Sparse Thinking

Disappointing day yesterday. I have often seen Ottawa-Orléans Conservative Royal Galipeau taking visitors on tours of the House of Commons, stopping at various stations to unfold some little known historical facts.  He's very good at it and has even had me assist him on a couple of occasions. His respect for Parliament has impressed me over the last three years.Until yesterday. What was he thinking when he opted to Tweet about how sparse Bloc and Liberal MPs were in the House on certain afternoons?  He knows well enough that his own party adopts exactly the same practice week in and week out. Numerous committee meetings are held in the afternoon, along with an endless stream of petitioners seeking assistance in one file or another and lining up at MP offices for a hearing.And then there's the other reality that MPs are not supposed to talk about such things - a practice that has been respected by other members.  Galipeau reasons that this custom doesn't apply to Twitter, which he used to make his observation. So, in a like-minded spirit, let me just remind him that I sat in the House most of yesterday afternoon as the government put forward its own bill for Free Trade with Jordan in the House. At various times I noticed only 3 or 4 Conservatives in the seats opposite - Galipeau wasn't one of them at that time. Yet I spotted lots of Conservatives in committee hearings during those moments, going about their work like all members in the afternoons.This is another one of those cases where partisanship trumped the respect of the Commons, only this time it came from someone who knows better. Royal, you're a walking history book in the House and we're the richer for your knowledge. Now's not the time to make decency and respectfulness history.