Boys will be boys. And so, apparently, will the grown men we elect to govern the country.
Just when we thought the level of
debate in Parliament couldn't sink any lower, along comes an event to prove us wrong.
This week, conduct worthy of preschoolers broke out
after government house leader Peter Van Loan and NDP leader Tom Mulcair almost got into a fist fight in the House of Commons.
The mano-a-mano exchange happened when Van Loan stormed across the floor to voice his opinion in an up-close and personal way to NDP house leader Nathan Cullen.
Mulcair stepped in, and the two men exchanged "heated words" - including some decidedly unparliamentary ones - before Van Loan was pulled back to the government benches by Defence Minister Peter MacKay.
Up to now, Canada's lawmakers have been content to heckle, bray and thump their desks.
This week's spectacle exchange simply takes the juvenile behaviour to another level.
Is it any wonder that citizens are apathetic and cynical about their political leaders? Each time an election rolls around around, we lament the low voter turnout and the lack of community engagement with the political process. But with spectacles like this, it's no surprise that many Canadians are content to keep politics at arm's length.
Is it too much to expect adults paid to represent the interests of their constituents to do that in a mature and productive way that doesn't involve getting up in the other side's grill or dropping the F-bomb?
Following the fracas, interim Liberal leader Bob Rae urged MPs to show a "willingness to engage in public discourse without insulting each other."
What a refreshing - and likely doomed - concept.
