09.27.2011 05:53 AM

In today’s Sun: where’s the NDP?

Got any idea who your NDP Member of Parliament is? Me neither.

For those of us who are forced to endure the scourge and ignominy of New Democrat representation — there are 103 such ridings in the House of Commons — innumerable mysteries abound. Such as the name of our MP, what he/she has done, and kind of important stuff like that.

Take a minute and ask yourself: “Who is my MP, anyway?”

If it’s one of those shiny new New Democrat MPs, the chances are excellent that you don’t know the answer.  Since the May 2 election, they’ve been as invisible as air, mostly.

The Toronto riding where I live, for instance, was represented by a Liberal MP for many years. I used to hear from her all the time — leaflets in the mailbox, householder pamphlets, columns in the community paper, appearances at local events. She seemed to work pretty hard at letting constituents know what was going on up in Ottawa, and what her position was on the issues of the day.

But the NDP guy who beat her a few months ago? I don’t know his name, and I can tell you that none of my neighbours or friends do, either. They — like me, and I’m allegedly one of those folks who lives and breathes politics — think he has been as elusive as a Yeti riding a unicorn.

So I set out to find him.

 

10 Comments

  1. I know whom my NDP MP is — Paul Dewar, foreign affairs critic and current “will he? won’t he?” leadership flavor of the week. Hardly a scourge, hardly ignominious.

    As for the new guys, what with getting to know the parliamentary rulebook, combined with losing their leader within three months of losing office . . . no Warren, the rest of Canada is prepared to cut them a break, give them time to get to know their jobs better.

  2. Lance says:

    “………….what he/she has done, and kind of important stuff like that.”

    The election was only in May, then everyone pretty much went off for summer break right away, to only just getting back a couple of weeks ago. Your own former MP, as you say, had been there for many years, so she had a track record. Isn’t it a bit of a stretch to be wondering why any brand new MP from any party who just got there hasn’t accomplished anything yet? Holy cow man, give them some time.

  3. bza says:

    The NDP had to hire Constituency Assistants and Parliamentary Assistants for about 65 new MPs. Each MP has about 4 staff on average more or less, so thats hundreads of staff that need to be hired and also learn the ropes, get trained, and open Constituency Offices. So it won’t really probably be until next year that they start to get really noticable with community events, householders, speaking out on local issues, etc from my guess.

  4. scanner says:

    “I used to hear from her all the time — leaflets in the mailbox, householder pamphlets, columns in the community paper, appearances at local events. She seemed to work pretty hard at letting constituents know what was going on up in Ottawa, and what her position was on the issues of the day.”
    This is bullpucky. I’m in the same riding and she was asleep at the switch. Anything she sent out was boilerplate and a waste of time. Ever try to call her?

  5. JStanton says:

    Heh, heh. You were so pissy today. Channeling Christine Blizzard, I thought.

    .

  6. Andrew says:

    I have an incumbent NDP MP and I’m glad that I don’t hear from him more often. By the way, your riding was actually one of many that dumped their NDP MPs in ’93 after their last high-water mark.

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