Two doctors debate hygiene

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, October 5, 2012 at 10:00 AM - 0 Comments

Liberal MP Hedy Fry, a physician, was apparently unimpressed with the hygiene advice offered by Conservative MP Kellie Leitch, an orthopaedic surgeon, during Wednesday night’s emergency debate on food safety.

The full exchange starts here with Ms. Leitch’s speech. In response to Ms. Fry, Ms. Leitch defended her handwashing advice.

Rona Ambrose and Motion 312

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, September 27, 2012 at 8:00 AM - 0 Comments

In the immediate aftermath of Motion 312′s defeat, the most scrutinized vote seems to belong to Rona Ambrose, the minister responsible for the status of women.

Truly disturbing.PM promises not to reopen abortion debate&then allows his Min Status of Women votes in favour of motion #cdnpoli #choice

— Carolyn Bennett(@Carolyn_Bennett) September 26, 2012

Can not believe that the minister for Status of Women voted against a woman’s right to choose #M312 #cdnpoIi

— Rathika Sitsabaiesan (@RathikaS) September 26, 2012

#M312 defeated 203 to 91. A 2 to 1 vote…resounding victory 4 women. Did the Status of Women’s Minister vote for the motion?

— Dr. Hedy Fry (@HedyFry) September 26, 2012

Surprised the Conservative minister for Status of Women voted against a woman’s right to choose

— Scott Brison (@scottbrison) September 26, 2012

Shocked that Min of Status of Women supported clawing back women’s rights. Time for a new Minister. Time for an NDP Government #M312 #ndp

— nikiashton (@nikiashton) September 26, 2012

Kudos to @minronaambrose for voting on behalf of her constits on motion 312.That is her job as a MP, and she is great at it! #cdnpoli

— Blaine Calkins, MP (@blainecalkinsmp) September 27, 2012

‘As a medical doctor yourself’

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, August 3, 2012 at 11:43 AM - 0 Comments

Liberal MPs Hedy Fry and Carolyn Bennett—both doctors—challenge Conservative MP Kellie Leitch to join other doctors in opposing the Harper government’s cuts to health care for refugees.

As the only medical doctor in the Conservative Caucus it is incumbent upon you to examine the evidence and not be blinded by ideology. Indeed, as a medical doctor yourself, you have a special responsibility to your fellow human beings to protect health, provide sympathetic care, to prevent disease.

It is time you respected this duty. It is time you listened to the medical profession and the provinces and protect the most vulnerable in our society. It is time that you stand up for refugees and tell your caucus, the cabinet and the Prime Minister to reverse this reprehensible injustice.

Dr. Leitch responds via the CBC.

In a statement to CBC News, Leitch said the changes are “fair and necessary.” … Leitch, who represents the Ontario riding of Simcoe-Grey, referred to the open letter by the Liberals as an example of their “increasing desperation.”

Dr. Leitch was previously challenged to oppose her government’s policy on asbestos exports.

The case of the alleged Nazi salute

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, June 18, 2012 at 8:01 PM - 0 Comments

Despite—indeed, because of—Wayne Easter’s statement that no Nazi salute was made during last week’s C-38 votes, Joe Oliver rose after QP today to press the case, alleging that Mr. Easter and Liberal MP Hedy Fry engaged in inappropriate gesturing. Mr. Easter again asserted innocence, but Conservative MP Chris Warkentin suggested he should apologize anyway. After an intervention by Bob Rae, the Speaker said he would review the video footage. (Ms. Fry responds via Twitter.)

Below, the transcript of today’s discussion. Continue…

Live: A very long night for a very long bill

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at 4:41 PM - 0 Comments

Welcome to live coverage of tonight’s C-38 votes. It was expected that voting would begin around 5:30pm, but some procedural fussing about by the Liberals seems to have delayed those votes by a few hours. Stay tuned throughout the evening (and morning?) as we follow the parliamentary festivities.

