The Spring Session in Photos

The session began with the shut-down of Parliament, prompting the same Canadians who complain that nothing ever gets done in Ottawa to take to the streets and demand...that MPs get back to work doing nothing in Ottawa.











So how did Harper spend his prorogation vacation? With a trip to the Olympics! Sure, he never got that much speculated about "Olympic boost", but at least he had better seats for the gold medal game than poor Jack Layton who had to push old ladies out of the way to be seen by the TV cameras:









With parliament back in March, Jim Flaherty presented yet another deficit budget. Showing his appreciation for Flaherty's fine work, he was banished to the north to visit Canada's national igloo. ("What's that Lassie? I've gotten Canada's economy stuck in a well?"





Before long, Harper's ambitious agenda of blaming Liberal Senators for stalling his crime bills was sidetracked by the Helena Guergis and Rahim Jaffer show. And while this story had many thinking that Rahim Jaffer was the biggest asshole in Canada, the Toronto Sun headline writer quickly showed that he too wanted that title.





And yes, guns would be in the news again, thanks to a CPC motion to scrap the gun registry disguised as a private members bill. The motion has left Jack Layton holding the fate of the gun registry in his hands.





For Michael Ignatieff, he decided to break free from his reputation as an academic by...going on a cross-country University tour and...hosting a policy conference.





He did, however, get a chance to kick back, have a glass of wine, and watch the Habs pull off the upset over Pittsburgh on his 63rd birthday.



As is always the case in Canada, the NHL playoffs gave birth to a mini-scandal, when James Moore proclaimed the Canucks were "Canada's Team". One week later, the Canucks were out and Moore donned a Habs jersey. One week later, the Habs were done. I can only assume James was cheering for France at the World Cup...



Although the PM is a hockey fan, he hasn't had much time this session to work on his book. No, he's been too busy running the country.

Ha, ha. Just kidding of course.

No, the man who criticized Paul Martin for his friendship with Bono, has quietly gone about putting his own garage band together. There was his duet with Yo Yo Ma last fall. And jam sessions with Bryan Adams, Nickelback, and Taylor Swift this spring.





Maybe Harper can have the band up to his lake sometime this summer.



And, to help you remember the least productive session in parliamentary history, a few other memorable moments: