“Beyond a Frequent Flyer”: How an Ontario MPP Uses Parliamentary Support Services – An Interview With Peter Tabuns
First elected in 2006, Ontario MPP Peter Tabuns (Toronto—Danforth) knows his way around Queen’s Park and has become well acquainted with the staff who keep it running. In this interview, he explains how he relies on Assembly employees as he fulfills his duties as a representative and why he admires their professionalism.
Canadian Parliamentary Review: As a long-serving parliamentarian, you’ve worked in this space for many years and have had an opportunity to get to know the various parliamentary support services. How essential are these services to your role as a parliamentarian?
Peter Tabuns: I use the Library and Research Services (LRS) very heavily. I’m beyond a frequent flyer. I’m a gold card member. I find it to be the fastest route to getting research done. They are fast, responsible, and very professional. In my role chairing committees, the clerks are incredibly good at what they do. I joked with (former Ontario Clerk) Todd Decker about how long he must keep committee clerks in the basement to get them trained so well. They provide high quality advice and I’m amazed at their ability to stay awake through it all! Also, I’m grateful for the Table in the legislature. They provide quick opinions on what can or can’t be done. And whenever I have a question about how my remarks appear in Hansard, they are always quick to check the audio recording to confirm.
CPR: In your time in office, have you noticed significant change in these services (for example, technological advances, varying need, a noticeable increase or decrease in the number of staff in a department, etc.)?
PT: To be honest, I haven’t noticed a lot of change. The longer I’ve been in office, the more I use them. For the committee clerks, personnel have changed, but the training is so superb that there is no difference in service.
CPR: Do your more recently elected colleagues use these services the same way you’ve come to use them?
PT: I find that when they are first elected, they try to use the caucus research staff to do everything. There seems to be this idea that everything needs to go through caucus research. Obviously LRS isn’t going to do Oppo research, but 98 per cent of what we do is work where LRS can be used, and the speed and quality are great. On some questions, I’ve experimented by using ChatGPT, and in some cases the answers that come back are close to reaching what the LRS provides. But it has a limited reach on other questions based on its resources. Artificial intelligence knows how to consult one annual report for its research, but not multiple reports. The quality and accuracy just aren’t there yet. So, I think the LRS staff positions are secure for now! (Laughs)
CPR: How frequently do you draw on services for specific reasons (for example, the Library and Research staff or committee clerks when a committee you’re on is scheduled to meet)?
PT: I would say I submit about question a day to the LRS. Maybe three or four per week. And the questions are a mix relating to my critic portfolios and questions that come up in my riding. In areas such as labour law and legal rights or sometimes other critic areas where my knowledge is less developed, I’ll often ask LRS questions. Especially for legal analyses of situations. Can I use this interview to recommend an expansion?
CPR: Of course.
PT: I think we need to expand the LRS. Just assign four or five researchers to me and you can do whatever you want with the rest. (Laughs)
CPR: Have there been any times you can remember when a member of the parliamentary support staff has gone above and beyond the call of duty to assist you or one of your colleagues? If so, could you tell me a little about those instances?
PT: My expectations are so high that I couldn’t say they’ve gone above and beyond, but I’m just not ever disappointed. I see focussed professionalism. If someone had failed, that would stand out and I would remember that. But it just hasn’t happened. I’ve never thought, for example, ‘we really need some competent clerks around here.’ It’s just not part of the story.
CPR: Is there anything I haven’t asked about or covered that you’d like to speak about?
PT: Demeanor. The patience and the respect that clerks show is really impressive. I was once concerned that we weren’t broadcasting committee meetings and I was quite cranky about it. I approached (former committee clerk) Tonia Grannum, who I’d known for a long time, and complained. She explained that in order to do that kind of the broadcasting we need to do on a bilingual basis and follow other protocols that we didn’t have capacity for at the time. She was plain, direct, and patient in the face of a cranky MPP. Kudos to you, my friend. The patience she demonstrated was laudable.
CPR: I don’t have the same experience you do working with parliamentary support staff, but I previously had an office beside the committee clerks, and I have to say I was struck by how resolutely non-partisan they were. I know they probably have personal political beliefs, but I could never figure out what they were.
PT: Agreed. Thushitha Kobikrishna was committee clerk for Estimates, and now the interior committee. She’s assisted me when I was chair, has aided other chairs and all members of the committee. I thought I might notice a difference sitting beside her, but she was not playing favourites. My respect for her to keep things going was never in question.
CPR: Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with me today.