Ugh! Have you seen this?
That’s John Baird, a Minister in Steven Harper’s cabinet. You know what he’s doing? He’s engaging in abusive behaviour. It is not only verbal abuse; it is also abuse of power and privilege. Whether he was correct in his assessment of the rules and regulations for committee workings is irrelevant. His behaviour is unbecoming a Minister, let alone a parliamentarian! It is entirely unacceptable!
Yet, a majority of the Members of the House of Commons who bothered to vote on the matter of Parliamentarian of the Year selected John Baird as that person.
This is reprehensible.
Canada’s reached a new low. It wasn’t enough for the PM to berate and belittle Linda Keen (formerly of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission) when the Chalk River reactor went down. No, now his minion, the loudmouthed and abusive, John Baird, gets a turn.
When will we ever learn? Why are abusers given such high praise everywhere — even in our Parliament?
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Nod to Alison@Creekside
Additional nod to POGGE for inadvertently reminding me I hadn’t posted this
the regina mom 
bonniezink
/ June 6, 2010Well said, regina mom. I have been disgusted and quite disappointed in the behaviour of many of our parliament representatives. It would see, from the outside looking in, that with great power comes the perceived “right” to conduct ones self in anyway that strikes their whim. We teach our children to respect and consider others, yet these lessons seem to be tossed once one reaches a certain level in society, ie: government. Go figure!
CanNurse
/ June 6, 2010John Baird obviously has rage issues. He needs anger management treatment. The fact that he is allowed to behave this way is outrageous. And we wonder why we have Violence against women in Canada? Our fed. gov. and some of it’s individual members are abusive. Every woman who has experienced abuse from a man will immediately recognize Baird as a typical abuser who has a rage attack when he doesn’t get his own way. Well said, Bernadette!
bonniezink
/ June 6, 2010I could not agree with you more, CanNurse. Extremely well put.
Toe
/ June 6, 2010It also says a lot about the MP’s who voted for him. Who are they? Also white men in suits who harbour an inner rageaholic? Let’s just all be thankful he is not available to our gender with the potential to bully.
alexK
/ September 29, 2011I don’t get it either. He’s got some major issues and he’s representing us at the UN for eg. His tirade re palestine was incredible. He does not speak for me.