Beyond The Commons

 Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Categories: Beyond The Commons, Capital Read

The Backbench Top Ten

by Aaron Wherry on Sunday, October 10, 2010 4:14pm - 0 Comments

Our weekly, and wholly arbitrary, ranking of the ten most worthy, or at least entertaining, MPs, excluding the Prime Minister, cabinet members and party leaders. A celebration of all that is great and ridiculous about the House of Commons. Last week’s rankings appear in parentheses.

1. Michael Chong (3)
Has any MP in recent memory been so successful at rallying so many to his particular cause? The key is finding a problem that everyone can blame someone else for. All are agreed, or at least want to be seen agreeing, that QP is a problem, but while the government can blame the opposition, the opposition can blame the government; while the press gallery blames the politicians, the politicians blame the press gallery. This mutually assured shame might be enough to push reform through.
2. Jack Harris (3)
There are two reasons to believe the Afghan detainee document review committee will amount to something. First, the stubborn presence of Stephane Dion. Second, the spectre of Jack Harris being proven right about the committee’s futility. That they would despise the latter should ensure the Liberals stay on task.
3. Maxime Bernier (1)
Perhaps from here on government members should consider simply shrugging and running in the other direction when asked to comment on the census decision.
4. Scott Brison (5)
5. Candice Hoeppner (4)
6. Mark Holland (7)
Sticking up for prison farming programs—not the most attractive of causes—surely takes a certain kind of guts.
7. Daniel Paille (6)
8. Marc Garneau (8)
9. Bruce Hyer (-)
This is a legitimately intriguing suggestion.
10. Pat Martin (10)

Previous rankings: March 12. March 19. April 3. April 10. April 25. May 1. May 9. May 16. May 23. May 30. June 6. June 13. June 20. September 26. October 3.

(Programming note: From now on, MP links will direct to Open Parliament‘s profile pages, which chart media mentions and House activity—and even allow you to set-up email alerts that notify you whenever a member speaks in the Commons.)

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Bookmark and Share
  • Cats

    No mention of the disgusting fundraising letter Ignatieff sent out where he used his mother's illness to raise bucks ??

    Seniors everywhere are disgusted.

    But its not a surprise. His fictional novel "Scar Tissue" (about a son looking after a mother with Alzheimer's) was reported to be about his own experiences.

    Only problem, which his brother was helpful to point out in an interview, is that it was Ignatieff's brother, not Ignatieff, who stayed home and took care of their ill mother.

    Michael Ignatieff = The morally questionable equivalent to an ambulance chaser ?

    Why on earth WOULDN'T we elect him to be our next PM ?

    Concerned Cats!

    • Jenn_

      a) It wasn't a fundraising letter. Nowhere in the thing did it ask for donations.

      b) It does open with his mother's battle with Alsheimer's, and how difficult it was for his father, even with his brother helping out all the time. Nowhere does he take any credit whatsoever for his mother's care.

      It resonates particularly with me, since my mother has Alsheimer's, and it is my sister who is looking after her care. Yes, yes, I'm obviously a bad daughter for not moving closer so I could be of assistance. But I pay the bills, you see.

      • Cats

        a) Anything linking you to the Liberal party of Canada website with its big DONATE box on it is a fundraising letter.

        b) Ignatieff was in London, not Toronto, when his mother was sick. He didn't witness anything, just heard about it from family dinners in France and short visits where he'd swoop in and pass judgment on his father.
        http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/arti…

        "Michael said things that wounded his father. "

        Or, almost the entire story: Andrew had been written out of the script. He just didn't appear.

        "I just remember standing there and my eyes filling up with tears in the middle of the bookstore," he said.

        Ignatieff's past on this issue is wrenching and horrible.

        NOT A FAMILY MAN!

        I'm disgusted he'd dare bring this up after failing so profoundly.

        Disappointed Cats!

        • Jenn_

          a) No it isn't, you are being ridiculous now.

          b) I haven't read the FICTIONAL book in question, but I do understand the difference between a work of fiction and an autobiography. Which doesn't matter anyway, because his letter to us didn't say "read my book" it said, "this is what happened in my family"–and didn't mention himself as a caregiver.

          As I've already explained, it's wonderful to be criticized by a cat as NOT A FAMILY WOMAN without any understanding of what's going on, what my life, my mother's life or my sister's life is all about. I'm actually very used to being the bad guy among the three of us–but if you had any idea . . .the point is you don't. But you make judgements anyway. Sort of like a long-form census decision without the tiniest hearing of any facts or counter arguments or common sense.

          • Cats

            Victim! Victim! I'm a victim!

            The above was Jenn_ discrediting what may very well been valid points by suggesting I said she wasn't a family woman.

            Are YOU Michael Ignatieff Jenn_ ??