4:43pm. If you’re only now tuning in, you just missed a fascinating series of points of order, during which Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux twice asked the Speaker to clarify the rules of the House (Speaker Devolin invited Mr. Lamoureux to read the standing orders) and Bob Rae objected to the Defence Minister’s earlier use of the word “mendaciousness” (Peter MacKay duly stood and withdrew the remark). The House is now at the time reserved each day for the presenting of petitions and will soon move to the final period of report stage debate on C-38.

4:51pm. The New Democrats held a photo op this afternoon to demonstrate how they were preparing for tonight’s votes. Mostly this seems to have involved Nathan Cullen removing his jacket and writing “C-38″ on a giant white pad of paper.

5:04pm. The Liberals have chosen now to discuss Mr. Cullen’s point of privilege. And now there is some discussion between the Speaker, Elizabeth May and Denis Coderre about how long one can speak when responding to a question of privilege.

5:15pm. With Mr. Lamoureux still responding to Mr. Cullen’s point of privilege, Conservative MP Bob Zimmer rises on a point of order to question Mr. Lamoureux’s point of privilege. The Speaker stands and reads the rules pertaining to questions of privilege, specifically that such interventions should be “brief and concise” and that the Speaker has the right to “terminate” the discussion. Liberal MP Massimo Pacetti rises on a point of order to object to Mr. Zimmer’s point of order. Mr. Lamoureux attempts a point of order to respond to Mr. Zimmer, but the Speaker suggests he carry on with his point of privilege, but then Mr. Coderre rises on a point of order to complain about the Speaker’s desire to move things along. The Speaker asserts his impartiality and attempts to straighten this all out, but Mr. Coderre rises on another point of order to clarify his respect for the Speaker, but also to express his desire that Mr. Lamoureux be allowed to give a full response to Mr. Cullen’s point of privilege. Mr. Pacetti rises on a point of order to add his concern that Mr. Lamoureux be allowed to speak fully. The Speaker says he was merely reminding everyone of the rules and gives Mr. Lamoureux five minutes to finish and, finally, we’re now back to Mr. Lamoruex’s point of privilege.

5:30pm. The Speaker stands and calls an end to Mr. Lamoureux’s remarks and attempts to move to the last hour of report stage debate on C-38, but now Mauril Belanger is up on a separate point of privilege.

5:32pm. The Speaker cuts off Mr. Belanger to move to deferred votes on two opposition motions and one private member’s bill. MPs have 30 minutes to report to the chamber.

5:40pm. Conservative MPs Blaine Calkins and Brian Jean seem rather excited about tonight’s sleepover. Continue…

Vote night

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, June 7, 2012 at 10:00 AM - 0 Comments

Last night, the House defeated an opposition motion that called on the government to reverse cuts to science and research and an opposition motion that called on the government to reverse cuts to search-and-rescue.

After dealing with eight votes on the estimates, the House then passed Conservative MP Brian Storseth’s private members’ bill to delete certain sections of the Canadian Human Rights Act by a vote of 153-136.

Conservative MP Dan Albas’ bill to allow for the interprovincial importation of wine passed by a vote of 287-0.

NDP MP Randall Garrison’s bill to add gender identity and gender expression to the Canadian Human Rights Act passed at second reading by a vote of 152-130.

Liberal MP Hedy Fry’s bill to amend the Criminal Code to clarify that “cyberbulling” is an offence passed at second reading after the Speaker broke a tie.

And, finally, a Bloc motion that sought to have the governor general pay income tax was defeated by a vote of 147-141.

The Commons: A debate about a debate about abortion

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, April 26, 2012 at 7:39 PM - 0 Comments

Adrian Wyld/CP Images

Shortly before 5:30pm, Stephen Woodworth was on his feet from the back row. Close around him sat eight other Conservative MPs.

“Motion 312,” he said, “simply calls for a study of the evidence of when a child becomes a human being.”

He wondered aloud what opponents of his proposal had to fear. Staring directly at the dozen NDP MPs seated across the way he called on them to hear the evidence.

Fourteen spectators watched and listened from the south gallery. Four Liberals joined the New Democrats on the opposition side of the House. The Conservatives numbered somewhere in the neighbourhood of 24.

