[tinydancer]

Originally posted by moe.ron
Speaker pulls plug on singing MP

OTTAWA (CP) - Conservative MP Brian Pallister might want to stick to politics if his singing debut is anything to go by.

Pallister got the hook from the Speaker in the House of Commons on Monday as he sang a mocking melody about former Royal Canadian Mint president David Dingwall. Pallister began a member statement by singing Another Ding in the Wall, to the tune of Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall.

"You don't need no information, we're in charge of thought control," he warbled. "Fine wines with caviar in the backroom."

The rest of the Conservative caucus then joined in: "Hey Tories! Leave those Grits alone."

Speaker Peter Milliken rose to cut short the serenade, inviting Pallister to end his statement in the spoken word.

MPs have been allowed to sing their way through statements in the past but Milliken said it's up to him to decide what's appropriate in each circumstance and enough is enough.

"In this case, I thought singing was perhaps not necessary," he told the House.

He urged members to confine their singing to the national anthem from now on.

Pallister's pop knowledge was again evident during question period when he reworked the words to the Dire Straits' hit Money for Nothing.

"(Dingwall) got money for nothing, chicklets for free," the Manitoba MP complained of the former Liberal cabinet minister who expensed everything from golf to gum during his tenure at the Mint.

I, for one, thought that was funny. I love a good song parody.