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 17, 2010 3:35pm - 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 (1)
2. Jack Harris (2)
3. Maxime Bernier (3)
Is this the start of our own Tea Party movement? Does that make Mr. Bernier our Sarah Palin or our Ron Paul? And if we’re going to start talking about the founders, shouldn’t we start with Lafontaine and Baldwin?
4. Scott Brison (4)
5. Candice Hoeppner (5)
6. Carolyn Bennett (-)
As far as a national pastime, being frustrated about our democracy has perhaps not quite surpassed hockey, but it’s at least now slightly more popular than lacrosse.
7. Mark Holland (6)
To be honest, I’ve not yet worked out whether “averting a libel suit” should reflect positively or negatively on one’s ranking.
8. Marc Garneau (8)
9. Bruce Hyer (9)
10. Olivia Chow (10)
This Lucky Moose Bill sounds like the premise of a Law & Order episode.

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. October 10.

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  • Richard_S_Argent

    I'm actually in the middle of reading Saul's entry in the Extraordinary Canadians series on Baldwin and Lafontaine – it's fantastic, and highly recommend it. Many of the themes from the article linked to above are present in the book, and while I'm not so sure I completely agree with his argument, it certainly is compellingly made.

    (Oh, and Bernier's paleo-Conservatism is a farce. If he wants to get rid of public healthcare in Canada then have the courage to come out and say it, don't hide behind a stance whose only purpose is to starve social spending)

    • Vic

      Paleo-Conservatives don't show up at Rideau Hall cabinet swearing in ceremonies with two boobs on a stick/Biker Chicks, especially ones that they aren't married to, while their wife and children watch at home on TV.

      He's verrrrrrrry libertarian, a full-on libertine even; can't you lefties ever get anything right?

      Aaron: Mark Holland? Eraserhead? Seriously? It won't be the last time he gets nailed for libel, he's got a mouth bigger than Iggy's ego.

      Marc Garneau on the census: Mr. Speaker, what happens for the third of Canadians who do not fill it out? They are not white, middle-class Canadians…We are talking about the linguistic minorities, first nations, poor people, ethnic minorities, and they are precisely the people we want to target with government policy."

      Get that kids? If you're white and middle class (Maclean's readers – and writers – in other words), Marc Garneau specifically does not want to target you with government policy, you're on your own, pal. And Liberals wonder why they can't win elections. Hey Spaceboy, we're not the ones who want to send them to jail for not filling out a census, that's your (racist?) genius plan.

      Brison: "He is the biggest-borrowing and biggest-spending finance minister in Canadian history, and you just can't depend on his numbers," said MP Scott Brison. – A flat out lie, Trudeau, Mulroney, and Chretien all ran larger deficits in real dollars and as % of GDP.

      • Richard_S_Argent

        I must admit, I'm kind of impressed…it usually takes you righties at least three, maybe four, posts to get as much wrong as you do in this one single missive. Congratulations.

        *golf clap*

        • Emily

          Wow…yeah….that was horrendously wrong from word one!

          • Cats

            Lol!

            Richard and Emily, not exactly on close terms with accuracy themselves, simply declare something wrong without further explanation or engagement.

            Reasonable people everywhere shake their head in dismay.

            Disappointed Cats.

          • Emily

            Since you aren't a 'people' to begin with, it's not surprising you have to have simple things explained to you.

          • Cats

            What are you talking about ?

            Vic made some excellent (and correct) points and you dismissed them with a waive of the hand.

            Its sloppy, even for you. Then again you've been called out time and time again for your factual errors and ridiculous statements.

            My absolute favorite remains:

            "There are no polls showing a Conservative lead"

            Yep 7 points up, better get used to it. By-election victories coming down the pike.

            Your leader is likely to retire over the holidays in France.

            Victory Cats!

          • Jan

            Cons have this need to constantly reassure themseves that they are winning. Some sort of group insecurity.

          • Poker Face

            Well, if the last two elections are a yardstick worth measuring with…

          • Emily

            It's their version of a group hug.

          • Cats

            Nope our vision will be Julian Fantino winning another Liberal riding.

            Is ANY Liberal riding safe ??

            Wondering Cats.

        • james connors

          *golf clap* </i>

          Nice phrase. Nice touch.

        • Blue

          Wrong Richard. Vic is right.

          Only a Lib Blogger would put the Egotistical Holland. the Presumptuous Garneau, and the Fabricating Brison in the Top Ten Hall of Fame.

          Is " golf clap " something Tiger picked up in Vegas ?