Mr. Woodworth spoke loudly and gesticulated dramatically, as if addressing the nation at a moment of great significance. He invoked rights and humanity and science and parliamentary duty and he damned a “dishonest law.” When he was done, a dozen Conservatives applauded. Continue…

MPs and LGBT rights at Egale reception on the Hill

By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, March 22, 2012 at 9:10 AM - 0 Comments

Egale, Canada’s national lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) human rights organization, held a special all-party reception in the Hill hosted by Tory Senator Nancy Ruth.

Senator Nancy Ruth (left) and Egale Executive Director Helen Kennedy.

Tory Senator Nancy Ruth (left) and NDP interim leader Nycole Turmel.

NDP MP Rathika Sitsabaiesan.

(l-r) Egale Director Helen Kennedy with Conservative MPs Kerry Lynn Findlay, Susan Truppe and Joyce Bateman.

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The leadership look and an island’s clout

By Mitchel Raphael - Monday, March 5, 2012 at 10:15 AM - 0 Comments

Photograph by Mitchel Raphael

How not to look like an interim leader

Bob Rae, the “interim” Liberal leader, has been making all the right moves to look more and more like the party’s permanent leader, and even the unofficial official leader of the Opposition. On the Hill, it’s all about positioning. The Liberal leader typically holds his Wednesday post-caucus meeting press conference outside the doors of the House of Commons. NDP interim leader Nycole Turmel holds hers outside the party’s caucus meeting room with a backdrop of coat racks. Rae often brings a few MPs along with him. Once he had the entire caucus positioned behind him, including the Liberal senators, making his numbers look hefty. Rae is also asking more questions during question period, popping up when the Liberals get their second round of questions, in addition to his guaranteed question spot in the leaders’ round. Liberal MP Hedy Fry says, “We want him to ask the questions. He does the best job.” But having Rae ask more questions also means the Prime Minister has to get up more. With the Bloc losing official party status, the PM, for the most part, just answers questions from leaders of parties officially recognized by the House and now there are just two.

Taking a development minute

When International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda travels the world meeting top country officials seeking Canada’s assistance, she is often the only woman in the room aside from her own female staff. Women on the ground can be a key to effective aid. When Oda froze new funding to Egypt after the uprising, the only exception was to help women’s groups, arguing that how women ultimately fare in Egypt will be the true test to whether democracy takes hold. Oda was appointed in August 2007 and is the longest-serving CIDA minister. Oda is hoping some of CIDA’s work will be showcased in a similar way that Canadian history got highlighted in Heritage Minutes. It’s an idea she is floating with her department. One example of such a moment could be when CIDA co-ordinated with aid groups in Afghanistan so that polio vaccinations could be administered to people in remote areas.

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MPs and wheelchairs

By Mitchel Raphael - Friday, November 4, 2011 at 9:05 AM - 3 Comments

MPs and senators spent a day in a wheelchair on the Hill to create awareness on behalf of the Canadian Paraplegic Association.

NDP MP Glenn Thibeaullt.

Justin Trudeau (left) battles with Yukon Conservative MP Ryan Leef.

Liberal interim leader Bob Rae.

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The Insite ruling

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, September 30, 2011 at 9:53 AM - 41 Comments

Brian Howell/Maclean's

(This post last updated at 7:46pm)

The Supreme Court’s ruling on the Insite safe injection facility—a unanimous ruling in the facility’s favour—is here.

 The Minister made a decision not to extend the exemption from the application of the federal drug laws to Insite. The effect of that decision, but for the trial judge’s interim order, would have been to prevent injection drug users from accessing the health services offered by Insite, threatening the health and indeed the lives of the potential clients.  The Minister’s decision thus engages the claimants’ s. 7 interests and constitutes a limit on their s. 7 rights.  Based on the information available to the Minister, this limit is not in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.  It is arbitrary, undermining the very purposes of the CDSA, which include public health and safety.  It is also grossly disproportionate: the potential denial of health services and the correlative increase in the risk of death and disease to injection drug users outweigh any benefit that might be derived from maintaining an absolute prohibition on possession of illegal drugs on Insite’s premises.

Early reads from the Globe, Canadian Press, Postmedia, Star and CBC.

