For my fall placement I am in the office of Marit Stiles, the NDP MPP for Davenport and the Education critic for the Official Opposition. I have been in the office for almost 3 weeks now and I have felt very welcomed by MPP Stiles along with her Executive Assistant Greg Denton, and her Constituency Assistants Peter Gatti and Ashley DaSilva. As the Education Critic, MPP Stiles is responsible for holding the government to account on the second largest ministry in the Ontario Government. Education spending totals almost $30 billion, representing about 18% of the total Provincial budget. My work in the office has been steadily keeping me busy as there is always something going on and something to be done. I have been doing a lot of correspondence work to keep up with the jam packed email inbox, scheduling meetings with many interested stakeholders, and staffed MPP Stiles at several receptions. I think the most exciting task so far has been writing speaking notes for MPP Stiles to use in debate in the House. There is a thrill to hearing the words that you have written being spoken and forever to be transcribed in Hansard. I am grateful for having the opportunity to jump right into the work that MPP Stiles is doing and feel like I am making actual contributions to the office.
I had the opportunity to visit the riding of Davenport for two days during the last constituency week. As someone who was born and raised in Toronto, I am somewhat familiar with the area which reaches roughly from Ossington Avenue to the GO rail tracks near Dundas Street West, and from just south of Queen Street West roughly up to Eglinton Avenue. I had the opportunity to tour several landmarks in the riding such as the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Toronto, and the newly renovated Paradise Theatre on Bloor. I expect with the long winter break which the House is scheduled to take, I will be spending quite a bit of time learning about the neighbourhood and its residents. I am excited to explore this diverse and eccentric part of the city and continue to learn about the life of an MPP.