          • Richard_S_Argent

            "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."

            Reading. It's your friend.

          • Cats

            Heh! Holland is a pretty ridiculous attack dog isn't he ?

            Always seconds away from getting in trouble with that big mouth of his.

            i'm glad we all agree that he is a prime target for M. Alexander next go around!

            YAY. Cats yay!

          • Jenn_

            I thumbed you up because I got a chuckle out of the last line.

      • Mike T.

        Bernier has no political stripe. He is a sounding board for how gullible the base is – that's why they sound out the nuttery from a disgraced lightweight with a near lock on his riding.

    • madeyoulook

      If he wants to get rid of public healthcare in Canada…

      He said he wants to undo the destructive federal spending power that tries to bypass the constitutional provincial exclusivity, in order to allow provinces, freed of the conditional subsidy straitjackets, to figure out for themselves how to improve their systems. And, duh, getting a little more private sector thinking in there (like many western European states) would be a reasonable start. Why do you seek to misrepresent his pretty clear pronouncements, then have the gall to call them a farce?

      • Jan

        So Bernier would support B.C.'s right to operate Insite? Well, that's positive news. But if if he's such a Libertarian why wouldn't he want to get rid of the census altogether, rather than render it uselessl and still costing taxpayers money.

        • madeyoulook

          I believe the Insite issue is a Criminal Code question, not a Canada Health Act question.

          There may be some libertarians out there who would argue against any census at all. But, I presume, not many. The short form remains mandatory, and that makes sense.

          But thanks for your reply. It's nice to see I don't only attract the perennial pest who, this evening, can't even distinguish the Canada Health Act from equalization payments.

          • Emily

            Ahh you know you love me.

            You just don't like me bursting your balloons. LOL

            I'm aware of the difference between the two …..but are we one country….or ten countries?

            If we are one country….then the same standard applies nationally….that's WHY we have equalization payments.

          • Cats

            Emily we already 10 versions of healthcare in this country, with BC and Quebec leading the way in availability of private services and maritime provinces not even offering certain surgeries.

            Thanks for getting nostalgic over a system that doesn't even exist.

            BTW – Federal spending powers and equalization are NOT the same thing.

            You could completely slash the healthcare transfers, hand over the tax credits, and then make up any difference by pumping up equalization.

            That was how the constitution was designed. Not for the feds to gobble up all the taxes and then dole out the money to the provinces based on certain conditions.

            Provinces run healthcare NOT the feds.

            Constitutional Cats.

          • Emily

            There is one standard, and all provinces adhere to it.

            Moreover, it's not 1867.

          • Cats

            What are you talking about ?

            Different drugs are covered in difference provinces.

            That's a definitive example of different standards of care.

            Talking to a brick Cats.

      • Emily

        Equalization payments are part of the constitution. Same standard for healthcare everywhere in the country.

        Mad Max is well named.

        • Cats

          Sigh.

          Its really amazing that you are not aware that equalization and social transfers are NOT the same thing.

          Bernier actually used the existence of equalization to defend his plan in television interviews when concerns were raised over disparity of care across the provinces.

          By the way, equalization is designed to standardize fiscal capacity. Provinces still set their own spending priorities and offer whatever level of services they desire.

          Its the difference between equality of opportunity and equality of outcomes.

          Not that nuance is your thing …

          Correcting Emils and explaining the world is an endless Cats job for Cats to do.

          • OntarioTown

            That's where you are wrong – a cats duty is to eat, sleep, kill birds and lick themselves constantly.

          • Emily

            Well….that's all Cats ever really does on here. Certainly doesn't contribute to the discussion.

          • Cats

            Seriously ?

            No acknowledgment or your gaping errors or a pledge to study the issue further ?

            Can I just start calling you ditzy, blond airhead now ?

            Cats away!

  • Jan

    I must missed what Michael Chong did this week.

  • http://nottawa.blogspot.com Mark

    "..if we’re going to start talking about the founders, shouldn’t we start with Lafontaine and Baldwin

    Sure, if you're only going to talk about two provinces.

    • Richard_S_Argent

      I think you mean one province.

      • Emily

        The original Canada.

      • Cats

        Baldwin won election in TWO ridings and gave one to Lafontaine.

        Yeesh. Things were pretty nutty back then. Do we REALLY have to talk about this stuff ? What are you Americans now ?

        I'd personally rather we use the best possible system, as opposed to being shackled to whatever dead people came up with.

        But the law is the law.

        Cats.

  • Tony

    Maxime is #1!!!!

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