Liberal MP Deb Schulte thinks back corner is best seat in the House of Commons

Rookie MP for King-Vaughan discusses perks of being in the back of the backbenches

CBC.ca
Dec. 14, 2015

It might seems like the worst seat in the House of Commons, but Liberal MP Deb Schulte believes her back corner spot, furthest from the Speaker's chair, is actually the "best" one.

"There's nobody behind me, that's a good perk. I can see everything that goes on in the House - except when everybody stands up, then I can't see a thing," she told Alan Neal on CBC Radio's All In a Day.

"I don't see myself in the backwaters at all. That just happens to be where I sit."

Schulte, a rookie MP representing King-Vaughan north of Toronto, was shuffled to the far corner of Liberal territory, in the back of the backbenches, after the naming of parliamentary secretaries caused a shift in the original seating plan.

Brenda Shanahan, Liberal MP representing the Quebec riding of Chateauguay-Lacolle, was moved from the back corner spot to one right up front near the Speaker - next to the Conservative opposition benches.

"Now, I'm in the cat's eye," Shanahan said. "Let's just say that we have a very good understanding now of the opposition frame of mind. Actually, I hear quite a bit, probably more, more than my colleagues know."

She added that her background as a residence director makes her well-equipped to handle what she called the "frat boy" behaviour of some members of the opposition.