Peter Stoffer, Elizabeth May honoured at Parliamentarians of the Year gala event

MPs in our nation's capital held their version of the Oscars on Tuesday night, at the seventh annual Parliamentarians of the Year awards.

The event, which recognizes members for parliamentary excellence, is presented annually by Maclean's magazine — this year's event was held at the Ottawa Convention Centre with a large contingent of MPs and cabinet ministers on hand.

The top award — the aptly named 'Parliamentarian of the Year' award — went to veteran NDP MP Peter Stoffer.

"No matter how many years I’ve been here, how many MPs and senators I’ve met, I’ve yet to meet one I wouldn’t want to have as my neighbour," Stoffer told the crowd, during his acceptance speech, according to the Chronicle Herald.

"Even though we may disagree politically, we’re all here for the right reasons."

Elizabeth May, who won that award last year, didn't go home empty-handed. The Green Party leader won the Hardest Working MP award, in absentia — May is currently is Warsaw at a UN climate change conference.

[ Related: Elizabeth May joins Afghanistan delegation at climate change conference ]

One of the evening's other most coveted prizes went to Conservative cabinet minister Jason Kenney. He won the 'Most Knowledgeable' award.

"It’s rare anymore for an MP to debate in the House without the benefit of prepared speeches, but Jason Kenney, Minister of Employment and Social Development since July’s cabinet shuffle, regularly gets up to respond to questions without so much as glancing at his notes," MacLean's notes.

"In scrums, he can handle his own back-and-forth with reporters while eschewing prepared talking points. It’s the mark of someone who knows his files."

[ Related: Kenney becomes first Tory to slam Ford after Harper's tepid smackdown ]

The neat thing about these awards is that they're actually voted on by MPs. In other words, MPs vote for members in other parties.

In an interview with MacLeans magazine, last year, John Baird, a former best Parliamentarian, said that MPs from opposing parties actually get a long better than the public might think.

"What gets the media attention is the discord and disagreement. Whenever something is hot it leads on the news but there a number of folks you can work across the aisle with, you can work collegially with," Baird said

"There are some people though that are a lot tougher to work with. Sometimes personal political differences get in the way but that doesn't happen as often as you might think."

Here is the full list of this year's winners:

Parliamentarian of the Year: Peter Stoffer (NDP); Runner up: Stephen Harper (CPC)

Hardest Working: Elizabeth May (GPC); Runner up: Irwin Cotler (LPC)

Best Orator: John Baird (CPC); Runner up: Rodger Cuzner (LPC)

Most Collegial: Rodger Cuzner (LPC); Runner up: Ed Holder (CPC)

Most Knowledgeable: Jason Kenney (CPC); Runner up: Marc Garneau (LPC)

Rising Star: Chris Alexander (CPC); Runner up: Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe (NDP)

Best Represents Constituents: Ted Hsu (LPC); Runner up: Peter Stoffer (NDP)

(Photo courtesy of the Canadian Press)

Are you a politics junkie?
Follow @politicalpoints on Twitter!