Don’t mess with MP Boshcoff in a dark alley, and Government Whip not quite evil enough

You can't tell during Question Period, but Liberal backbench MP Ken Boshcoff has a fighting spirit. Well, in principle at least. The former mayor of Thunder Bay, Ont., has a second degree black belt in three martial arts–goju kai, shotokan and traditional wing chun kung fu–and could easily fend off his political opponents in a dark alley. "Once in a while, I like to throw my weight around," he said. Mr. Boshcoff, who's been studying the martial arts for the past 40 years, recently participated in a demonstration at Intercity Mall in Thunder Bay, where he flipped seventh degree black belt judo sensei Kevin Kennedy. He had to do it eight times, he told HOH with a laugh, so that the logo of the Thunder Bay Martial Arts Council, which he started when he was mayor, could be seen in the picture. "In any given night, if you're practicing a throw, you can probably do a couple hundred of them so eight is not much," he said. He doesn't compete anymore, but still trains "from time to time, but mostly in a faster of tai-chi," he said. "But I still think martial arts all the time." Wouldn't want to mess with him, now would we? Nemnis, Johnson win illustrious $15,000 Shaughnessy Cohen prize Max and Monique Nemni and translator William Johnson shared a $15,000 Shaughnessy Cohen prize last Wednesday for their book Young Trudeau: Son of Quebec, Father of Canada, 1919-1944, at the annual, sold out, Politics and the Pen fundraising gala at the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa. Hosted by CTV reporter Rosemary Thompson and Globe columnist John Ibbitson, the who's who of politics showed up to the cocktail reception, including Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay, House Speaker Peter Milliken, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion, Human Resources Minister Monte Solberg, Conservative MP Steven Fletcher, Liberal MPs Scott Brison and Belinda Stronach, Conservative strategist Tim Powers and journalists Don Newman, Don Martin and Paul Wells. Former NHL hockey player Tie Domi was also spotted at the after-party at Zoë's, the Chateau Laurier's hotel lounge. The evening raised $200,000 for the Writer's Trust of Canada, which provides financial support to Canadian authors. Canada's 'new, partisan' federal Conservative government? When the Supreme Court handed down its decision on security certificates' constitutionality on Feb. 23, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day issued a press release on the Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness department's website saying that the government is reviewing the court's decision "carefully." He also said, "At a time when the opposition parties are being soft on security and soft on terrorism, Canada's New Government remains unwavering in its determination to safeguard national security and is committed to working with all its partners to protect the safety and security of Canadians." This was days before the House voted 159 to 124 to not extend the controversial sunset clauses of the Anti-Terrorism Act which allowed police to make preventative arrests and to compel witnesses to divulge information. Mr. Day must've thought he was saying that in the House of Commons or the department staff forgot that they were supposed to be non-partisan bureaucrats. The statement sounds fine on the Conservative Party's website, but note to Mr. Day–the department is supposed to be free from political outbursts like that. Sticks and stones, baby, sticks... Liberal MP Garth Turner was recently served notice by Chief Government Whip Jay Hill that he would be moving offices on Parliament Hill. In protest, Mr. Turner referred to Mr. Hill as "the evil Jay Hill" four times on his website and again in an Ottawa Citizen article last week. He also wrote on his popular blog, "Isn't Jay Hill ... merely another blinkered partisan neo-con bully in a Hugo Boss suit who'd rather play chess with offices rather than, say, do something constructive?" Mr. Turner's current office is in the Justice Building on a floor of Conservative MPs. He said he was being moved because of his recent decision to join the Liberal caucus and it was a waste of time and money to do so. He later relied on his digital democracy ideals to ask his readers and constituents to flood Mr. Hill's and the House Speaker's mailboxes demanding he not be moved from his office. It didn't work, however, as House security has been asked to move him. When asked what he thought of Mr. Turner's "evil" comments, Mr. Hill laughed and declined to go down that dark and dusty road. Jack Layton's political hockey NDP leader Jack Layton is a hockey fan, but won't say which NHL team is his favourite. When asked at the end of a speech to the Ottawa Economics Association recently, he gave a typically diplomatic political answer. Born and raised in Montreal, but now representing a Toronto riding and living in Ottawa most days out of the week, Mr. Layton said it was "dicey" to choose a favourite team. "We are opposed to the Senate. We favour its abolition," he said, referring to the Ottawa Senators. "And with regard to other matters, my heart is in Montreal where I was born, my voters are in Toronto and so this leads me to a certain approach to hockey games, which is, generally speaking, just to watch them on TV at home." bvongdou@hilltimes.com The Hill Times

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Don’t mess with MP Boshcoff in a dark alley, and Government Whip not quite evil enough

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