This week in party discipline

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, November 3, 2011 at 2:45 PM - 6 Comments

Two New Democrats—Bruce Hyer and John Rafferty—have been sanctioned by interim party leader Nycole Turmel after breaking with the party over this week’s gun registry vote. Mr. Rafferty expresses some confusion and says it’s his constituents who are now punished. Mr. Hyer posted the following on Facebook today.

I’d like to thank all my constituents (on both sides of the registry issue) for the incredible show of support for me over the last day or two. It means a lot to me that people appreciate the duty of those elected to represent the wishes of their constituents in Parliament first & foremost.

The life

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, November 26, 2010 at 5:39 PM - 0 Comments

Six second-year members of Parliament discuss the political life with Steve Paikin.

The Backbench Top Ten

By Aaron Wherry - Sunday, October 17, 2010 at 3:35 PM - 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. Continue…

The Backbench Top Ten

By Aaron Wherry - Sunday, October 10, 2010 at 4:14 PM - 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. Continue…

Idea alert

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, October 8, 2010 at 3:03 PM - 0 Comments

Shortly before Question Period this morning, the NDP’s Bruce Hyer proposed a game of musical chairs.

Mr. Speaker, I am dismayed and embarrassed by MPs heckling and catcalling here in the House. Canadians do not like it. It does not have to be this way.

In Scandinavia I have observed firsthand the way in which proportional representation leads to rational discussion and debate, mutual respect, workable compromises and much better governance than we have here. Our constituents are looking to us for statesmanship, leadership and effective government that represents not just regions and factions but all Canadians.

I have an idea that could help us achieve some of that mutual respect and co-operation that is needed to desperately right now. We could choose to change our seating charts and abandon the hockey bench blocks of seating in the House by party. We could randomize seating here in the House. Some time spent in the House next to members from other parties will lead to recognition of us all as people with whom we can share ideas with more mutual respect.

Our constituents want better. They deserve better. Let us act now to improve our system and our behaviour.

The gun registry, the vote, the after-party

By Mitchel Raphael - Friday, September 24, 2010 at 11:35 AM - 0 Comments

This week saw the big showdown over the long-gun registry. MPs voted 153-151 in favour of a Liberal motion that kills Conservative MP Candice Hoeppner’s private member’s bill to get rid of the registry. Just before the vote, a small group of young protesters stood in front of the Peace Tower demanding the registry be scrapped.

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Bruce Hyer after the vote. He was one of the few NDP MPs who voted to keep the registry.

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The Liberals held a victory party at D’Arcy McGee’s pub after the vote.

Continue…

Swing votes

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, September 16, 2010 at 4:10 PM - 0 Comments

NDP MP Niki Ashton will disclose tomorrow how she plans to vote on C-391. Peter Stoffer, previously committed to voting in favour of C-391, says he’ll have something to say on Monday. John Rafferty, another yes vote, says his mind hasn’t changed. Bruce Hyer says he won’t vote for a Liberal motion that would effectively scrap C-391.

151 to 149

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, September 8, 2010 at 12:35 PM - 0 Comments

There may ultimately be two votes on C-391. Two days after the House returns, there will be a vote on a Liberal motion to scrap C-391. If that fails, C-391 will proceed to a vote at some point later this session.

On that note, an update. New Democrat Bruce Hyer says he won’t vote to scrap C-391 on the initial vote, though he reserves the right to ultimately change his mind on the bill before it comes to a final vote. Meanwhile, John Rafferty, another of the NDP dozen, says he intends to vote in favour of C-391. As does Nathan Cullen.

That shifts the advantage back to supporters of C-391 by a count of 151 to 149.

Four NDP votes (Allen, Ashton, Gravelle and Hughes) remain undeclared. One no vote (Jean-Yves Roy) remains in question.

148 to 149

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, September 7, 2010 at 2:23 PM - 0 Comments

The resignation of Maurizio Bevilacqua became official last week. Postmedia reports Inky Mark’s departure will follow this week. That subtracts a single vote from each side of the C-391 debate. The declarations of Charlie Angus and Glenn Thibeault though add two votes to the no side.

From our last update then, the count has flipped: 149 votes against C-391, 148 votes in favour.

Seven NDP votes (Malcolm Allen, Niki Ashton, Nathan Cullen, Claude Gravelle, Carol Hughes, Bruce Hyer and John Rafferty) remain undeclared. And one no vote (Jean-Yves Roy) might soon be vacated.

Swing votes

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, August 26, 2010 at 4:06 PM - 0 Comments

NDP MPs John Rafferty and Bruce Hyer talk to the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal about the vote on Bill C-391. Neither are quoted explicitly stating an intention, but Hyer at least seems to be talking like someone who wants to vote yes.

Our current standard of decency would be imperiled

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, May 20, 2010 at 5:39 PM - 13 Comments

Liberal Michael Savage says he’s fine with an auditor general audit of MP expenses. NDP MPs John Rafferty and Bruce Hyer are of mixed opinion. Conservative Rob Merrifield worries that the auditor general’s scrutiny might incite dysfunction.

“What we don’t want is to have Ottawa, particulaly the House of Commons, becoming more dysfunctional than it is right now,” says Merrifield. “I’m comfortable as long as we have those third-party audits, and we have a committee that oversees all expenditures. As long as that’s being done, Canadians should be very comfortable with that.”

The mocked Parliament

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, January 4, 2010 at 2:51 PM - 100 Comments

As to the question of whether Parliament should carry on without the government side, the NDP’s Bruce Hyer suggests a “Parliament of the willing,” Michael Ignatieff’s office says no to “mock Parliaments” and 16,537 (as of this writing) members of Facebook say “get back to work.”

These people are not actors

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, June 29, 2009 at 5:18 PM - 5 Comments

Steve Paikin convenes a half dozen newish MPs and MPPs to discuss life in politics. Theatre is the most over-used word therein. 

Theatre involves actors publicly portraying characters that are, at least in theory, entirely divorced from their actual selves. Question Period involves politicians standing in public and speaking loudly. Often they may present exaggerated versions of themselves, but mostly, I would argue, they show no more than who they are. It flatters the individuals involved, diminishes the usefulness of the conflict, and excuses too much of the lesser behaviour to suggest such stuff has anything to do with Laurence Olivier.