Following in her great granddad’s footsteps: former PMO staffer Marianne Goodwin takes up where her great grandfather Ernest Lapointe left off

If he were still alive, Ernest Lapointe would be surprised to learn what his great granddaughter is doing and where she's doing it. To say nothing of how proud he would probably be that the apple never falls far from the tree.Although she is far removed from her job as prime minister Jean Chretien's press officer, Marianne Goodwin is indeed hard at work following in her great grandfather's footsteps. She's in the rugged Balkans, in the hinterland of the Adriatic Sea, helping to promote democracy and the rule of law in the smallish country of Montenegro.Politics have always played a central role in Ms. Goodwin's family. Her great granddad Ernest Lapointe was one of Canada's Parliament's longest serving MPs, representing the Quebec riding of Quebec East from 1904 until his death in 1941. He was reelected a total of 14 times. Last year, his life was the subject of a book, Ernest Lapointe: Mackenzie-King's Great Quebec Lieutenant, by Lita-Rose Betcherman, published by University of Toronto Press. It chronicled his political life as a member of former prime minister Mackenzie King's many Cabinets, in which he served at different times as minister of marine and fisheries, minister of justice, attorney general, solicitor general, among other posts.Nowadays his great granddaughter is busy writing increasingly important chapters of her own "book of life," which she happily related in an interview earlier this summer while visiting her family in Quebec."I am not a real politician like my great grandfather was or like my grandfather, who lost twice in the elections, tried to be. Nevertheless, politics is a family tradition and I have been drawn into it since childhood," said Goodwin.Her formal political career got its start while working towards her master's degree in political science from McGill University, when she took up an internship at Queens Park in Toronto. From 1992-93 she served as policy advisor to the then deputy premier and minister of energy and resources of Quebec, Lise Bacon, who is now a Senator. Soon after, she started her ascent of Parliament Hill in Ottawa.From 1993 to 1997, she worked as a special assistant for legislation for John Manley, then industry minister. And from 1997 to 2000, she worked as a legislative assistant for Art Eggleton, then the country's defence minister. During the 2000 election campaign she got on board Prime Minister Jean Chretien's plane entourage as a press officer, and in February 2001, she became his press secretary.But in February of 2002, only a year after joining the PMO, Ms. Goodwin stepped down to take a job with the Washington-based National Democratic Institute as the parliamentary program director in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro which is nestled in the Balkans in Southeastern Europe. At the time, she told The Hill Times' Sean Durkan that the appointment was a "dream job.""The Balkans are my professional and personal challenge. I had travelled in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia as part of the delegation of the Ministry of Defence. I was 'on call' in Eggleton's Cabinet during the time of the Kosovo crisis. In winter of 2000 I participated twice as a member of the observation mission during elections in Croatia. Those visits reinforced my determination to help people in this part of Europe using the Canadian experience on how to function in a parliamentary democracy," said Goodwin this summer.The National Democratic Institute, a huge non-governmental organization, implements numerous programs throughout the world, including Serbia and Montenegro. NDI has been active since 1987 in the tiny republic of the fragile state union of Serbia and Montenegro, thanks to funding from USAID, first from its office in Belgrade, followed by the opening of another office in Podgorica in February 1999.NDI runs a program for political parties that includes training of more than a thousand leaders and "ordinary" members of all nine Montenegro parliamentary parties. A separate program has the purpose of enhancing parliamentary efficiency and transparency, from rules of procedure to legislative issues to media. NDI is also helping the development of civil society by providing technical assistance to the Center for Democratic Transition as an election observer, and an information technology and communication program has been implemented with the assistance of the Dutch government. Thirty computers have been procured for MPs and Parliamentary services and training for users conducted. In March, an Internet Press Center was opened, the telephone switchboard modernized, and the parliamentary web site redesigned.If he were still alive, Ernest Lapointe would be surprised to learn what his great granddaughter is doing and where she's doing it. To say nothing of how proud he would probably be that the apple never falls far from the tree.Although she is far removed from her job as prime minister Jean Chretien's press officer, Marianne Goodwin is indeed hard at work following in her great grandfather's footsteps. She's in the rugged Balkans, in the hinterland of the Adriatic Sea, helping to promote democracy and the rule of law in the smallish country of Montenegro.Politics have always played a central role in Ms. Goodwin's family. Her great granddad Ernest Lapointe was one of Canada's Parliament's longest serving MPs, representing the Quebec riding of Quebec East from 1904 until his death in 1941. He was reelected a total of 14 times. Last year, his life was the subject of a book, Ernest Lapointe: Mackenzie-King's Great Quebec Lieutenant, by Lita-Rose Betcherman, published by University of Toronto Press. It chronicled his political life as a member of former prime minister Mackenzie King's many Cabinets, in which he served at different times as minister of marine and fisheries, minister of justice, attorney general, solicitor general, among other posts.Nowadays his great granddaughter is busy writing increasingly important chapters of her own "book of life," which she happily related in an interview earlier this summer while visiting her family in Quebec."I am not a real politician like my great grandfather was or like my grandfather, who