Tag Archives: Ruth Ellen Brosseau

Ruth Ellen Brosseau–in the flesh–in the GTA!? (OK, Hamilton, but still…)

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Although she’s a long way from Berthier-Maskinongé, the NDP’s true Cinderella story will be the guest of honour at a provincial party fundraising event for the Hamilton riding of Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale this Saturday evening.  The New Democratic Party may have finished a distant third in the riding–which is held federally by the Conservatives–in the last two provincial elections, but they’re clearly pulling out all the stops for this one.

Ruth Ellen Brosseau, as you may recall, rose from the ranks of campus bartender to deputy critic of agriculture on the backs of an ignorant populace who voted strictly for the late Jack Layton.  Never having set foot in her riding beforehand, she’s since become quite popular amongst the locals–and who can blame them?  She’s gotta be the hottest politician this side of Sarah Palin!  Actually, scratch that–I’d take the Berthier Babe over Mama Grizzly any day…

Brosseau’s French has gotten a lot better, but one can only assume she’ll address the gathered masses in her native tongue.  Unless you get her going about her love of cheese, that is.  (Did I mention that she’s a vegetarian?  I guess Malcolm Allen must be the one who meats, erm, meets with the poultry and cattle farmers…)  In any case, the event also features a cash bar and silent auction.  One can only assume that “Win a Mauricie weekend with Ruth Ellen Brosseau” is the top prize up for bidding.

This fundraising extravaganza, to be held at the Worker’s Arts and Heritage Centre (seems like a logical place for an NDP function, eh?) a few blocks north of downtown Hammertown, is a 45-dollar ticket, though it’s PWYC for “students and/or unwaged persons” (they recommend 10 bucks).  It promises to be a real doozy.  According to the riding association’s website, over 80 tickets have already been sold!  Alas, I’m not sure if Elections Ontario has a rule forbidding Torontonians from contributing to a Hamiltonian riding association, but I’m almost tempted to take the GO out there for the occasion.  According to Google, it’s only about a 20-minute walk from the bus depot to the venue…

And it seems Madame Brosseau isn’t the only celebrity to be hitting The Hammer in the coming days.  As the CBC reports, filming of the Robocop remake is set to begin next Monday on James Street, as it seems the filmmakers are using Steeltown as a stand-in for Detroit.  What, was Winnipeg too far away? ;)

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Where to drink in Ottawa if you want to become an MP’s “babysitter”

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If you drink Keith’s or 50, chances are you’re an NDP supporter, whereas Liberals gravitate more towards Heineken, according to the National Post’s parliamentary drinking guide.  According to the Post, the Conservative party prefers the upscale Métropolitain Brasserie and and Sir John A. Pub, while the NDP hangs out at Brixton’s Pub so often that they invite its bartender to their Christmas parties.  Meanwhile, the Liberals once staged a takedown of D’Arcy McGees Irish Pub, where it’s not uncommon for parliamentary pages to get hit on by MPs.  “The page program can’t control you at 11 p.m. if you decide to hit D’Arcy McGee’s and get chatted up by an MP,” former page Sarah Govan told Postmedia in 2006.  Wait, aren’t pages college and university students—and most MPs in their 50s?  Creepy!

While the Post lists several downtown hotspots, including Bar La Zone in Gatineau, where the Bloc Quebecois drowned their sorrows after being reduced to rump status in the last election, it makes no mention of Oliver’s Pub, the Carleton campus bar which the NDP’s Deputy Agriculture Critic assistant-managed before being elected.  I guess she no longer gets the employee discount?

And while most Conservatives, from Fearless Leader Stephen Harper to past Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, seem to lay off the sauce, such was not the case for the original Tory leader, whose namesake pub some of them occasionally visit.  As per the Post, “Sir John A. Macdonald, of course, was renowned for his drinking. He vomited during campaign speeches, downed tumblers of gin during parliamentary debates and drunkenly lit his London, England hotel room on fire while hashing out the final terms of British North America.”  And yet, he was never known to pass out in parliament.  Rob Anders, on the other hand…

France’s answer to Ruth Ellen Brosseau: Younger, hotter, and much, much further to the right!

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Although I speak the language, I have no other connection to France and thus, I can’t say I follow French politics too closely.  That said, the Hexagon recently had an election in which the Socialist Party earned a majority in its National Assembly—though, much like last year’s Canadian federal election, it’s a young, first-time member of the opposition representing a rural riding who’s caught my eye—and no, this one didn’t spend the campaign in Las Vegas (or Monaco for that matter, which, I suppose might be the French equivalent).

