MP Sana Hassainia takes flak for poor vote attendance record
Independent MP Sana Hassainia from Montreal is under fire for her work ethic, earning the worst vote attendance record in the House of Commons last year.
Hassainia ran as a member of Parliament with the NDP in the Verchères riding.
However, last August, she left the party over what she said was a disagreement on policy relating to Israel.
But the NDP's press secretary said the falling out was due to Hassainia's attendance record.
In 2014, she was present for just 16 of 269 votes in the House of Commons.
Hassainia has two children and has said she has made a choice to be there for her family.
"It's very, very rare that a vote passes with a majority government, so I allowed myself to do this because it's not my little voice that makes a difference," she told CBC News in French.
Hassainia also said she didn't think her vote mattered as an Independent MP against the government.
The annual base salary for an MP is $163,700.
Hassainia was present in the House of Commons Tuesday. She rose during question period to ask the government what it was doing to reunite blogger RaifBadawi, who is jailed in Saudi Arabia, with his family in Canada.
Absent in riding
A former employee who worked at Hassainia's constituency office said the MP hasn't been visible in the riding either.
Jonathan Pare said he would often meet with constituents in Hassainia's place.
"The people tell us, 'It's you who is here, not her. How can that be?' She must be there," he said.
Pare said he quit after he realized how uninvolved Hassainia was in her duties as an MP.