lost twice in the elections, tried to be. Nevertheless, politics is a family tradition and I have been drawn into it since childhood," said Goodwin.Her formal political career got its start while working towards her master's degree in political science from McGill University, when she took up an internship at Queens Park in Toronto. From 1992-93 she served as policy advisor to the then deputy premier and minister of energy and resources of Quebec, Lise Bacon, who is now a Senator. Soon after, she started her ascent of Parliament Hill in Ottawa.From 1993 to 1997, she worked as a special assistant for legislation for John Manley, then industry minister. And from 1997 to 2000, she worked as a legislative assistant for Art Eggleton, then the country's defence minister. During the 2000 election campaign she got on board Prime Minister Jean Chretien's plane entourage as a press officer, and in February 2001, she became his press secretary.But in February of 2002, only a year after joining the PMO, Ms. Goodwin stepped down to take a job with the Washington-based National Democratic Institute as the parliamentary program director in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro which is nestled in the Balkans in Southeastern Europe. At the time, she told The Hill Times' Sean Durkan that the appointment was a "dream job.""The Balkans are my professional and personal challenge. I had travelled in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia as part of the delegation of the Ministry of Defence. I was 'on call' in Eggleton's Cabinet during the time of the Kosovo crisis. In winter of 2000 I participated twice as a member of the observation mission during elections in Croatia. Those visits reinforced my determination to help people in this part of Europe using the Canadian experience on how to function in a parliamentary democracy," said Goodwin this summer.The National Democratic Institute, a huge non-governmental organization, implements numerous programs throughout the world, including Serbia and Montenegro. NDI has been active since 1987 in the tiny republic of the fragile state union of Serbia and Montenegro, thanks to funding from USAID, first from its office in Belgrade, followed by the opening of another office in Podgorica in February 1999.NDI runs a program for political parties that includes training of more than a thousand leaders and "ordinary" members of all nine Montenegro parliamentary parties. A separate program has the purpose of enhancing parliamentary efficiency and transparency, from rules of procedure to legislative issues to media. NDI is also helping the development of civil society by providing technical assistance to the Center for Democratic Transition as an election observer, and an information technology and communication program has been implemented with the assistance of the Dutch government. Thirty computers have been procured for MPs and Parliamentary services and training for users conducted. In March, an Internet Press Center was opened, the telephone switchboard modernized, and the parliamentary web site redesigned.Being in charge of all this makes for long days for "Director Goodwin," as she is known overseas."My priority is to introduce the new rules of procedure, including a solution similar to the daily Question Period in the House of Commons. It might be good to have a regular period for MPs to ask questions. Not every day as it is done in Canada, but, for example, once a week. As well, it is necessary to update the work of the parliamentary committees and improve their preparation for plenary sessions. Toward that goal, I have presented a comparative analysis of the rules of procedure of the Canadian House of Commons, as well as of the provincial parliaments of Ontario and Quebec. I have also obtained translations of parliamentary rules of procedure from 15 other countries," explained Ms. Goodwin.In February, Goodwin headed the delegation of Montenegrin members of Parliament on a study mission to The Hague and Amsterdam, and in March she organized a multi-party orientation seminar for MPs that took place in Milocer, on the Adriatic coast of Montenegro.The Center for Development of Non-governmental Organizations has been active in Montenegro since 1999, and there are currently almost 2,000 NGOs registered. These include foreign organizations such as NDI."We try to adapt our knowledge and experience to Montenegrin conditions while remaining completely neutral. We have good cooperation with all political parties and we do not favor anyone. The funds are from USAID, but my predecessor in Podgorica was an Irishwoman. I really believe we can help Montenegro and Serbia during the sensitive and uncertain transition period," says Ms. Goodwin.But the big question to remain is whether the Canadian Marianne already been transformed into a Montenegrin "Marijana?""I go hiking in the mountains and scuba diving in the Adriatic. I have experienced the challenge of the whitewater on Montenegro rivers but also the wondrous spirituality of the unique Ostrog Monastery, hewn into the cliffside. I am learning Serbian and have no problems with Balkan food; I love the salty crepes," she answered.Ms. Goodwin's "democracy mandate" in Montenegro ends in February 2004. She hopes that the funding will be extended in Montenegro for two more years, and that she will contribute to true reconciliation between parliamentary parties and MPs. The opposition is currently boycotting the Parliament due to the discontinuation of television broadcasting of parliamentary sessions. If democracy means the rule of the people and parliamentarism is the historical form of its realization, then the Balkans are still in need of a lot of understanding and patience. Goodwin has a passion for the Balkans and seems ready to change her surname to Goodwill.Milomir Niketic, a permanent member of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery writes from Ottawa for Beta, Southeastern Europe newswire service based in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia.The Hill Times

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Following in her great granddad’s footsteps: former PMO staffer Marianne Goodwin takes up where her great grandfather Ernest Lapointe left off

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