dartmouth-cole harbour mp darren fisher enjoys bringing good-natured christmas poem to house of commons
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dartmouth-cole harbour mp darren fisher recites the annual christmas poem on wednesday at house of commons.
no party was spared as dartmouth-cole harbour mp darren fisher shared his latest christmas poem in the house of commons.
fisher, who picked up the annual tradition from former mp rodger cuzner in 2023, took good-natured jabs at all of canada’s major political parties and even managed to bring former prime minister justin trudeau into the mix.
“this time last year, i was harder on the liberals than i was on anyone else, but as you may remember there were lots of opportunities for parody last year on the liberal party,” said fisher.
on wednesday, pierre poilievre’s conservative party took more of the ribbing.
“this year there were lots of opportunities for parody on the conservatives,” said fisher. “i will tell you that the leader of the opposition was laughing . . . which is a good sign because most of the time the fun was being poked at him.
“it’s not meant to have 60 seconds of non-stop laughs. it’s supposed to be amusing with a couple of good laughs and then wish everybody well and go home for christmas.”
following is fisher’s poem.
“twas two weeks before christmas, i still can’t hold back the smile, even we didn’t believe that we’d be back on this side of the aisle.
canada needed someone smart, a proven young steed, that rules out a guy who blew a 22-point lead.
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the conservatives were lost with the carbon tax dead, while visions of trudeau on a yacht danced in their leader’s head.
the bloc dreamed of king-making, of holding great sway, but his majesty’s loyal opposition, oh mon dieu, not even for a day.
the ndp, well, they were reduced to seven. my gosh, even nova scotia now has 11.
now, for a new government, we sure have a lot of grey hairs, but we won four in a row, so who cares?
a trade war with friends, what’s ahead is a fight, christmas came early, canadians chose right.
there’ll be no christmas election of that i’m now certain, thanks to two conservatives hiding behind that curtain.
now i’ve thrown lots of jabs, but i promise they’re in jest,
to each and every one of you, i truly wish you all the best.
i hope you all could hear me with my voice raised up.
all we hear in this place these days are heckles, i hope the speaker doesn’t wake up.”
fisher said it’s difficult to fit the poem within the parameters of a one-minute standing order but the speaker is less strict for this occasion.
former liberal mp rodger cuzner brought the christmas poem to life in the house of commons.
former liberal mp rodger cuzner brought the christmas poem to life in the house of commons.
shout out to cuzner
fisher said it was an honour to take over the annual tradition from cuzner, who represented cape breton-canso.
“the legendary roger cuzner thrilled the entire house of commons every christmas and became the bard of cape breton,” said fisher.
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“i certainly would never profess to be able to replace him. and i certainly don’t do this without him because he does assist me in some capacity to keep this tradition alive.
“i really do enjoy it. he’s a good friend and i talk to him on a regular basis. he’s constantly throwing little suggestions out.”
fisher acknowledged the poem isn’t for everyone.
“when i delivered my first line, i could hear a few groans from across the way,” he said. “i wouldn’t say that everybody thinks it’s the greatest tradition in the world.
“we have actually revived a couple of emails from out west saying, ‘is this what our tax dollars are paying for?’”
with all the heated rhetoric and noise mps face, fisher said this light moment is helpful.
“we spend september, october, november and december together in this house and i think a tiny little bit of levity a day or so before the house rises is important,” he said. “i also think it is good for a little bit of mental relief, as well.”
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