Canada PoliticsRob Anders wins ‘least valuable politician’ distinction in annual Hill Times survey
It's that time of the year again, when media outlets like to give us their best lists, worst lists and annual surveys.
One of the most venerable politico surveys in the land is the Hill Times' 'All Politics Poll', a survey of political workers in Ottawa and of readers of the weekly Parliament Hill newspaper.
This year's p0ll — the 16th annual — notes that election fraud/robocalls was the biggest political story of the year, immigration minister Jason Kenney was the best cabinet minister while Stephen Harper was voted the MVP — the most valuable politician.
Tory MP Bev Oda won the award for being this year's worst cabinet minister — by a significant margin.
And, not surprisingly, Alberta MP Rob Anders was voted as the least valuable politician.
In terms of Canadian political gaffes in 2012, it's Anders and Toronto mayor Rob Ford 1 and 1A.
This year, Anders gained notoriety for falling asleep at a meeting about homeless soldiers, for telling a reporter that Thomas Mulcair helped to hasten Jack Layton's death, and for suggesting that the goal of a transgender rights bill was to give transgender-ed men access to women's public washroom facilities.
Yahoo! Year in Review:
The survey's more quirky categories did, however, elicit some surprising responses.
Former prime minister John Diefenbaker was voted as the favourite former politician.
Diefenbaker? Really?
Also, when asked who they would like to see make a political comeback, 4.8 per cent of the respondents picked former prime minister Joe Clark — who is now 73 years old! Clark finished second on that list, after Quebec MP Maxime Bernier.
Here are some of the other notable 'winners' in the Hill Times survey:
Most important issue politicians aren't addressing: Health care
Promise less likely to be kept in 2013: Balanced budget
Favourite up-and-comer MP: Michelle Rempel (Con)
Public figure that should have run [for office] last year: David Suzuki
Biggest problem facing Parliament: Lack of civility
Full results can be found here.
