This past week, Maclean’s and L’actualité announced the 2012 Parliamentarians of the Year awards, and Kingston & the Islands M.P. Ted Hsu was named First Runner Up in the “Rising Star” category.
The award is especially remarkable for the local MP since the results come from votes by all members of parliament, which – as neither a member of the majority Conservative party nor of the opposition NDP party – makes achieving this nomination as a Liberal a definite up Hill battle.
Green Party leader Elizabeth May was voted Parliamentarian of the Year at the ceremony and the winner of the “Rising Star” award was Michelle Rempel of Calgary Centre-North.
This is not the first accolade for the Kingston politician.
Last November, at the 2011 Parliamentarians of the Year awards, Hsu was voted 1st runner up for “Rookie of the Year“.
He was also less formally awarded (tongue in cheek) by the CBC’s politics reporter, Kady O’Malley, who this October posted on Twitter that Hsu was at risk of losing his “title as Happiest Guy In The House” of Commons.
The potential usurper that day was Football Hall of Famer and former Ottawa Rough Rider, Russ Jackson, who was one of the VIPs visiting the House to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Grey Cup (4th paragraph).
The CBC interviewed Ted Hsu shortly after being elected for a feature story on The National, where journalist Leslie MacKinnon began the interview by posing the question “Could Ted Hsu be the future of the Liberal Party?”
This fall Ted also began appearing regularly on the M.P. panel for the CTV’s Power Play with Don Martin, televised Tuesdays at 5pm and available on the web.
More of the latest news about Ted Hsu can be found on his website or by following him on social media where he is engages with Kingston & the Islands constituents on both Twitter and Facebook.
Read all the results of the 2012 Parliamentarians of the Year Awards on Macleans.ca.
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Photo source: TedHsu.ca