Marion Maréchal-Le Pen, 22, is the youngest parliamentarian in the history of the Fifth Republic, which dates back to 1958.  She’s also one of the few women in her role, as the National Assembly is currently 73 per cent male.  A law student at l’Université Panthéon-Assas (aka Paris II), she won her rural riding of Vaucluse in the West of France (total population: 127,749) with 42 per cent of the vote, unseating incumbent Jean-Michel Ferrand of the UMP.  This victory came despite the fact that her college campus is nearly 700 km from her riding, as per this Google Map.  But while Ruth Ellen Brosseau was slinging drinks behind a campus bar, Marion Maréchal-Le Pen was studying for the bar (or whatever they call it in France) on campus.  She also speaks perfect French…

Alas, unlike la fameuse députée de Berthier-Maskinongé, Maréchal-Le Pen has political acumen beyond her years.  Her grandfather, in fact, was the founder of the Front national, a political party currently led by her aunt, Marine Le Pen.  Marion herself has been a member of the Front since her 18th birthday, and is one of two MPs elected under its banner in last weekend’s election—making it, in terms of seat-count, anyways, roughly equivalent to the Green Party.  But from a political standpoint, some of the Front’s policies might make Stephen Harper blush.  Accused by some of being a fascist party, the Front’s anti-immigrant views, World War II revisionist history and zero-tolerance stance on crime, which includes harsher sentencing, increased prison capacities and re-introducing the death penalty, has earned them some degree of appeal in certain rural areas across the country.

As such, while this photo gallery of the new member for Vaucluse’s third riding doesn’t display the sexy feet tattoos of her Canadian doppelganger, I get the feeling that if Maréchal-Le Pen is inked, she might not wanna show off her body art in Jewish neighbourhoods.  But were it not for their diverging beliefs in body modification, amongst other vast political differences, Ruth Ellen and Marion could seemingly be long-lost sisters.  I mean, can you tell them apart?

“Well, bonjour to you, too!”

So, it seems that Thomas Mulcair has a thing for Ruth Ellen Brosseau, too…

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Don’t get me wrong, I love Ruth Ellen Brosseau.  I really do.  Of all the NDP poteaux in the last election, she was by far the best-looking.  And by all accounts, she’s doing pretty well in Berthier-Maskinongé, a riding she couldn’t have found on a map before being elected its MP.  But in naming her deputy critic of agriculture in the NDP shadow cabinet, Thomas Mulcair is making a mistake.

I mean, let’s face it; Brosseau doesn’t exactly have an agricultural background.  Need I remind you that she was a campus bartender before being elected?  Okay, so as a deputy critic, she’s basically a backup to Malcolm Allen, the NDP’s lead critic in that department, but if Mulcair really wanted to give her a token post in his shadow cabinet, could he not have found something more suitable, like women’s issues and gender equality, where she’d be backing up Niki Ashton?  I know I’d suddenly take a stronger interest in that domain if it was being criticized by a Brosseau-Ashton tag team!

Granted, it’s not like there are a whole lotta household names in the NDP’s Quebec caucus.  I for one have never heard of half these new deputy critics.  But in giving arguably the least-qualified MP of all-time a portfolio that she knows absolutely nothing about, Mulcair is only extending the punchline of the longest-running joke in Parliament.

That said, I just might find myself taking a new interest in agriculture…

Which is better, Legault’s English or Brosseau’s français?

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In case you don’t know, François Legault has been making a lot of headlines ever since he started his Coalition Avenir Québec, a new political party that seems poised to win the next provincial election in la belle province.  Though the former Parti québecois minister has been outspoken in his defense of French-language rights, he has earned the support of William Johnson, a noted “angryphone,” for his pledge to put Quebec sovereignty on the backburner for at least 10 years.  Johnson’s donation does seem a little ironic in light of a new video that’s been making the rounds on YouTube of the CAQ leader speaking anglais, though.  It’s some pretty funny shit:

(I especially like his comment that “We don’t fuck enough” right around the one-minute mark…)

With his hesitation over simple words like “work,” his malaprops (“health/wealth”) and inability to translate terms like “avenir prévisible” to “foreseeable future,” it’s a wonder that he spent 80 per cent of his day speaking English as president of Air Transat.  I guess the other 20 per cent of the time was spent injecting French words and phrases into his English speeches…

Yes, I know this video is a doctored blooper reel, but the fact that it only needed to extract from three clips to find almost two minutes of embarrassing content should probably serve as a wake-up call to any would-be anglophone caquistes (still can’t say that word without laughing, haha).  Then again, « Des langues, ça s’apprend » as a certain general manager would say. ;)

Speaking of learning languages, I’d hafta say that the lovely Ruth Ellen Brosseau has done a pretty decent job for someone who couldn’t even answer the phone in French before she was elected.  Though she didn’t talk much during her appearance on Tout le monde en parle, she was able to conduct an entire 20-minute talk show interview en français less than six months after taking office.