10:33am. Libby Davies, whose riding includes the Insite facility, applauds. Three years ago she lectured Tony Clement and called on him to abandon the government’s appeal.

10:46am. Liberal health critic Hedy Fry applauds.

10:51am. The Canadian Public Health Association applauds.

11:37am. Ms. Davies raised the court’s decision in QP just now, provoking a response from Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq. Continue…

Jack Layton 1950-2011

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, August 22, 2011 at 9:03 AM - 11 Comments

A statement issued this morning by the family of NDP leader Jack Layton.

We deeply regret to inform you that The Honourable Jack Layton, leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada, passed away at 4:45 am today, Monday August 22. He passed away peacefully at his home surrounded by family and loved ones. Details of Mr. Layton’s funeral arrangements will be forthcoming.

9:11am. Bob Rae, Carolyn Bennett, Hedy Fry, Wayne Easter, Cathy McLeod, Keith Martin and Governor General David Johnston are among those paying their respects.

9:23am. John Geddes explored Jack Layton’s life and times for this Maclean’s cover story last June. We wrote about his new fight with cancer for this cover story earlier this month.

9:28am. Condolences from Rodger Cuzner, Lewis Cardinal, Colin Carrie, Mike Sullivan and John McCallum.

9:36am. NDP deputy leader Libby Davies talks to reporters in St. John’s.

“He was a great Canadian. He gave his life to this country. His commitment to social justice and equality and a better Canada in the world and at home and I think that’s how people saw him,” Davies told reporters. “They saw him as someone who deeply, deeply cared for people. And they saw that in the campaign and all his work. They saw the courage that he had. He faced cancer and he kept on working, doing his job, because he felt so strongly about what he believed in, so I think people think of him as a great Canadian and we think of him as a great leader, in a political sense but (also) in a personal sense.”

9:43am. More on the life of Jack Layton from the CBC, Toronto Star and Canadian Press.

He was a believer. He made that clear in the first sentences of “Speaking Out Louder:” ”Politics matters. Ideas matter. Democracy matters, because all of us need to be able to make a difference.”

9:54am. Mr. Layton’s Facebook page has become a makeshift memorial.

9:59am. Greg Fingas marks the NDP leader’s passing.

After spending a decade laying the foundation, Jack Layton has tragically died before getting to complete the house that so many said couldn’t be built. For now, there’s little to do but to offer condolences and grieve the loss of a great Canadian and friend. But hopefully Layton’s inspiration will only encourage us to finish what he started.

10:01am. A statement from the Prime Minister. Continue…

Drag queens, MPs and a Liberal fundraiser

By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, April 7, 2011 at 9:25 PM - 21 Comments

Liberal MP Hedy Fry squeezed in a fundraiser to help with the debt she incurred from her leadership run in 2006. The event was held at Ottawa’s hot new gay bar Flamingo. Below, Fry and Bob Rae do a tribute to Sonny and Cher.

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Liberal MP Justin Trudeau.

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Why Baird's lucky his double isn't a prankster

By Mitchel Raphael - Monday, April 4, 2011 at 9:18 AM - 8 Comments

Photographs by Mitchel Raphael

What if the Tories need Helena?

Photographs By Mitchel Raphael

Helena Guergis is running as an “Independent Conservative.” She’s using her old signs for the upcoming election but has removed the Conservative party logo from them and added the word “Independent.” Many have joked with her that if the Conservatives are one short of a majority she could hold the balance of power. If that is indeed the case, she says, she would not return to the party. She notes that as an Independent she is much more aware of every bill that comes through the House for a vote: “Having more Independent MPs is good for democracy.” Guergis has been able to ask the government several questions in the House and offer member’s statements because the other Independent MP, André Arthur, gave her his slots, saying she needed the exposure more than him.

Aren’t you…?

