Ottawa's John Baird named Canada's Parliamentarian of the Year

Maclean's magazine hands out the honours at the Parliamentarians of the Year awards in Ottawa

TORONTO, June 2 /CNW/ - Maclean's magazine in association with the Historica-Dominion Institute, L'actualité and Presenting Sponsor TD, celebrated the fourth annual Parliamentarians of the Year awards this evening on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. Attended by members of Parliament, some of the country's most prominent journalists and other Canadians of note, the event honours Canada's top MPs, as voted by their peers in the House of Commons.

Almost 70 per cent of all members of Parliament from across all parties voted for this year's Parliamentarians of the Year. Winners and runners-up cross all political lines as well.

The award winners will be featured in a special issue of Maclean's hitting newsstands tomorrow, Thursday, June 3, and in L'actualité, on newsstands Friday, June 4. Full award results, photos, runners-up and methodology can also be found at macleans.ca/parliamentarians.

Parliamentarian of the Year

This year's Parliamentarian of the Year is the Hon. John Baird (Conservative), minister of transport, infrastructure and communities and MP for Ottawa West-Nepean. Mr. Baird was elected in 2006 and re-elected in 2008, the same year he was sworn in as minister of transport, infrastructure and communities.

In addition to the coveted Parliamentarian of the Year award, six other awards were bestowed upon MPs: best orator, rising star, most collegial, best constituent representative, hardest working and most knowledgeable.

Maclean's 2010 Parliamentarians of the Year winners:

    
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Award            Winner      Riding        Runner-Up       Riding
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Parliamentarian  John Baird  Ottawa West-  Gilles Duceppe  Laurier-
     of the Year     (Cons.)     Nepean (Ont.) (BQ)            Sainte-
                                                               Marie (Que.)
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Hardest Working  Ted         Macleod       Paul Szabo      Mississauga
                     Menzies     (Alta.)       (Lib.)          South (Ont.)
                     (Cons.)
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Best Orators     Bob Rae     Toronto       Gilles Duceppe  Laurier-
                     (Lib.)      Centre        (BQ)            Sainte-
                                                               Marie (Que.)
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Most Collegial   Peter       Sackville-    Rodger Cuzner   Cape Breton-
                     Stoffer     Eastern       (Lib.)          Canso (N.S.)
                     (NDP)       Shore (N.S.)
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Most Knowledge-  Gilles      Laurier-      John Baird      Ottawa West-
    able             Duceppe     Sainte-Marie  (Cons.)         Nepean (Ont.)
                     (BQ)        (Que.)
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Best represents  Robert      Chicoutimi-   Mauril Belanger Ottawa-Vanier
    Constituents     Bouchard    Le Fjord      (Lib.)          (Ont.)
                     (BQ)        (Que.)
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Rising Star      Kelly Block  Saskatoon-   Carole Freeman  Chateauguay-
                     (Cons.)      Rosetown-    (BQ)            Saint-
                                  Biggar                       Constant
                                  (Sask.)                      (Que.)
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    

How we did it

Ipsos Reid asked all members of Parliament to nominate the best MPs in each of seven categories. This year, 202 MPs responded, casting votes for members both in and outside their parties. The votes were converted to a point system to ensure that larger parties did not have an advantage. The MP who received the most points in each category won. The MP who earned the highest number of total points was named Parliamentarian of the Year.

About Maclean's:

Maclean's is Canada's only national weekly current affairs magazine. Maclean's enlightens, engages and entertains 2.4 million readers with strong investigative reporting and exclusive stories from leading journalists in the fields of international affairs, social issues, national politics, business and culture. Visit www.macleans.ca.

For further information: Louise Leger, [phone], [email protected]