My green canoe

Some time ago I bought a green, almost new canoe from a well-known local outdoorsman. He drove a hard bargain. His price was firm and he refused to throw in anything to sweeten the deal. He just wouldn’t haggle. The guy’s name was Bruce Hyer.

Based on recent events the MP representing Thunder Bay-Superior North still likes to have things his own way.  Following in the steps of his predecessor Joe Comuzzi, Mr. Hyer has shunned the party that got him elected and he will now sit in the house as an independent member.

That’s two in a row for this riding. Comuzzi got thrown out of the Liberal Party to sit as an independent and now this. The voters in Thunder Bay-Superior North might want to review their selection criteria.  They can’t seem to elect anybody who will actually stick around and be who they were elected to be.

Mr. Hyer planned to make his big announcement in the House but he lost that opportunity and chose instead to oust himself through social media. Since then he has been given plenty of opportunity to explain his actions. His reaction has been published and broadcast across the country. 

He expresses outrage at what he and many others are calling a dysfunctional Parliament. It’s hard to argue with him there. The Canadian government is a national disgrace and is quickly becoming an international embarrassment.  Everybody knows that.

Bruce Hyer knew what to expect in 2008 when he first set foot in the House of Commons. His only mistake was thinking he could change anything, even after being elected twice over the span of a third-of-a-decade. It’s hard to decide whether Mr. Hyer leaving the NDP makes Parliament more or less dysfunctional.

The independent Mr. Hyer is also correct to criticize what he refers to as the “mindless solidarity” of today’s political parties, his former NDP caucus mates included. He and his one time colleague John Rafferty snubbed the NDP over the long-gun registry and went rogue just like Sarah Palin. They broke the rules to make their point.

Unfortunately nobody was impressed with these two northern mavericks, not Parliament and not the NDP Party. They were censured and silenced immediately. 

Mr. Rafferty has since decided to behave himself and has been rewarded. Mr. Hyer, not so much. He stands on principle but he stands alone. Once again it is difficult to see how these antics are solving the problems with Parliament.

Mr. Hyer also has some personal difficulties with the new NDP leader, Tom Mulcair. When the goodies and rewards were being doled out in the form of shadow cabinet positions the member from Thunder Bay-Superior North was snubbed in return for his maverick tendencies. He was left as one of only 25 NDP caucus members without a formal critic’s role. Using its own dysfunctional procedures, Parliament forced his hand and we all know how he responded.

Our independent member used this opportunity to burn a few bridges when he took advantage of his new parliamentary status to lambaste his former leader. He strongly suggested Mulcair needed to chill on that whole “doing what you’re told” thing. Bruce Hyer doesn’t haggle and he refuses to be whipped.

For his part, Tom Mulcair insists his hands were tied. He didn’t need any rogue shadow cabinet members and he was prepared to reward his new twenty-something rookie MPs from Quebec long before he would entertain a 65-year-old loose cannon from Thunder Bay. Not only that, Mr. Mulcair assures us we haven’t seen the last of the long-gun registry. There’s nothing like adding insult to injury.

John Rafferty has emerged from this kafuffle smelling like a rose. He has been forgiven his maverick past and as a reward for continuing to be a part of the problem, he is now the shadow cabinet critic for FedNor. 

I don’t know if he and Mr. Hyer are allowed to hang out any more, especially after he referred to his former colleague’s decision as a “tremendous mistake.” 

I wonder what Mr. Rafferty will do and say when the gun registry rolls around again.

I don’t know Mr. Hyer personally but I can’t complain about my business dealings with the man. 

I will be heading out in a few weeks in the green canoe he sold me. It still floats. Time will tell if the same can be said of his political career.