            Not a family MAN was clearly referring to him.

            If you identify with him that much, well then that's just plain creepy.

            Cats away!

          • Jenn_

            Typical Conservative. It's horrendous when this one does something, but if that one does the very same thing, it's okay. I suppose I should thank you for allowing me into the 'okay' fold. But even from here, it reeks of hypocrisy.

          • Mike T.

            Shut up you vile little man.

      • Richard_S_Argent

        Yeah, dumb ol' Jenn…don't you know EVERYthing is a fundraising letter? Why even their Official Graphics page is a fundraising letter:
        http://www.liberal.ca/newsroom/official-graphics/

        I mean, the glorious and noble Conservative Party would never do such a crass thing as use a policy announcement to ask for donations. No sir, never in a million years! Oh wait…
        http://www.conservative.ca/policy/plan/

        Don't be so naive!

    • Richard_S_Argent

      The only person who's disgusting here is you dear cats. May you never be forced to watch a parent slowly disappear.

      For those of us who have, the letter, and the policy proposal, resonate as genuine.

      (Of course if you had actually read the book, or any interviews with Ignatieff from the time, and didn't rely on the Blogging Tories for your information, you'd know that Scar Tissue is precisely about a son's feelings of guilt for not doing enough to help his brother take care of his mother as she disappeared.)

      This is just about the scummiest thing you've ever posted Cats, and that's really saying something.

      • Cats

        I read about Ignatieff's disgusting appropriation of his brother's story long before now, back in the leadership race.

        Its a well known fact that you are now trying to cover up.

        Go read the globe and mail link I posted above. Blogging Tories them ?

        Cats away!

        • Richard_S_Argent

          "Here I'd like to add a personal observation. I read Scar Tissue when it was published, and I found it a deeply moving book – my emotions more easily mobilized, I suppose, because my own mother had died in 1992 as well. I had been slightly acquainted with Michael Ignatieff's eminent father, George, and knew the rest of his remarkable family by reputation. So it had been obvious to me that the compassionate caregiver who narrated the book was not the author. It never occurred to me that there was any attempt to deceive in the novel, and I don't believe that Michael Ignatieff intended any such deception.

          Indeed it was precisely Ignatieff's determination to examine his own brutal isolation that elevated his book above the usual run of therapeutic memoirs of minimal literary merit that are published by the wheelbarrel-load these days."

          And who wrote these blatant mistruths? An obvious left-wing shill no doubt. http://frum.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MjMwZWJmN2…

          You're revolting cats, a scumbag in the truest sense of the word.

          • Cats

            David Frum ?

            Yes. He IS a left wing shill.

            Frankly i'm appalled by Ignatieff's disgusting behavior and your disgusting defence of it.

            You're revolting Richard, a cats litter box in the truest sense of the word.

        • Richard_S_Argent

          From the link you didn't actually read:

          "Many reviewers described the novel as autobiographical, but only in a handful of instances was Mr. Ignatieff quoted as saying that Andrew, not he, was Alison's primary caregiver. "I was the absent brother," he told The Guardian."

          So, tell me again, how does telling the Guardian "I was the absent brother" translate into a "disgusting appropriation of his brother's story" in cat-speak?

          • Cats

            Because out of hundreds of interviews he only happens to mention it ONCE OR TWICE ??

            When people go on and on about your autobiographical experiences it might be helpful to point out that its Andrew's experiences EACH AND EVERY TIME.

            Way to post an excerpt that totally 100% backs up my point and discredits yours.

            Amazed at Richard's lack of reading ability Cats!

    • D.D.S

      I don't get it?!……..A long time ago in a land far away there used to be these people called reasonable Conservatives…..they were smart…..fiscally aware……compassionate……and the Tory tent was a big one………….now all I see online are comments like these from people who call themselves Tories………but sound more like the republican teabaggers…….and honestly I am disgusted…embarassed….and saddened by it…..

      • Mike T.

        They're now courting the feline population, apparently, whose concerns are somewhat subhuman.

      • Emily

        Well they used to be PCs….real Tories.

        What we have now are the tea-bagging neo-con Reformatories.

        Not remotely the same thing.

        • Jan

          And doubling as an outreach program for whack-a-doos.

    • Al O'Wishes

      No mention of the disgusting fundraising letter Ignatieff sent out where he used his mother's illness to raise bucks ??

      Possibly because it was not a fundraising letter. Also, a politician relating a personal anecdote relevant to a topic? Shocking! Why, that never happens.

      Seniors everywhere are disgusted.

      Really? Because most seniors I know have not mentioned it. They really don't care. Are you making things up again?

      But its not a surprise. His fictional novel "Scar Tissue" (about a son looking after a mother with Alzheimer's) was reported to be about his own experiences.

