Each year we choose those in public service who our members believe have disappointed Canadians the most.

In another sadly forgettable year, we looked at numerous worthy candidates.

The Worst Federal Member of Parliament was ... a tie ... between last year’s winner ... Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, and his Opposition opposite, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff

- Harper, for undemocratic actions which have led to perhaps the least accountable Canadian government ever, at the expense of average Canadians;

- for continuing to bully his opponents with more negative advertising, this time aimed at the new Liberal leader;

- for having the Governor-General prorogue, again, this time to hide the facts behind an apparent cover-up regarding the abuse of Afghan detainees;

- for a stimulus budget that practically throws money at ineffective, short-term programmes at the expense of long-term infrastructure.

- Ignatieff, for failing to make his party the real Official Opposition. Early in the year, he had his Liberals simply back Conservative actions while criticizing but not offering alternatives. Later in the year, he stated the Liberals would oppose all Conservative actions in order to force an election, without offering alternatives.

- for wasting a year when he could have had his party adopt policies for which to stand;

- for his speeches where he essentially says it’s his destiny to be Prime Minister.

The Worst Provincial M.P.P./M.L.A./M.N.A. was ... another tie ... between Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario and Gordon Campbell, Premier of British Columbia

- McGuinty, for introducing the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) with no public consultation. In fact, he doesn’t appear to have told the members of his own caucus, or finance minister, before making the decision;

- for scandals at Crown agencies eHealth and Ontario Lottery & Gaming that, with proper oversight, would likely never have happened

- Campbell, for introducing the HST with no public consultation; in fact, he announced it just two months after a provincial election during which he said his party had "no plans" to implement an HST;

- for the Olympic hangover that will be left after the games end – a huge deficit, probably in the hundreds of millions of dollars, that was promised would never happen.

- for the arrogance of saying he wants to beat the record of W.A.C. Bennett of 20 years as premier.

NB: Interestingly, Manitoba has rejected an HST ... after public consultations.

The Worst Municipal Councillor was ...Tony Guergis, Warden of Simcoe County and Mayor of Springwater Township, Ontario

- for flip-flopping on the issue, then ignoring overwhelming public sentiment and attempting to force the construction of a landfill, Site 41, on the top of a watershed that supplies fresh drinking water for as many as 4 million people;

- for promoting the idea Simcoe County should become Ontario’s newest regional government, apparently so he and his fellow councillors could get extra powers and pay.

The Worst International Politician was ...Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan

- for corruption; his own in cheating in the election that saw him re-elected as president (an election he would likely have won anyway, just not as easily);

- for tolerating the Taliban, violence, fraud, the drug trade, and most every other social vice to stay in power.

The Worst Civil Servant was ...Sarah Kramer, then Chief Executive Officer, eHealth Ontario

All the "do-nothing" politicians in Canada (You know who you are ...)

- for getting elected, then sitting back and just doing what you’re told, collecting ever-larger paycheques, then getting re-elected again and again, while just sucking at the public trough. Oh, it might be said if the voters choose you over and over, it’s just democracy ... but given you have so many advantages as an incumbent, it’s not fair. Here’s hoping to get your comeuppance in your next election!