Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Remember Darrel Stinson ???

This is a retrospective Conservative Watch entry for The Laughing Pastor, who made the comment about Canadians being polite ... by and large we are a polite people, though in some corners that is changing fast and regrettably we have more than our fair share of rednecks amongst us ...

For me the shining example of parliamentary redneck behaviour remains the former Member of Parliament for Okanagan-Shuswap, Darrel Stinson who, during his first term as a Reform Party MP stood in the House of Commons and asked an opposing MP - "Do you have the fortitude or the gonads to stand up and come across here and say that to me, you son of a bitch?"

Stinson has also suggested that the way to prevent spousal abuse was to give women hand guns AND he called then Progressive Conservative leader Jean Charest (now the Liberal premier of Quebec) a "fat little, chubby, little sucker". Then Stinson put the icing on the cake by challenging a Liberal MP to a fight in the House of Commons.

So, let us not lose sight of the fact that we have boorish red necks among us, and sometimes they manage to find a seat in the House of Commons ... so Senator Ruth's comments really shouldn't come as a surprise.

To be fair though - the Wikipedia entry on Mr. Stinson notes he's been battling bladder cancer since 2004, and retired as MP in 2005 as a result of this illness, so despite his past antics in the House of Commons, I for one can only offer my thoughts and prayers for his recovery and healing ... it's the least I can do for a colourful MP who made parliament memorable !!

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