April 22nd 2009
Honourable Peter Milliken
Office of the Speaker of the House of Commons
Room 224-N, Centre Block
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
Dear Speaker Milliken,
As Parliamentarians, we have been bestowed with the responsibility and privilege of creating benchmarks and adopting best practices in what we say and in how we choose to act. It is for this reason that we should look at our own practices, and adopt measures that will reduce our impact on the environment. This can easily be achieved, particularly in our present era of efficient and effective electronic communications systems. It is for that reason that I ask you, in your capacity as the Speaker of the House and Chair of the Board of Internal Economy, to reduce the number of House of Commons publications distributed in print copy to Parliamentary offices by making the receipt of such publications optional for all parliamentarians. The Board of Internal Economy could review this issue and begin the process. Parliament wastes so much money and resources in unnecessary printing. MPs and Senators can get most of what we want via the internet. Earth Day is this week and we would be setting a splendid example to other government/private sector institutions to follow. In doing this we will be reducing our greenhouse gases by preserving our carbon sinks and reducing the energy used to produce needless, unwanted paper documents.
Thank you for your kind and swift attention to this matter.
Yours very truly,
Dr. Keith Martin, MP
