Legislative behaviour

My name was read out in the Ontario Legislature on Monday, though hardly anyone was paying attention. My grandfather, Wilfrid Heighington, was an MPP from 1929 to 1937, as well as a writer and lawyer, and he was being honoured by the Legislature with a brief mention of his life and work. My cousin arranged it as a birthday treat for her father, and a bunch of us got to sit in a special gallery and watch. It was pretty interesting to be there, but the overall impression was one of petty boorishness. None of the MPPs listened to anything anyone else was saying, even the members of their own party. They sat there, chatting and laughing—when they weren't yelling like a bunch of bratty teens. You've got to wonder why they take schoolkids there to watch; what a lesson they get in debating. Heckle, yell, laugh, yell louder, repeat. But yay Wilfrid, wish I'd known you. Afterward, I touched the letters of his name, which are carved in the hallway along with every other MPP's.