As politicians fan out across the country, many will try to be in two places at once. One politician almost managed it. House leader John Baird‘s look-alike, Jacques Pinet, who works for an insurance company in New Brunswick, is a dead ringer for the man people refer to as the de facto deputy PM. Pinet happened to be on the Hill last week. “I don’t think a week goes by that I don’t have someone ask me [about the resemblance],” says Pinet. On a previous trip, the New Brunswicker was sitting in the House galleries before a vote and a security guard approached him and said, “Mr. Baird, you need to go down and vote.” And once in Toronto, while Pinet was having a meal alone in a restaurant, Liberal Sen. Colin Kenny walked up to the table and joined him, speaking to him as if he were talking to Baird. While Pinet was in the British capital recently, some backpackers first asked if he was Canadian. Then they followed up with, “Are you in politics?” “I’m not John Baird,” he politely told them. Pinet says his encounters with people who mistake him for Baird have all been positive. Liberal MP Dominic LeBlanc, who is a friend of Pinet, jokes that when he is mistaken for Baird and people say, “I voted for you,” he should reply with, “I don’t need your vote.”

Sonny & Cher & Bob & Hedy

Photographs by Mitchel Raphael

In all the election hue and cry last week, Liberal MP Hedy Fry squeezed in a fundraiser to help with the debt she incurred from her leadership run in 2006. It was held at Ottawa’s hot new gay bar, Flamingo. Justin Trudeau sported what he described as a “flamingo pink” dress shirt in honour of the bar’s name, though drag queen and event host Dixie Landers countered that it was really “aggressive salmon.” Lunch with Trudeau raised $300 at the auction. Liberal MP Bob Rae joined Fry on stage and sang the Sonny & Cher duet I Got You, Babe, which was a nice throwback to the 2006 Liberal leadership race: Fry dropped out and went over to Rae’s camp.

The journalists’ mini-revolution

After the opposition leaders rejected the recent budget, Stephen Harper came out to address the media. He was supposed to take four questions. The names of those who got to ask questions had been approved by the PMO and were on the infamous list. But when Harper’s speech was over, journalists, in an act of list revolution, started shouting out questions. Harper took only two of them and then bolted as the Toronto Star’s Tonda MacCharles yelled, “Why won’t you answer more questions?”

Hair to match the budget

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty‘s recent budget fell flat, matching his hair. For the previous budget, Flaherty visited his hairdresser, Stefania Capovilla—who cuts the hair of Stephen Harper and several cabinet ministers—on budget day and showed up with a fresh, sassy blow-dry. This year Flaherty’s wife, Ontario Progressive Conservative MPP Christine Elliott, told her husband he needed to hit the salon the day before, not the day of: hence the flatter look.

The Commons: To stand and say something

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, March 1, 2011 at 6:47 PM - 57 Comments

The Scene. The public undermining of the Honourable Beverley J. Oda’s professional standing continues at a methodical pace.

The opposition side is now engaged in unabashed mockery for the still-seated minister. “How can she remain in her position as minister when, by her silence, she refuses to be accountable to Parliament?” asked Liberal Hedy Fry after quoting from the Prime Minister’s own guidelines on ministerial accountability.

John Baird stood to take this one and so Ms. Fry upped the rhetorical ante. “The Minister of International Cooperation sits behind the Prime Minister, dutifully, day after day and is not allowed to answer,” she observed. “Is it this Prime Minister’s position that women in his cabinet should only be seen and not heard?”

This was enough to receive an admonishment from Mr. Baird, but not enough to get Ms. Oda on her feet. The Liberals pursued her twice more, but Mr. Baird stood for those as well. The Liberals jeered and yelled. They chanted “Let her speak” and thumped their desks. Ms. Oda sat quietly. Mr. Baird turned at one point to acknowledge her presence directly as he commended her “great leadership.” This earned her an ovation from the Conservative side and a pat on the back from Sylvie Boucher seated behind her.

On some antiquated principle of parliamentary democracy and representative government, the Liberals are probably correct to wonder why the minister does not stand in her place to respond to opposition queries and condemnations during the time allotted each day for the House to hear such things. But implicit in that is the assumption that her standing will serve some purpose beyond confirming her ability to perform the physical act itself. Continue…

Is there a doctor in the House?

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 5:24 PM - 42 Comments

Chris Selley questions the medical wisdom of politicians.

