This post is the third in a multi-part series; please see the earlier entries on Lisa Merrithew and Rick Miles.
In 2006, Mike Olscamp became the first non-incumbent to hold the Tantramar riding for his or her party in the riding's 32 year history. A feat he managed to accomplish by a healthy margin of 20% in a year when his party suffered an overall defeat - though a narrow one.
I didn't really know much about him before the legislature met this February, but have been consistently impressed ever since.
A memorable moment came during estimates for the Department of Environment, he was questioning Minister Roland Haché in English and Haché was responding in French. The answers were not totally forthcoming with the information being sought so Olscamp continued to ask similar questions. Haché switched to English and suggested there must be something wrong with the translation but Olscamp replied in perfect French, indicating he was listening in French, and that the minister should feel free to respond in either language, he could understand both just as well.
I saw him rise to comment during the estimates process for virtually every single department and he was consistently knowledgable on the subject areas and contributed a great deal to the discourse.
The Tories would be very, very well served to move this guy from the back row to the front and give him a portfolio more complex and front of mind than Wellness, Culture and Sport. If there were a few more Mike Olscamps in the Tory caucus, there wouldn't be so many complaints about an ineffective opposition.
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1 comment:
I agree that he really is one of the best opposition members we have. If he just had a little more charisma I think he could make a run at the leadership.
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