FALL SESSION WILL BE ROWDY, MP PROMISES

The powers-that-be in Canada's capital had better rest up this summer,
because the fall promises a full slate of hot-button topics, sure to stir
passionate debate.

Few know that more than Paul DeVillers, assistant to the country's chief
stick-handler of up-and-coming legislation.

"They are very divisive societal issues that we have yet to deal with,"
Simcoe North's MP said this week.

As deputy leader of the government in the House of Commons, DeVillers plays
a key role in the management of Ottawa's legislative agenda, working
together with the house's government leader to decide which bills move to
the fore.

When the house returns to session this fall, members will be faced with
several pieces of legislation bound to capture public attention, including
one that could lead to the decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana.

"It makes eminent sense," added DeVillers. "It is about more enforcement,
not less enforcement."

Critics have charged that Ottawa's plan to issue tickets in place of jail
time for those caught with small amounts of pot will drive up use and lead
to greater problems.

The federal government, and DeVillers himself, argue that decriminalization
is just one part of a larger national drug strategy, focusing on education
and curtailing use.

"We will have a lot more charges laid.

"And we will have intervention with more young people on that basis," he
added.

Yet another bill will see the government again wading into uncharted
territory, as it proposes a law addressing scientific advances in the area
of human reproduction - most specifically, human cloning.

"Right now we have no legislation," DeVillers said.

"If somebody had the technology, they could set up a human cloning clinic
right down on the corner."

The local MP is confident most Canadians oppose the use of this
continuously-evolving technology to reproduce identical copies of themselves
or anyone else.

"I think for most of us, one of us would be enough," he added.

Long a proponent of healthy living, DeVillers was this week promoted from
Secretary of State (Amateur Sport) to Secretary of State (Physical Activity
and Sport), a newly-created position that will see him providing support to
the ministers of health and heritage.

"It made sense to have that link - me - between physical activity, which is
Health Canada and sport, which is in Heritage Canada.

" A lot of people see it as a conflict or competition between recreational
physical activity and high-performance competitive sport," he added. "I
don't. I see it as one is the continuum of the other."

The new position will give DeVillers the clout he needs to push for
increased funding to organizations involved in non-competitive activities
like hiking or cycling.

"Frankly, the budget within Health Canada for that is not anywhere near
where it should be," he added.

"Nationally, we should be promoting people getting off the couch."