      You're kidding! He did that? He wrote a piece of fiction that was based on his own experiences? What is the world coming to? What self-respecting author would do such a thing?

      Oh, right. Pretty much every author. Perhaps you are unaware of the old writer's chestnut: write what you know.

      Only problem, which his brother was helpful to point out in an interview, is that it was Ignatieff's brother, not Ignatieff, who stayed home and took care of their ill mother.

      Oh now you're just making things up… a work of fiction was not historically accurate? Next thing you are going to tell me that the Da Vinci Code was not an accurate portrayal of Dan Brown's search for the Holy Grail, or that there is not an island in Costa Rica where genetically engineered dinosaurs are not running around like Michael Crichton said in his historical tomes.

      Michael Ignatieff = The morally questionable equivalent to an ambulance chaser ?

      Or perhaps he is… an author!

      Why on earth WOULDN'T we elect him to be our next PM ?

      I think a good reason to not elect him as PM is that we don't elect a PM.

  • Earth to Wherry

    Didn' that Mark Holland guy have to apologise for something this week, and how about Pablo, is he in jail yet?
    Your list is sorrowfully lacking.

    • Orson Bean

      The only top ten list Mark Holland deserves to be on is top ten most irritating jerks in the HOC.

  • chet

    From the Edmonton Journal:

    "And they wouldn't have to provide a doctor's letter affirming their relative will die within six months as they do now. "

    Read more: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Ignatieff+hom…

    Those nasty conservatives, placing limits and conditions on recieving government money…don't they care about the sick? (sarc off)

    And when the dead beat 35 year old who lives with his elderly, but quite firm, parents, goes for the free money

    Iggy won't be "mean", like the conservatives, and out the cheque goes?

    This sort of moral preening, and cheap heart string political maneuvering is very bad for the country indeed.

    But better no say so…or you'll be labelled heartless.

    Now, let us hear another story about how Iggy's mother was sick.

    • Richard_S_Argent

      Again, let me speak in small words for you: Doctor's Letter.

    • D.D.S

      Iggy's mother WAS sick……so is mine…
      …a billion for planes….a billion for a photo-op and a billion for jails but try to help out regular folks and it's all about "free money eh?………..and yes …..posts like yours and Cats make the PC's sound heartless

    • Holly Stick

      I'd like to apologize to everyone, I accidently voted chet up instead of down.

      chet, you would probably promise to make sure all your relatives would die real fast if it would make you a little money

      • Jenn_

        Apology accepted, but the last bit is a bit much.

        • Holly Stick

          Sorry, I'm sick of these callous bastards who have never had watched people they love get old and helpless and never had to give up part of their working life to look after their loved ones.

          • Jenn_

            Oh, I understand! And I'm very much onside with your feelings there.

    • Mike T.

      The liberal party didn't steal 39 million, and the members of the liberal party who did no longer have it. I would like to hold them responsible as much as you.

      Well, maybe less, because you don't want the money back so much as you want to keep talking about it.

    • Jan

      chet is pro death panel.

  • chet

    As for heartless,

    In other threads I've asked if Iggy, to help pay for this program, would favour first getting the 39 or so million dollars Liberals stole from taxpayers via Adscam, instead of from national defence (we all would agree that the return of stolen money should come before having our brave fighter pilots suffer inferior jets).

    Yet somehow, even to pay for this heartfelled and "kind" program, it seems the liberals on these threads have nothing but scorn towards the suggestion that Liberals return this ill gotten booty.

    • gottabesaid

      It's about government waste, chet. Our armed forces need new jets, no disagreement. They shouldn't pay billions more for them than they should (which appears to be the government's plan).

      I voted Conservative because of Adscam, but I'm finding the Tories have no more respect for the money I send to Ottawa than the Liberals did (see F35s, see G8/G20). It appears as though my choice will be between crooks or incompetents.

    • Matlock

      "… before having our brave fighter pilots suffer inferior jets"

      A Ford Crown Vic is clearly an inferior car to, say, a Ferrari. So, are we doing our police a disservice by not equipping them with a fleet of 458 Italias?

      No, we spend just enough to buy the vehicle that does the job, to spend more is wasting tax dollars. The government has failed to argue why the F-35 is required over, say, the Strike Eagle, the Super Hornet, the Gripen, or the Typhoon.

      • paulsstuff

        "A Ford Crown Vic is clearly an inferior car to, say, a Ferrari. So, are we doing our police a disservice by not equipping them with a fleet of 458 Italias?"

        Actually that's about the worst comparison you could give. Police vehicles, including cruisers and pursuit cars, have a limited lifetime in service, at which point they are replaced with new vehicles. And the Crown Vics have just been completely revamped for safety and police officer comfort, not to mention crime fighting tools onboard.

