Worst Performance By An Actor In a Drama
Greg Rickford — for not even showing up in the Silence of the Labs. The CBC’s Fifth Estate tried really hard for somebody — anybody — from the Conservative government to go on camera to talk about the dismantling of the government knowledge apparatus.
"The Fifth Estate requested interviews with two senior bureaucrats and four cabinet ministers with responsibility for resources, the environment and science. All of those requests were denied," the CBC's Fifth Estate explained. What followed was a place-holder written statement by Rickford, Minister of State for Science and Technology.
Worst Performance By An Actress In a Drama
Leona Aglukkaq — for reading the same script, a variation of which is trotted out whenever pressed during Question Period about the government’s record on the environment.
"Canada is taking a leadership role in international climate change efforts by focusing on delivering significant environmental and economic benefits for all Canadians." When she isn't so scripted and speaks from her heart, Aglukkaq gets into trouble, casting doubt on climate change.
Worst Performance By An Actor In A Comedy
Stephen Harper in 24/Seven. Hands down. Just watch.
Worst Performance By An Actress In A Comedy
Transport Minister Lisa Raitt — for keeping a straight face and defending the plan to get rid of door-to-door postal service in Canada’s cities, even as the president of Canada Post delivered this howler about how seniors will love it because it will get them exercising: "The seniors are telling me, 'I want to be healthy. I want to be active in my life.' They want to be living fuller lives."
Worst Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role
Paul Calandra. Harper’s parliamentary secretary shot onto the national stage this year after languishing as a Conservative backbencher since 2008, promoted after Harper's other sidekick, Dean Del Mastro, was charged with breaking Canada's election laws. Calandra is always really funny, in a bad way.
Worst Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role
Roxanne James. Who’s that? Exactly.
Worst Director
Irving Gerstein. The self-described senator/party bagman tried to make the Mike Duffy problem go away, but his directing work just made things worse.
First, the RCMP says Gerstein, the Conservative Party's chief fundraiser, allegedly agreed to have the party pay off Duffy’s bogus expenses, but withdrew the offer when he found out the bill topped $90,000. The Mounties also allege Gerstein tried to influence an external audit into the Senate expense scandal by calling up a buddy at Deloitte to encourage the auditing firm to drop Duffy from its probe. The RCMP investigation continues.
Photo: joeshlabotnik. Used under a Creative Commons BY-SA 2.0 licence.