It took some flaming cheek for Mr. Dosanjh and Ms. Duncan to claim that “disregarding experts is a dangerous precedent” in an op-ed that involved disregarding — not to mention disrespecting — literally dozens of medical practitioners and researchers. But precious few politicians are capable of resisting the lure of emotionally charged issues, and the opportunities they afford to care out loud. From this appalling cynicism, there seems very little hope of liberation.

For the record, there are four physicians in the House of Commons: Liberals Carolyn Bennett, Hedy Fry, Keith Martin and Bernard Patry.

Toward 2014

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, December 14, 2010 at 11:35 AM - 82 Comments

In a series of speeches today from Caroyln Bennett, Hedy Fry and Ujjal Dosanjh, the Liberals are laying out the parameters of their health care agenda.

All of this will require federal leadership and partnership between governments, which is what Canadians expect. We want our governments to fight for Medicare, not over Medicare. We expect the social contract that Medicare represents to be honoured, not abandoned.

The federal government has the jurisdiction, the role, and the responsibility to defend the national interest and our shared objectives: to ensure that Medicare survives and thrives, to ensure the principles of Medicare are respected by enforcing the Canada Health Act, and to share in the cost of the system by providing funding to the provinces and territories.

What a Girl Wants with Justin Trudeau, Laureen Harper and a drag queen

By Mitchel Raphael - Monday, November 29, 2010 at 4:52 PM - 5 Comments

The fourth annual What a Girl Wants charity dinner held in the Fairmont Château Laurier ballroom raised money for the Canadian Liver Foundation with the help of local firefighters peeling off their uniforms, a fashion show and a performance by Ottawa drag queen Dixie Landers who lip-synced Better Midler’s cover of Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy. Below, Landers with Vancouver Liberal MP Hedy Fry.

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Montreal Liberal MP Justin Trudeau.

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(Left to right) Labour Minister Lisa Raitt, National Post columnist Don Martin and Laureen Harper.

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The parameters of a debate (II)

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 9:07 AM - 6 Comments

Last week—shortly before he announced his impending resignation—Liberal MP and doctor Keith Martin offered some dos and don’ts for health care reform. Yesterday afternoon I received an e-mail from the office of Liberal MP and doctor Hedy Fry, who after seeing those proposals mentioned here, had jotted down a series of counter proposals.

Here then are Ms. Fry’s dos and don’ts. Continue…

MPs don purple

By Mitchel Raphael - Monday, November 1, 2010 at 9:26 PM - 0 Comments

MPs from all parties donned purple recently as a way to raise awareness over the wave of gay teen suicides that have been happening in North America. Below, Liberal MPs Mario Silva (left) and Rob Oliphant.

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Liberal MP Scott Simms.

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Mitchel Raphael on the MP who made the worst-dressed list and Peter MacKay's suitcase

By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, May 27, 2010 at 10:20 AM - 18 Comments

Tory MPs are sexiest
When the Hill Times came out with its annual “Politically Savvy, Stylish and Sexy Survey,” Montreal Liberal MP Irwin Cotler was disappointed to discover he’s tied for the worst-dressed male MP on the Hill, with Yukon Liberal MP Larry Bagnell. “I know I am not the best-dressed MP,” noted Cotler. “But I don’t think I am one of the worst.” He confessed to Capital Diary, however, that his family agreed with the Hill Times survey. Vancouver Liberal MP Hedy Fry, known for her fashion flair and commitment to ensuring animal prints never become endangered, said that Cotler is clearly “the best-dressed professor” on the Hill. What about Liberal leader and professor Michael Ignatieff? Fry joked, “Well, he has people around him.” And professor Stéphane Dion? “His wife [Janine Krieber] has excellent taste,” she quipped without missing a beat. The survey named Tory Maxime Bernier the best-dressed male MP. Sexiest male MP went to Defence Minister Peter MacKay, leaving Justin Trudeau in second place. Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose was voted sexiest female MP, followed by NDP MP Megan Leslie. Transport Minister John Baird cleaned up in two key categories: “Most Influence in Cabinet” and “Best Cabinet Minister in Question Period.”

