OTTAWA — Jack Layton’s words still echo: “You know, most Canadians, if they don’t show up for work, they don’t get a promotion.”
The NDP leader’s words — aimed square at then-Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff’s poor attendance in the House — proved to be the proverbial knock-out-punch in the English-language debate of the 2011 federal election campaign.
Still, the sitting MPs vying to become the next NDP leader have some of the worst attendance records in this Parliament.
Layton set the tone — if you want to move up in the House of Commons, you had better show up, represent your constituents and cast a vote on proposed legislation.
Five sitting NDP MPs are currently seeking promotions, campaigning to take over the position left vacant when Layton succumbed to cancer in August. Each ranks among the MPs with the worst attendance records since the election, according to the website howdtheyvote.ca.
The non-partisan website scrapes information from Hansard, the official record of Parliament, to determine how Canada’s elected politicians vote and what they’ve said.
Paul Dewar and Thomas Mulcair rank worst among the leadership candidates — they are tied for third among all MPs — with 74 absences apiece.
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Nathan Cullen comes next, in fifth place overall with 70 absences. Peggy Nash and Niki Ashton, meanwhile, are neck and neck, placing seventh and eighth overall respectively, with 62 and 61 absences.
Each candidate, except for Mulcair, who declined to answer the question, was prepared to defend their record.
Nathan Cullen, whose riding is nearly 5,500 kilometres from Ottawa, said he has been compelled to take part in discussions around proposed pipeline projects that would impact his constituents.
Further, he said, there is a big difference between him and Ignatieff.
“I have also been running for leader, which Ignatieff was not when he was absent from the Hill,” he said.
Dewar pointed to the same discrepancy between the NDP candidates and Liberal leader, who missed 69 per cent of the votes that took place during his time at the helm of the Liberals.
“He wasn’t running for leader at the time,” he said. “He was running away from keeping the Conservatives in check. The problem was that the former Liberal leader failed to stand up to Harper’s minority government.”
For her part, Ashton looked to her attendance records in the previous Parliament.
“If you look at my overall record as an MP since 2008, I believe it stacks up well,” she said.
Ignoring the current session, Ashton has missed 22 of 203 votes since elected, according to howdtheyvote.com. For reference, Ignatieff missed 115 of 167 votes that occurred after he became leader.
Nash, meanwhile, said she regrets that the demands of the leadership race take her away from the House.
“But this is, thankfully, only temporary,” she said.
While the candidates have been campaigning, there have been votes of the omnibus crime bill, the future of the Canadian Wheat Board, whether to dismantle and destroy the long-gun registry, a proposal to increase the number of seats in the Commons, and implementing parts of the federal budget, to name but a few.
Statistics for the 41st Parliament:
1. Romeo Saganash – NDP – 94 absences
2. Maria Mourani – Bloc Quebecois – 82 absences
3. Thomas Mulcair – NDP – 74 absences
3. Paul Dewar – NDP – 74 absences
5. Nathan Cullen – NDP – 70 absences
6. Ed Fast – Conservative – 67 absences
7. Peggy Nash – NDP – 62 absences
8. Niki Ashton – NDP – 61 absences
9. Sana Hassainia – NDP – 60 absences
10. Gerry Ritz – Conservative – 54 absences
SOURCE: howdtheyvote.com
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