Dear Laurie,

Thank you for your email of today. One of the main responsibilities of a Member of Parliament is to represent his constituents views in Parliament and to keep his constituents informed on a regular basis. This presents a huge, expensive challenge. To allow MPs to do this in a cost effective manner the House of Commons, years ago, set up an in-house printing facility and postal service on a permanent basis. This was done to facilitate members efforts to dialogue with their constituents on a regular and consistent basis at a reasonable cost.

These facilities are available to all members. Some members choose to not use them while others use them regularly. I choose to use the process as it is the least expensive method of communicating with each and every member of my constituency. I am able to send a one page bilingual communique to every household 26 times per year for a cost of less than $1.00 per year per household. Canada Post does not charge for mailings to and from Members of Parliament. To use other methods of communication such as radio or newsprint would cost many hundreds of thousands of dollars per year and only reach 30% of the population.

I receive anywhere between 4-12% returns depending on the issue. The feedback I receive is invaluable when I am presenting my constituent's views during caucus meetings and voting on legislation.

Although preparation of the communiques and the handling of the returns is labour intensive for my staff and I, it is well worth the effort to credibly represent my constituents.

I thank you for your feedback on this issue and I hope this information is helpful.

Guy Lauzon
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To whoever is reading/responding:

Thank you very much for your responses. Here, in turn, are mine:

1. Who pays for the House of Commons printing facility? I’m sure the paper, ink, and manpower isn’t donated and, if I’m not mistaken, taxpayers ultimately do pay for the House of Commons.

2. If the government is truly trying to get “green” this makes a really poor example. The amount of paper, and ultimately trees, used every two weeks is criminal if this stuff is being sent to every household, business, and barn in the constituency…and what came in the mail today is FAR from a 1 page bilingual communiqué.

3. Mr. Lauzon already has a website at http://www.guylauzon.ca. I’m sure far more people are on the internet daily than listening to radio or watching TV – easily more than the quoted 30%. I would expect you would get far more feedback that way than having to fill out and mail a card.

4. If there has to be something mailed how about a postcard reminding people that Mr. Lauzon is available to them through the thing they sit at all day every day? It can even have a friendly reminder that he can be reached by telephone or mail at any time for those who aren’t on the net. That might open a dialogue.

5. Post the questionnaires, surveys, and comments requests online – designed and uploaded takes far less resources at a much more reasonable cost. Webmasters are apparently already on the payroll – put a database behind the questions and the intensive labour of processing paper information is gone. Just think how much more accessible and timely that invaluable feedback would be!

6. It’s just great that MPs get Canada Post services for free – no wonder it costs me $15 to send a parcel to BC today that I could send for $1.50 just 18 months ago! I have sent items to Australia and Japan faster and for less money than the identical package to Sudbury.

I hope this puts my position clearly forward. I am continually stunned at the lack of common sense in the world lately and have come to the conclusion that if I don’t speak up nobody will. I am starting the Common Sense Evolution.

Laurie MacEachern

 Dear Laurie, 

Thank you for you email of today. For your information I personally prepared and sent the response. I thank you for the additional comments you sent today.

Guy Lauzon

 Dear Laurie,

 Mr. Lauzon asked me to pass on his thanks for your suggestions. Our office is in the process of looking at ways to make our website more interactive.

 Canada Post delivers all mail from MPs free of charge as part of their mandate. The cost of all of Mr. Lauzon's mailouts last year (paper and ink included) amounted to less than one dollar per constituent.

 Our office received hundreds of replies every week and Mr. Lauzon uses that feedback to help him decide what positions to take on important issues. The mailouts from this office are also used to keep constituents informed on government policy and new initiatives.

 Given the fact that not everyone has the internet and not everyone chooses to regularly visit our website, Mr. Lauzon feels that these mailouts are the best way to keep in touch with constituents and guage the pulse of the community, especially considering the low cost.

 I hope I have addressed your concerns.

 Matthew Burns
Office of Guy Lauzon