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Mitchel Raphael on the end of the blond troika and the new minister of everything

By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, April 29, 2010 at 11:20 AM - 5 Comments

By Mitchel Raphael

SOME NEW FACES IN THE HOUSE WHEN HARPER IS SPEAKING

No longer in the Conservative caucus, Helena Guergis now sits as an independent in the back row of the House. Guergis was part of the blond troika behind Stephen Harper, picked up by the TV cameras whenever he rose in the Commons. The other two were Lisa Raitt and Diane Ablonczy. Now the three blonds in the shot have been replaced with dark-haired MPs: Minister for International Co-operation Bev Oda, Minister of State Denis Lebel, and Rona Ambrose, who took over Guergis’s status of women portfolio. Ambrose now has one of the longest titles in the government: minister of public works and government services Canada and the receiver general of Canada, minister for status of women, vice-president of the Treasury Board, and regional minister for northern Alberta. Or as one MP joked: “Minister of everything.” Ambrose got back recently from a trip to Afghanistan with Defence Minister Peter MacKay. In Kandahar, the two stopped by the Tim Hortons, where the cups are designed to look like camouflage and the prizes for Roll Up the Rim to Win included special edition Kandahar hats. Neither Ambrose nor MacKay won anything.

By Mitchel Raphael

IT’S THAT FRENCH TEACHER’S FAULT

NDP MP Glenn Thibeault was recently in the House foyer going over notes for a French TV interview. The Ontario MPfor Sudbury has been trying to work on his French in an effort to become bilingual. Thibeault comes from a francophone family. When he was younger, his parents sent him to a French immersion school. One of his teachers told him he must learn “French” French and not Quebec French and his parents were so insulted they pulled him out and put him into a regular English school where he lost all his French. He’s currently taking three hours a week of French lessons. He is the youngest in his family and now gets his siblings and parents to speak only French to him—“even if I don’t understand,” he jokes.

SHE’S THAT FABULOUS

Jer’s Vision fifth anniversary gala in Ottawa celebrated those who have helped battle bullying and homophobia. The event was hosted by Global National anchor Kevin Newman, who spoke publicly for the first time about his gay son, Alex Newman. Kevin Newman was the first person to interview NDP MP Libby Davies on TV when she came out. At last year’s event, Davies won a Youth Role Model of the Year award. This time one went to Liberal MP Hedy Fry. One of the youth who nominated Fry noted in a letter that he realized he was gay and went to a Pride parade where he met the MP. “When I asked her what it was like to be gay, she said she was not gay but she was proud to stand with another individual and celebrate working toward equality. I was inspired how someone could be so fabulous, and not even be gay.”

By Mitchel Raphael

THANKS FOR THE SHIRT, I THINK

During his visit to Ottawa, New Zealand PM John Key was presented with an Olympic Team Canada hockey jersey by Stephen Harper. In return, Key presented Harper with a very fitted New Zealand All Blacks rugby shirt. Harper quipped that the New Zealand PM would have an easier time getting into the baggy hockey jersey than he would getting into his gift.

THE VERY LAST ALL-PARY PARTY

NDP MP Peter Stoffer says April 28 will be the last All-Party Party. The bash has been held in 200 West Block for years, but now the building will be closed as of this summer for several years for renovations and asbestos removal. Stoffer says there is not a large enough space elsewhere on the Hill to accommodate MPs and Hill staff, and also that if it were held somewhere else, it would be too costly.

Battling bullying

By Mitchel Raphael - Tuesday, April 27, 2010 at 9:05 AM - 5 Comments

The Jer’s Vision/Day of Pink 5th Anniversary Gala in Ottawa celebrated those who have helped battle bullying and homophobia. Liberal MP Hedy Fry won one of the Youth Role Model of the Year awards.

Another award went to Grandfather William Commanda.

Global National anchor Kevin Newman and his son, Alex.

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Parties unite for prostate cancer

By Mitchel Raphael - Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 10:20 AM - 9 Comments

All parties were united by wearing blue to show their support for NDP leader Jack Layton in his battle with prostate cancer. The men were given ties and the women were given scarves by Prostate Cancer Canada. Below, Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose.

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Liberal MP Justin Trudeau.

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