Members of Parliament are scrambling to climb aboard the Twitter bandwagon – and getting elbowed by controversial, satirical and even phony postings.

Victims of fake Twitter accounts now include Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Senator Mike Duffy, the former CTV journalist.

And satirical accounts currently make fun of NDP Leader Jack Layton’s moustache and Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff’s cat.  

A search for MPs on the service turns up accounts for nearly a third of Canadian MPs, including all of the party leaders. Minster of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Kenney, who often sends several messages a day to his more than 1,500 followers on the micro-blogging service, says his tweets are mostly just reflections on his day.

And like the rest of the Twitter universe, posts range widely from banal comments about the weather and plans for lunch, to links to news reports and partisan jabs at political opponents.

Despite the pitfalls and embarrassments, politicians say social networking is an effective way to connect with constituents and others.

_________________________________________________________________________________

 “In committee this morning. M.P. Del Mastro should grow up (not out).” That was followed by: “Gosh, I hate to see a grown M.P. pout. Smile, Dean.”

-         Liberal MP Michelle Simson tweeted about Tory MP Dean Del Mastro.

She later apologized to MP Dean Mastro.

Twitter has been turning MPs into Grade 9 cheerleaders and jocks in the school cafeteria

 - New Democrat MP Charlie Angus

 “People like to know that the people that the folks they elect to represent them are real living human beings that have particular interests,” said Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.

“But also it is a great opportunity to communicate on policy ideas and initiatives, so I try to use it in a balanced way and try to throw in the odd bit of humour and it actually allows for a bit of dialogue as well.”

 “It’s an opportunity to have a quick, open exchange with people on issues, which is novel,” he said.

“Usually the communications we do are so formalized. If someone sends me a letter by snail mail, given the volume that we receive and the procedures, it might be a few weeks before they get a reply from me.”

-Minister Jason Kenny

“Sometimes it drives me crazy because you feel everything is instant, everything is at the moment, so sometimes that feels overwhelming, but I enjoy it.”

“In some ways that’s what’s really interesting about all this social media, is that it does allow a lighter side of politics to come out,”

-         New Democrat MP Libby Davies. She is one of the most prolific tweeter.

 “You can’t have too much of a debate on this medium because you can’t write very much, but you can give snippets of what you think and hear snippets of what people think.”

-         Liberal MP Dosanjh

 “I don’t put a lot of stuff about policy positions. I do talk about issues that matter to me, but it is more about day-to-day funny little stories about things that happen to me or thoughts that pop into my head,” he said.

“If there is a gain for me in it, it’s probably the sharing with people what I’m doing for them on their behalf.”

“If you’re not using this kind of tool, then you’re missing out on a segment of the population that gets their information that way,”

-         Conservative MP Blake Richards

Source: The Canadian Press