to bed.

Bob has a very nice office on the third floor of the Legislative Building. Most days, he gets to spend less than 15 minutes in it during the course of the day, normally running in to drop off papers from one meeting and to get materials for the next meeting. Kristen is his Legislative Assistant, and Rob is his Executive Assistant. When you call Bob's office in Queen's Park, you normally speak to one or the other, and they'll pass Bob a message to call you back if they can't help you.

Constituency Days

When the Legislature is sitting, Friday is Constituency Day. This is the day Bob is in Mississauga during normal working hours. Bob's Executive Assistant manages his schedule, and normally schedules school visits and other site visits to companies, seniors' residences or other places on Fridays.

Bob works with his two Constituency staff members to resolve constituent problems before he asks a person to come and meet with him in the office. Most constituent issues, such as birth certificates, Ontario disability Support Program (ODSP) issues and the like are resolved by Bob's staff. As Bob says, "They work with these issues more frequently than I do, and frankly can resolve most issues more quickly than I can." Sometimes, however, there is a specific need for an MPP to make a call, write a letter or provide some advice or suggestions, and constituents are normally booked for 30-minute appointments on Fridays when the Legislature is sitting, and during most business hours when the Legislature is not in session.

Bob's constituency staff normally have thick folders of correspondence for Bob to review, e-mails and phone calls to return, certificates and cards to sign and cases to discuss. Despite the best intentions of the office staff, they often stay at work until past six on Fridays.

Weekends

On Friday afternoon, most employees can leave work behind, and get on with their home lives. That's when they go to banquets, dinners and other public events, and often see their MPP there. MPPs are frequently invited to an event to bring greetings on behalf of the Government of Ontario, and on a given weekend, Bob and his colleagues may represent the government on several occasions. Bob's staff try to keep Sunday clear for Bob to spend time at home with Andrea. Sometimes they are lucky, and both Saturday and Sunday are free. Other times, it can't be helped, and weekend private time is limited to a few hours at a stretch between appearances at events.

Speechmaking

Students often ask Bob, "Do you have a speechwriter?" The answer is "sort of..." Bob's Legislative Assistant normally does the research for Bob when he is asked to speak at an event, or in the Legislature, but it is normally Bob who puts his remarks together. Bob worked in public relations for nearly 15 years, both in consulting firms and in the corporate world, so speechwriting is something that comes easy to him.

On many topics, Bob thinks the issue through, and likes to speak without prepared notes. In some cases, especially in debates in the House, Bob likes to have his talking points (and sometimes specific phrases) down on paper in front of him. "You only get one chance to make that first impression," he says, "and I want to say something specific in my very short time. I don't like to speak in a 'stream-of-consciousness' narrative. I believe that if you are asked to speak, you won't be able to say much in ten minutes that you can't say in five minutes, or even two minutes. If you want people to remember what you have said, you need to devote some time to thinking your message and your words through. You have to try and make every sentence work to carry the message from your mind into the mind of whoever is listening, and respect their time."