        Canada's current jet fighters have already been in service past their expected lifetime. Shouldn't the armed forces be provided with the proper equipment? The opposition railed against those transport planes being purchesed, then grudgingly admitted they aided the cause in the Haiti earthquake disaster.

        • Matlock

          Um, that comment doesn't have anything to do with the point I'm making. I don't question that the existing CF-18's need replacing, the question is what to replace them with?

          "Shouldn't the armed forces be provided with the proper equipment?"

          Most definitely. But what is 'proper', and what is excessive and wasteful? I don't think the government has explained why the Air Force requires the F-35 over the other fighters I've listed (or others). They have failed to state what the military's requirements are such that the F-35 is the only jet which meets those needs

  • Holly Stick

    Meanwhile, the stupid, irrational, destructive Government of Harper is attacking StatsCana again, surprise, surprise. I said he was beginning to hate all of us, and he is now totally aiming at destroying our country.
    http://creekside1.blogspot.com/2010/10/harper-hac…
    http://www.pogge.ca/archives/002995.shtml

    One of the surveys being cut is the National Population Health Survey:
    http://accidentaldeliberations.blogspot.com/2010/…

  • chet

    I'm glad we've cleared up the fact here, once again,

    that liberals here would prefer to cut into defence spending, rather than simply giving back what was stolen from Canadian taxpayers.

    I think rational Canadians can also reflect on the moral outrage liberals here express towards the notion of simply shortening a FORTY page census,

    juxtaposed to the utter lack of concern in returning 39 million dollars stolen from taxpayers and as yet never accounted for.

    • Emily

      Chet, you're a good German.

    • Matlock

      "…towards the notion of simply shortening a FORTY page census"

      Yep, they shortened it from forty pages to… FORTY pages! And somehow have managed to blow an extra $30 million in doing so.

  • chet

    So while the liberals here engage in moral preening, suggesting we should feel guilty at wanting our brave soldiers to have the best (when faced with ever more sophisticated enemies, modern SAM's ect) rather than "helping the elderly",

    just think about what that 39 million stolen dollars (the liberals here are outraged at the suggestion it be returned) could have gone to:

    - 39 of the poorest Canadian families could be made millionares or
    - 390 food banks could have been given E100,000 each this Christmas
    - 3900 of the most needy elderly Canadians each could be given $10,000 grants for homecare.

    Instead that money has stayed in Liberals' pockets, unreturned,

    while they chide us for not sacrificing our military.

    • Emily

      Chet…unable to marshall his thoughts all at once….

      Which, considering the shape they're in….isn't surprising….

      • chet

        Liberal reason number 99999 to ignore requests for the return of 39 million stolen taxpayer dollars:

        Improper spacing.

        • Emily

          Beats Con lying every time.

      • brooster

        "his thoughts"…plural? You're being generous.

      • Jan

        chet, stuck over a long weekend with only the F 35 talking points. Come on Tuesday so we don't have to listen to anymore of this.

        • brooster

          chet's only theme is Adscam. Carping on the F35s would demonstrate a diversity of thought that is, unfortunately for all of us, beyond chet's cognitive capacity.

          But I share your sentiment.

    • Jenn_

      How about the money stolen in the railway deal back a century ago? Imagine the interest we'd have received on that for all this time! Let's get that back first.

      • guest

        i used to think only the liberal leadership were thieves at heart.
        turns out liberal supporters are no better.

        explains a lot.

        • brooster

          certainly explains that you're no judge of character.

  • Jan

    I am against the seal hunt.

    *this is a test – Harps has hired a firm to monitor the internet for any negative comments on the seal hunt and counter them. Let's see if we're getting our moneys worth.

    • Orson Bean

      I am for the seal hunt.

      *this is also a test – I want to see if Harper sends me a chocolate chip cookie in return for my support. Or at least one of those nice cards on my birthday with a picture of him, Laureen and the kids. Bonus points if he's wearing the reassuring light blue sweater.

    • Keith in Brampton

      I love seals… roasted, with gravy.

      • Orson Bean

        You just earned yourself a spot on Mike Duffy's robo email list.

      • Emily

        Mmm blubber swimming in gravy. Sounds charming.

        But the point here is not whether you're for or against the seal hunt since that's already been decided.

        It's about Harper monitoring chat sites to 'correct' what people say.

        And I'm sure it's about more than seals.
        http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/breakingn…

        • Jan

          Well. I guess they don't work weekends…

          • Emily

            Too busy running around the world causing trouble apparently.

          • MostlyCivil

            Seal: The Inuit alternative to starvation for 10,000 years

            Seal: We've had fire for a while now. Why are you still asking for it raw? Weirdo tourists

            Seal: Still can't believe she ate the heart. We usually give that to the dog

            Seal: Fifty times more expensive than polar fleece, but almost as good as keeping you warm

Previous

Next

From Macleans