By Angela Hill

Hoback returns to Ottawa

Jun 2, 2011 | 12:10 PM

Parliament Hill is getting back to normal operation, with the election of the speaker of the house this afternoon and the throne speech Friday.

Prince Albert’s MP, Randy Hoback, has hit the ground running in Ottawa.

He swore into the majority government during a brief ceremony Wednesday and will be on a plane by Saturday.

“Actually on Saturday and Sunday, I’m flying to El Salvador to the (Organization of American States) meetings there,” he said.

“I chair a parliamentary association called … Parl Americas, we have meetings with different leaders of the OAS and on Monday I fly back for the budget.”

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The meetings bring together parliamentarians to talk about best practices, Hoback said.

“We open the door and basically offer a venue for parliamentarians to talk to other parliamentarians.”

When he’s back in Ottawa, he said he doesn’t expect much in the way of surprises from the budget.

It’s Friday’s throne speech he is looking forward to hearing.

“The throne speech I’m kind of eager to hear what the (Prime Minister) is thinking as far as direction and how quickly we’ll move on the pieces of legislation we want to move forward,” Hoback said.

This spring session will be really short, Hoback said he heard they will be wrapped up June 23.

Pieces of legislation that will benefit the Prince Albert riding, like the long gun registry and changes to Canadian wheat board, will be brought up, but likely won’t be passed until the fall, he said.

“We keep looking for things we can extract out of Ottawa for the benefit of the entire riding.”

ahill@panow.com