Why does defence minister Peter MacKay get so much attention?

Is Peter MacKay the Anna Kournikova of Canadian politics?

Like the former tennis star whose tournament victories were far and few between, our country's defence minister seems to garner a lot of media attention whether he deserves it or not. The latest swarm of news stories about MacKay came this week, with an allegation that he used a military search and rescue helicopter for personal use back in July 2010.

Certainly, using government helicopters for personal use deserves some scrutiny but the intensity of the media coverage is impressive.

"I think it is precisely because he looks and acts the part of 'Mr. Clean' that when anything that could be interpreted badly comes up, there is interest," York University political scientist Dr. Dennis Pilon told Yahoo! Canada News.

"Basically, if you look like a crook, nobody is shocked when situations look possibly crooked. When you're the all-Canadian maritime golden boy."

In his personal life, as well, the MP from Nova Scotia receives a disproportionate amount of publicity.

There were the stories of MacKay's romantic attachments: in 2005 he dated his Conservative MP colleague Belinda Stronach. That relationship ended when Stronach defected to the Liberal Party in May of that year.

There were also rumours about a blossoming romantic liaison between MacKay and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

And, in 2010, Mackay made headlines for his engagement, and subsequent break-up with CTV executive Jana Juginovic.

Other MPs' love lives don't seem to garner the same amount of attention.

Does anybody know, or even care, who John Baird or Rona Ambrose are dating?

It's not just the media.

There is not one, but two Peter MacKay Fan Club pages on Facebook.

Whether its because of his looks, his charisma, or because he seeks it, Peter MacKay certainly garners a lot of attention.

And he's not even a party leader - yet.