The R Rated Blogger

Macleans magazine, L'’Actualite and the Dominion Institute handed out the first annual Parliamentarian of the Year awards this past Tuesday.

"The work that parliamentarians do is worthy of recognition," explained Dominion Institute president Rudyard Griffith. "We have an opportunity to raise the bar, not only in terms of public awareness, but also amongst MPs themselves, who are going to realize that if you want this award there are some criteria and standards to meet, so let'’s try to strive to be our best - regardless of what happens in Question Period."

Last October, MPs were surveyed by Ipsos-Reid, which weighted the questionnaire to prevent the results from skewing toward members of the largest party.

Parliamentarian of the Year and Best Orator: Ralph Goodale (Liberal)

Best Constituent Representative and Most Collegial: Peter Stoffer (NDP)

Hardest-working: Paul Szabo (Liberal)

Most Knowledgeable (three-way tie): Stephen Harper (Conservative), Ralph Goodale (Liberal), Bill Blaikie (NDP)

You can check out the rest of the article here.