Granted, even I can spot several gender confusions in her speech, and it kinda sounds like she says we have lovely femmes (women) instead of fermes (farms) before professing her love for cheese, but that’s hardly a “We don’t fuck enough” moment.  While I will say that I should probably watch more French CPAC before judging Legault, I hafta give this one to R-E.

Okay, maybe I’ll take that back.  Well, at least she didn’t resort to English, even when addressed en anglais, I’ll give her that.

Brosseau 1, Legault 0

Well, at least she’s honest…

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Trois-Rivières newspaper Le Nouvelliste is reporting this morning that Berthier-Maskinongé MP Ruth-Ellen Brosseau has refused to accept the commemorative medallion offered by Queen Elizabeth to all members of parliament on the occasion of her 60th anniversary as monarch.  According to the paper, « Elle juge en effet qu’elle n’a pas fait ce qu’il faut pour mériter un tel honneur et qu’elle est payée pour faire son travail de députée. »  Basically, she feels she hasn’t done anything to earn it, and she’s just doing what she’s paid to do.  Well, at least she’s in touch with reality…

On the other hand, some rinky-dink organization called the Mad River Institute for Political Studies has named her the Worst MP of 2011.  The fact that the only media outlet to cover this award ceremony is the London Community News shows just how influential Mad River really is, methinks.  And while I’ll admit that R-E’s the least-qualified MP I’ve seen in some time (hey, at least those students were poli-sci majors), I don’t think they’ve been following her career that closely.  The lone commentor on the Community News seems to share my opinion:

 

As someone who actually reads Le Nouvelliste and l’Action d’Autry—primarily to see if they’ve published any new pictures of Madame Brosseau—I do concur.  Though she may have been elected under dubious circumstances, she seems to be adapting to her role quite nicely, which is more than one could say of several absentee MPs out there.  Did I mention that she’s taken the trouble to learn French?  How many Conservative cabinet members can say that!?  Mad River won’t be getting my 20 to 1,000 dollars, that’s for sure!

WOMAN OF THE YEAR: Ruth Ellen Brosseau

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Although TIME Magazine changed its Man of the Year award to a more politically-correct “Person of the Year,” sometime along the way, you can count the number of women who’ve single-handedly won the award on one, erm, hand–the last being Filipino president Corazon Aquino back in ’86.  Buncha sexist, chauvinist pigs, if you ask me.  Thus, with no further ado, I give you my Woman of the Year 2011…

Ruth Ellen Brosseau

No semi-finalists in this competition, as there can be only one.  I have been fascinated with the new Berthier-Maskinongé MP ever since her election, even if I once offered to take her place and had a brief dalliance with Niki Ashton.  Never has someone so unqualified and unprepared for public office been thrust into the national media spotlight by agreeing to put her name on the ballot as a paper candidate, then being unexpectedly swept to victory in a far-off riding where she didn’t even speak the language.

Yet for all her hardships, R-E has acquitted herself reasonably well.  She’s learning French, attending local events in the riding, and even taking the opportunity to smack-talk Tony Clement in the House of Commons.  As a matter of fact, she’ll be appearing on the year-end edition of popular Radio-Canada talk show Tout le Monde en Parle tomorrow nite at 7:30 pm, where she’ll confront Gilles Duceppe, a man who once criticized her election, saying «on a élu une personne dans Berthier-Maskinongé qui dit “Quand ça parle trop vite, mon ‘brain’ ne suit pas”» (Translation: We’ve elected someone in Berthier-Maskinongé who says “My brain doesn’t follow when they talk too fast.”).  I can’t hardly wait.  As Mme Brosseau might say, «Je suis vraiment, vraiment excité» for this episode.

For a taste of what’s to come, check out this interview she did with a local public access TV channel back in September:

…

(Okay, I’ll admit it.  I only picked her cuz she’s hot.)

Move over Ruth Ellen Brosseau – here comes Niki Ashton!

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I must admit, I have been fascinated with Ruth Ellen Brosseau ever since the election, when she rode the Orange Wave to power in Berthier-Maskinongé despite having never visited the rural Quebec riding and speaking very little French.  There was also that whole Vegas thing, but hey, as long as she didn’t bet on the election, I don’t hold it against her.

