CBC: Ted Hsu, the Future of the Liberal Party?

Published on: 2011/06/10 - in Featured News

In a recent CBC television segment, reporter Leslie MacKinnon spent the day with Kingston MP, Ted Hsu.  The interview, which aired this past weekend, begins with MacKinnon proposing: “Could Ted Hsu be the future of the Liberal Party?”

Her narration continues by describing Hsu as trilingual – fluent in English, French, and Mandarin – with an extensive education and work history that most recently included four years as a stay-home dad (and Executive Director of SWITCH, a Kingston not-for-profit sustainable energy association).

The CBC interview touched on some of the challenges the new M.P. faces as he adjusts to his new Ottawa office, as well as showing preparations for him to appear on CPAC, and finally a visit to Kingston’s historic Market Square where he shared a slice of locally grown tomato with his children.

Ted Hsu shares a sampling of tomato with his children at the Farmer's Market

Hsu has also been doing some reporting of his own, posting Twitter updates as he gets settled into his new position in the House of Commons and as the newly appointed Liberal critic for Science & Technology and Economic Development in Ontario.

According to his tweets on Tuesday, Hsu rose in the House for the first time to ask Minister of Labour, Lisa Raitt, for clarification – after it was announced there would be $3000 worth of tax cuts for a “typical family” – as to what the lowest 20% of wage earners will be seeing from those cuts.

Later that day, he posted that an MP from the Yukon had touted the 2011 Budget’s “bit of $” for energy retrofits, to which Hsu asked about the “buckets of $” that would be  needed there (in the Yukon) to live with global warming.

The Kingston MP also got a bit of a surprise this week when informed that he’d received a “shout out” from his first year Physics professor at a Queen’s University convocation ceremony.

According to a Twitter exchange between Hsu and Queen’s University staff/student/alum, Kevin du Manoir, Physics professor Bill Mclatchie had mentioned Hsu’s nonlinear path from studying Physics to his current job as a member of parliament.

Using Hsu as an example, Mclatchie encouraged the graduating class to branch out & think beyond their degree.

Ted Hsu continues to post updates and interact with constituents on his Twitter account at http://www.twitter.com/TedHsu.

View CBC video: “The Rookie MP

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Images: Video screen caps from CBC’s The National

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