Altered States - How It Should Be

Todd Russell is amazing. A seeming throwback to the MPs of the past, he is, in fact, the very model of what effective politicians of the future could look like.I can drive across my riding of over 100,000 people in about 15 minutes. For Todd, it would take more than a day's flying time to span his Labrador constituency west to east, or north to south, and he only has 26,000 people in all of Labrador. Todd is the region's only MP. A former leader of the Metis nation, his knowledge of the people is remarkably intimate and detailed, yet challenged by the sheer geography of the place.I just returned late last night from spending four days with this remarkable man. Out of internet range for most of the time (thus, no posts), I had asked two other senior MPs to join me as we moved throughout the region in support of Todd. My wife and I were there last year as well, seeking to understand the daunting challenges one single MP has to face as a public servant. We understood immediately that a lone Liberal MP from Labrador can get lost in Ottawa, and so we asked others to join us this past week.We participated in high school graduations that were as sad as they were celebratory. The first saw five graduates accept their diplomas from Todd, and the second witnessed only two - the very school Todd himself had graduated from years earlier. For some Labradorian communities life is slowly coming to an end and their demise is as painful as you can imagine. These communities survived centuries of hardship only to fall prey to huge international fishing firms and bungled federal management over the decades. Once thriving, they now endure through the strength of their communities and remarkable resilience. Yet as they recede, a key part of this country's history goes with them.We also traveled to the military base in Goose Bay and the northern coastal community of Nain, where the blessings of Labrador's vast natural resources have given the town new life and a reason for optimism. Todd's challenges are so vast that the rest of us could only shake our heads in wonder. As their MP, he knew every leader, instinctively comprehended their myriad problems and encouraged every community that they mattered in Ottawa.Except that they don't, at least not much, and that's the tragedy. Todd Russell is a lion in Parliament, well-respected and eloquent. But he gets drowned out by screaming partisans, tin-ear bureaucrats and by large cities encumbered with complex problems. I watch him repeatedly attempt to speak out for his people and their crucial needs, only to be heckled by MPs who care more about their party and political prospects than they do about people.Todd Russell is no mere nostalgic figure from our more rural past; he is a modern, savvy political servant who takes on the challenges of starvation, loss of industry and culture, climate change fallout, and remarkable natural bounty in a spirit as vast as his land and its people. In Ottawa, where we come from should matter but often doesn't. Nothing of the kind can be said about this man. He is the prototype MP, and through all the machinations taking place in Ottawa in these last two decades - the altered states - he remains true to the spirit of politics at its best and patriotism at its most durable. He's the kind that never gets covered by the media or noted in blog postings, but he is the essence of our future as politics that matters. My friends, wife and I came away humbled, not only by the challenges and opportunities of a remarkable place, but by the humility and perseverance of a man that is a tribute to to his people. Would that we as MPs were all like this and that the media's own interest was captured by such a dramatic story told in subtle lines. For those of you who link to this blog, pass it on as a narrative of hope.