Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to draw attention to and congratulate this year's finalists for the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing.
Sponsored by the Writers' Trust, this year's finalists, Stephen Clarkson, John Duffy, Colin Perkel, John Sayell and Daniel Stoffman are representative of excellence in Canadian political writing. At noon today, John Duffy was named this year's winner.
This award, named in remembrance of our late colleague, Shaughnessy Cohen, is especially meaningful to those of us who were in this House with her. Shaughn lived politics and loved to be part of any scheme, plan, mischief or gossip in and around the Hill. She always stated that any publicity or press story must be all about her.
Nearly five years after Shaughn departed this chamber and this life in her typically fast and, I can now say, dramatic style, I specifically and warmly congratulate the winner John Duffy. He has deservedly the right today to say, in matters of Canadian political writing, that it is indeed all about him.