[LINK] "MP 'Vegas' Brosseau charms in riding"

[rfmcdonald]

Facebook's Ryan linked to a worthwhile article from the Toronto Sun, Jessica Murphy's status update on NDP MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau, elected for the central Québec riding Berthier—Maskinongé as part of the unprecedented NDP sweep of that province. I made a brace of postings at the time reporting on Brosseau's surprise election--one of six NDP candidates in Québec who got elected without reporting any expenses, Brosseau hadn't even visited the riding before her election, famously visiting Las Vegas during the campaign, and reportedly spoke poor French. It turns out that Brosseau is doing just fine.

Thousands of Quebec voters rolled the dice when they bet on Ruth Ellen Brosseau in the last federal election.

But mayors in her Berthier-Maskinonge riding say their constituents hit the jackpot when they opted for the 27-year-old bar manager-turned-politician at the ballot box.

The francophone riding — about midway between Montreal and Quebec City — includes nine small towns and part of the bigger city of Trois-Rivieres.

“For a young neophyte, she's wonderful,” said Lavaltrie Mayor Jean-Claude Gravel, predicting she'll take the next election in a cake walk. “She has all my confidence.”

[. . .]

Louiseville Mayor Guy Richard said he often bumps into the fresh-faced MP and that she appears to be working hard and enjoying her new role.

“It's a big role to be tossed into suddenly,” he said. “(But) she's at ease with the people here.”

Brosseau puts the praise down to elbow grease and weekends on the hot-dog-and-spaghetti-dinner circuit.

"It was really just rolling up your sleeves and meeting people," she said Tuesday, along with a determination to prove critics wrong — something she said she shares with her constituents.

The mayors say the media firestorm that surrounded the newbie MP in her first weeks on the job is all in the past.

“At first, we heard all kinds of rumours and we hadn't set eyes on her,” admitted Lanoraie Mayor Jacinthe Brissette.

“So when we met her we were happily surprised. She's got a lovely personality, speaks French well, and is always available.”

Mayor Claude Caron from Saint-Boniface said she just had the bad luck to get all the media attention.

“That's politics,” he said, shrugging. “That's how it works.”