MEETINGS MAKE FOR A BUSY WEEK

How else can I sum up my weekly report? I'll try to give you a sense
of what filled last week back there on the Hill.

First, remember that old TV ad about fitness that said "the average
60-year-old Swede is in better shape than the average 30-year-old
Canadian?" (I was never sure how true that was because I knew some
portly 60-year-old Swedes who loved inhaling sweets, but whatever.)

The point is, the program was called ParticipAction. And guess what?
It worked. So we've brought it back to life to get people thinking fitness.

Another momentous program kicked into high gear this week.

Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates met the prime minister to boost AIDS
research with the government putting up $111 million and Bill Gates
tossing in a cool $28 mill.

That was just the start of the week.

Next I met with the director of the CIA, General Michael Hayden, in
from Washington to discuss terrorism and related threats here and
around the globe.

Later, it was the minister of justice from Great Britain, Baroness
Patricia Scotland. We discussed what works and doesn't work in crime reduction.

Guess what they use in England to help reduce youth crime? Parental
court orders.

That's right. Mom and Dad are required to be part of the process (let
me know what you think).

The next day, it was the U.S. anti-drug czar, John Walters.

Among other things, he raised the issue of all the high-potency
marijuana smuggled into his country from Canada.

Among other things I raised the issue of all the high-potency
handguns smuggled into our country from the U.S.

We were able to identify some clear ways to work together to reduce
the scourge of addictions that shatters so many young (and old) lives
in both of our nations.

Then came a session with my security counterpart from Mexico,
Minister Ramirez. One area of mutual concern was the latest terror
threat from Al Qaeda which mentioned pipelines in Canada and Mexico
as possible targets.

At week's end it was meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza
Rice and Head of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff.

With fellow ministers we looked at everything from North Korea and
Iran's worrisome nuclear capabilities to cross-border emergency
planning for a possible avian flu outbreak.

Then, before I could escape Ottawa's 'surly bonds,' out came the
Supreme Court ruling on security certificates which are used to
detain and deport non-citizen terror suspects.

Basically the court said "the indefinite jailing of non-citizens
suspected of being terrorists is legitimate, as long as their
detention is subject to meaningful and regular review" (The Globe and
Mail, Feb. 24)

The court also did not strike down the right of the government to
hold terror suspects at the Kingston facility and allowed a year for
Parliament to fix two portions of the law.

Somebody asked me how I keep my head on straight after a week like that.

Well, try a Saturday morning coffee meeting at Peachland's lakeside
Bliss cafe, a muffin with a constituent at Tim's in Penticton, some
afternoon door knocking in Naramata and an evening fireside at Zia's
in Summerland and the world comes wonderfully back into perspective.