Well actually, yes I do.  Never have I seen such an unqualified candidate for office–and yet, she’s a total knockout!  Lately, I’ve found myself scanning through French-language stories about food banks in Trois-Rivières just to see what outfit she’s wearing.  And I gotta say, I usually prefer blondes, but I think she looks better with her dye job, effectively erasing the memory of that awkward, mugshot-style photo that made the rounds during her Vegas vacation.

That said, there’s been little news on the R.E. front of late.  In fact, half of the time she comes up in my Google News subscription, it’s a story about how some local organization is inviting her to their event–without any pictures of their MP.  And while I still keep an eye out, I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I won’t be seeing much of her unless I move to Louiseville.  After her highly-publicized debut, the NDP has largely kept her under wraps in the House of Commons, saving her for special occasions.  She’s also been notably absent from the party’s leadership debate, aside from the occasional local interview where she’s stated that she hasn’t picked a side.

Speaking of which, while I voted for Olivia last time, I’m not overly interested in the race to replace her husband.  Or at least I wasn’t before today.  Enter Niki Ashton, the ninth entrant in the NDP sweepstakes.  The 29-year-old Churchill MP is the youngest candidate and just the second female in the running.  She survived a plane crash, speaks fluent English, French, Spanish and Greek, and comes from an established Manitoba political family–her dad’s a provincial cabinet minister.  Not only that, but she totally rocks the sexy librarian look.  Even the way she spells her name is hot.

Now, I’m not about to go out and become a card-carrying commie or anything, but let’s just say that the NDP leadership race just got a lot more interesting.  I’m setting up a new Google News alert as we speak…

Les Trifluviens et les Shawiniganais stand by their man (and women)!

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In a story released today by Trois-Rivières newspaper Le Nouvelliste, 81 per cent of respondents in Trois-Rivières and 71 per cent of respondents in Shawinigan who voted NDP in the past election said they stand by their vote and would vote for the party again.  What makes this survey particularly interesting is that the western part of the former falls under the Berthier-Maskinongé riding held by Ruth Ellen “Vegas” Brosseau—where 81 per cent of the 140 respondents said they’d vote for her again.  Also, as you may remember, Shawinigan was long held by a Liberal named Jean Chretien.  Perhaps that name rings a bell?

Thus, the paper seems more critical of the Orange Crush than its readers, stating: « Des chiffres intéressants si l’on considère que ce sondage a eu lieu du 21 au 26 octobre, soit après la nomination d’un juge et d’un vérificateur général unilingues anglophones et après l’attribution de juteux contrats pour la construction de navires canadiens à des chantiers navals situés hors Québec, et ce sans que le caucus québécois du NPD ait déchiré sa chemise. »

(Translation: “Interesting numbers if we consider that this poll took place between October 21st to 26th, after the nomination of a unilingual anglophone judge and auditor general, and after the awarding of juicy contracts for the construction of Canadian ships to shipyards outside of Quebec, without the NDP’s Quebec caucus ripping its shirt, Hulk Hogan style.)

However, Raynald Harvey, president of Segma Recherche, which conducted the survey, raises a valid point that electors are much more focused on provincial politics ces temps-ci: « Les Québécois seraient tellement sollicités ces temps-ci par tout ce qui se passe en politique provinciale (allégations de corruption, collusion, demande d’enquête publique), qu’ils semblent saturés, comme si leur capacité de s’émouvoir s’était émoussée. »

(Translation: “Quebeckers are so occupied these days by what’s happening in provincial politics (allegations of corruption, collusion and the demand for a public enquiry) that they seem saturated, as if their capacity for caring has crapped out.” – I wanted to keep the alliteration intact!)

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/le-nouvelliste/actualites/201111/02/01-4463601-vote-npd-les-electeurs-nont-pas-de-regrets.php

When all else fails, turn to Ruth Ellen Brosseau!

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Although Peter MacKay stole most of the headlines in yesterday’s Question Period, the opposition continued its attack on Tony Clement, who remains mum on the G8 slush fund.  With the NDP failing to get a rise out of the Treasury Board President, they went with an old party adage to attempt to draw comment from Clement: When all else fails, turn to Ruth Ellen Brosseau.

After two more direct challenges to Mr. Clement’s fortitude, the NDP sent up Ruth Ellen Brosseau, the member for Berthier-Maskinongé and the subject of countless jokes. ”As a single mother, my days are very full,” she said, standing straight and tall with her hands folded together in front of her. She proceeded to explain her commitments to home and family and work and her efforts to get home at a decent hour.

“The last thing I want is to hear about the mismanagement of public funds at the G8 summit,” she claimed. A minister who does not respond to questions and refuses to accept responsibility, is that really the model we want to pass on to our children?”

You go, girl!  Too bad John Baird didn’t give you much of an answer, though…