[LINK] "Marc Garneau 'ticked off' about Canadarm event snub"

[rfmcdonald]

Marc Garneau, Canada's first astronaut and serving Liberal MP for the Montréal riding of Westmount—Ville-Marie is upset (as reported by CBC News' Meagan Fitzpatrick) at being left out of a celebration of the Canadarm, Canada's space shuttle manipulator via which Garneau gained fame. He argues politics are responsible, to wit, the incumbent Conservative government.

Liberal MP Marc Garneau, who was Canada's first astronaut and led the Canadian Space Agency, is "ticked off" that he wasn't invited to Thursday's opening of a Canadarm exhibit and he blames Conservative partisanship for being left off the guest list.

"I'm not very happy," Garneau told reporters on Parliament Hill. "I wasn't looking for a role, I just wanted to be there in the audience."

The Canadarm, a robotic arm that was first used in 1981, was created in Canada and is considered a national icon. It's featured on the new $5 bill that was unveiled on Tuesday. Astronaut Chris Hadfield showed off the new bill via satellite from the International Space Station where he is the commander.

Garneau operated the Canadarm on two of his three flights in space and said he always talks about those experiences with immense pride. The robotic arm, used for a variety of functions including satellite repairs, was used on 90 missions in space before NASA retired it in 2011.

Heritage Minister James Moore and Industry Minister Christian Paradis unveiled the new exhibit at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum Thursday morning and Garneau took to Twitter to express his disappointment that he wasn't there: "NASA-donated Canadarm officially unveiled in Ottawa today. Would really have appreciated invitation from Gov't to attend. No such luck."

Garneau said he is partly responsible for the Canadarm being on display at the Ottawa museum, which is why he is even more offended. The iconic piece of equipment was originally going to be kept at the Canadian Space Agency's headquarters near Montreal but when Garneau got wind of that plan he wrote and urged Paradis to consider the public museum in the nation's capital instead.