Angry in the Great White North

Liberal Party MP Robert Thibault has come unhinged.  Asked about his Conservative opponent in an upcoming election, Robert Thibault went after Greg Kerr's age:

So, when he was asked about Conservative opponent Greg Kerr, a former provincial cabinet minister who narrowly lost the 2006 vote, Thibault made an interesting observation that must reflect something in his thought process.

"If they (Conservatives) wanted to take me out, I would think you'd get someone who's looking forward to building a political career, not somebody who's at the age where he's considering retirement," he told reporters. "You're not building for the future here. This is a candidate who's lost provincially, lost federally, and is what, 62, 63 years old?"

Well, there was an unforced error.  Needless to say, Thibault started taking heat for allegedly suggesting that, politically speaking, people over the age of 60 are only good for voting and nothing else.  Certainly they're too old to run for office.

The Conservatives pounced:

Not surprisingly, PMO spokesman Kory Teneycke has spotted a winning quip for Liberal smear material in the next campaign.

"A whole lot of seniors think that 60 is a rather spry age," Teneycke said. "If Mr. Thibault wants to stand by those comments during the election, that would be interesting. But we'll be gracious if he retracts."

Senator Marjory LeBreton, the cabinet minister in charge of seniors, was appalled. "Here I'm trying to convince seniors to stay in the workforce if they so wish. They've got a lot to give, but he's saying when you reach 60, you're over the hill and of no value."

So what does Thibault do?  Robert Thibault proceeds to insult women:

Liberal MP Robert Thibault is again being called on to retract and apologize for more controversial comments, this time in reference to Conservative Senator Marjory LeBreton.

In an article published in Monday's Hill Times, the Nova Scotia MP refers to the senior Tory, who is leader of the government in the Senate, as an idiot and says she "should go back to making tea for Brian Mulroney and stay out of serious people's business."

After being accused last week of making ageist comments, Thibault is now being criticized for making sexist remarks.

"It is absolutely a sexist comment," said Francoise Gagnon, executive director of Equal Voice, a non-partisan group that aims to involve more women in politics.

Bravo!  So far, no word on Thibault insulting visible minorities or people with allergies, but it's only Tuesday.

On the question of who derves the label "idiot", I'd like to nominate Robert Thibault.  Here are some interesting numbers I extracted from 2006 census data.

In Canada, the number of women as a percentage of the population is almost exactly 51%.  The number of citizens 60 and over is 13.7%.

In Nova Scotia, the number of women as a percentage of the population is 52%.  The number of Nova Scotians 60 and over is 21%.

In Robert Thibault's riding of West Nova, the number of women as a percentage of the population is 52% (same as the province).  The number of people in Robert Thibault's riding 60 and over is 24% (significantly higher than the provincial average, and almost double the national average).

Of that senior's population in the riding of West Nova, over 60% is female (which makes sense as women generally outlive men).

In other words, Robert Thibault represents a riding that is well above the national average when it comes to residents 60 and over, and he saw fit to slag them all by saying that people 60 and over have nothing left to contribute but a vote for the Liberal Party, and then calling a person who came to their defense an idiot (and slipping in a sexist twist for bonus points in his race top win the Idiot Cup).

Robert Thibault barely won his riding in 2006, eking out a win by a slim margin of 512 votes.  Using census data, I counted 21,985 people in his riding aged 60 and over.  If only a mere 3% of these seniors shifted their vote to the Conservatives (represented by the spry Greg Kerr), Thibault would be out of a job.  Why does Robert Thibault think he can afford to insult them?

The answer is he can't.  That's why Robert Thibault the only nominee for "Idiot" in this story.

By the way, Thibault did apologize for the crack about seniors.  Then he went and wrecked it by insulting Majory LeBreton.  Now he'll have to apologize again, guaranteeing that his dumb comments remain in the news, apology notwithstanding.

That's pretty stupid too.

Update: Robert Thibault borrows a brain from someone and apologizes for the second time:

Liberal MP has apologized for the second time in five days for taking over-the-top partisan shots at Conservative opponents.

Robert Thibault says he didn't mean anything sexist when he called Marjory LeBreton, the government leader in the Senate, an "idiot" and suggested she should "go back to making tea" for former prime minister Brian Mulroney.

Nevertheless in a written statement, the Nova Scotia MP unequivocally and wholeheartedly apologizes for the comments, which were interpreted by some non-partisan women's groups as sexist.

Thibault adds that he's always tried to encourage, not hinder, women's participation in politics.

Last Friday, Thibault had to apologize for remarks that some seniors' groups took as an insult.

Thibault had suggested that Greg Kerr, the 60-year-old chosen by the Tories to run against him in West Nova riding, was too old for the job.

Still not a smart guy.  But then don't give up on Robert Thibault.  He's only 48.  As many of the residents in his riding might remind him, wisdom comes with age.  Maybe Greg Kerr can take over representing the interests of West Nova while Robert Thibault smartens up.  It should only take ten years or so.