Fact Check: Best, worst of House of Commons attendance

In last week's leaders' debate, NDP Leader Jack Layton accused his Liberal counterpart Michael Ignatieff of being absent for 70 per cent of votes in the House of Commons.

"Most Canadians, if they don't show up for work, they don't get a promotion," Layton said during the debate.

Layton was right on Ignatieff's less-than-perfect attendance, according to the figures on recorded votes and absences available from the Parliament of Canada and other sources.

Ignatieff voted in only 69 of the 204 recorded votes in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session, and was absent 135 times, according to "How'd They Vote" a website that calls itself a "resource for political accountability." He owns the worst record among the leaders of the four major parties and among all 305 current Members of Parliament.

Layton voted in 187 recorded votes and was absent from the house 20 times, according to http://howdtheyvote.ca

The same source lists Prime Minister Stephen Harper as having 122 recorded votes and 82 absences.

And the best record of all was held by Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe who voted in 199 recorded votes. He also had 20 absences.

The figures are not kept for every vote taken in the House of Commons, according to a spokesperson for the Information Services at the Library of Parliament.

But each member's yea or nay is written down in a recorded vote, which must be requested by at least five members of the House of Commons.

According to the Parliament of Canada website, the last recorded vote in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session - Sitting No. 149 was on March 25, 2011.

It was on the Opposition Motion of Confidence that brought on this federal election; of the 305 Members of the House of Commons, 301 voted. The result: 156 yeas and 145 nays.

"Only some votes are recorded in the House," the spokesperson said. "There is no record of who voted in every instance."

For example, there is no recorded vote for matters carried by a clear and overwhelming majority.

Ignatieff did not argue with Layton's figures and has said he had missed votes because he was criss-crossing Canada meeting Canadians and hearing their concerns.

"If you are doing more than 40 open-mic (microphone) town halls across the country and doing 70,000 km on a bus, what you are saying is democracy is important in Parliament but it is also important getting out to the people," Ignatieff said.

"Jack understands… that's part of the job of a leader of a party."

Ignatieff had challengers for the worst record of absences.

There are in fact 308 Members of Parliament, but three seats are vacant because of resignations or retirements, according to a spokesperson for the Information Services at the Library of Parliament.

British Columbia Tory Jay Hill (Prince George-Peace River) retired in October 2010; Alberta Tory and former Environment Minister Jim Prentice (Calgary Centre North) resigned November, 2010 and the Bloc's Jean-Yves Roy (Haute-Gaspesie-LaMitis-Matane-Matapedia) resigned in October, 2010. Speaker of the House Ontario Liberal MP Peter Milliken (Kingston and the Islands) does not vote.

Three other MPs managed to record more than 100 absences.

According to How'd They Vote, Bloc MP Francine Lalonde recorded 121 absences; Ontario Liberal MP Albina Guarnieri 103; B.C. Liberal Keith Martin 102.

At the other end of the scale, Ontario Conservative MP Gordon O'Connor recorded no absences, and neither did Ontario Liberal Peter Milliken, Saskatchewan Tory Tom Lukiwski, Alberta Conservative Mike Lake; and Ontario Conservatives Dave McKenzie, Rick Dykstra, Colin Carrie, and Lois Brown.