If you've ever received that email saying most MPs are criminals and wife-beaters involved in lawsuits--it's not true. The CTF recently set the record straight for one of our supporters named Bret. Bret had actually asked Edmonton Centre MP Laurie Hawn about the email, which cited the Ottawa Citizen as a source. A member of Hawn's office wrote back to say,

"I called the Ottawa Citizen this morning to inquire into the article. They said they never printed it and it is garbage. It was just a fake chain email that is floating out there that is completely baseless."

Just to be sure, the supporter asked the CTF about it. We pointed him and MP Hawn to the Snopes webpage. It demonstrates that this oft-sent email is an urban legend based on a 1999 article on the U.S. Congress. The article was questionable even in its original form as it gave no proof of its allegations.

This means the email Bret received is indeed garbage and its content, listed as follows, is NOT true:

Can you imagine working for a company that has a little more than 300 Employees and has the following statistics?

30 have been accused of spousal abuse.       
9 have been arrested for fraud.
14 have been accused of writing bad cheques.
95 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses.
4 have done time for assault.
55 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit.
12 have been arrested on drug related charges.
4 have been arrested for shoplifting.
16 are currently defendants in lawsuits.
62 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year!

Can you guess which organization this is?

It is the 301 MP's in the Canadian Parliament. The same group that cranks out hundreds of new laws designed to keep the rest of us in line!  Which one did you vote for?