Rob Anders doesn’t represent Canadians

(Flickr Commons)

Maybe it is just my personal preference, but I like to believe that members of parliament should behave in a manner that is representative of Canadians by being respectful and compassionate.

These qualities however, have never been used to describe Conservative MP Rob Anders.

Over the past few weeks, Anders has ignorantly shot his mouth off on numerous occasions.

The first of these being his accusations directed at opposition leader Thomas Mulcair.

He claimed that Mulcair, the current leader of the NDP, helped to hasten the death of Jack Layton.

A few days later, Anders stated that the goal of Bill C-279 was to give transgendered men access to women’s public washroom facilities, deeming it a “bathroom bill”.

When in fact, Bill C-279 is a private member’s bill that proposes amendments to the Canadian Human Rights Act and hate crime section of the Criminal Code.

It intends to include “gender identity” and “gender expression” as grounds for discrimination.

Anders’ comments towards Bill C-279 are insulting to the entire transgender community.

Clearly, Anders’ behaviour is not appropriate, not for an average citizen, and especially not for an MP.

These two recent incidents are just the latest incidents in MP Anders’ dismal record. Since being elected in 1997, Anders has been in the public spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

While I do not credit Conservatives for being intelligent, Anders takes stupidity and ignorance to a completely new level.

In 2001, the Liberal government put forth a motion that proposed honourary Canadian citizenship be granted to former South African president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela.

Anders was the sole Member of Parliament to vote against it.

To add insult to injury, Anders went on to state that Mandela was a communist and terrorist.

Anders made headlines once again in 2010 when signing a card in support of the Canadian troops.

Anders sent the following message to the troops: “when in doubt, pull the trigger.”

While Anders may be more than willing to encourage trigger-happy troops, even his constituents were upset by his remarks.

Conservatives may have an affinity for guns, but encouraging anyone to shoot first and ask questions later is a horrific prospect, and unthinkable behavior for an MP.

While his record as an MP is pathetic, this year, Anders’ career devolved into what can only be described as a perpetual downspin.

Earlier this year he was kicked off the Veterans Affair Committee.

This decision was reached after Anders was caught texting and falling asleep during meetings.

This behaviour seems more typical of a high school student than of a representative of the Canadian public.

Anders’ comments regarding Jack Layton were horrible.

Undoubtedly, his comments were likely made for two reasons: to make headlines and to indulge Conservative partisans.

Regardless, his remarks were not only un-parliamentary, they were both vicious and incredibly dark.

While Anders went on to apologize, his apology does not make everything okay. Anders has crossed every line of decency by making such crude comments.

Anders is not a politician, but a sorry excuse for an elected representative who uses his position as an MP for a soapbox. He represents everything that is wrong in the House of Commons.

He should be, as a petition recently startyed by his constiutents suggests, be removed from office.

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