6 ways MPs spent their summer break

While the bells on Parliament Hill won't call MPs back to the House of Commons until Sept. 17, this week's federal caucus meetingssignal the start of preparations for the fall session.

Every summer brings its share of predictable photo ops (Stampede breakfastanyone?) punctuated by intermittent flare-ups of news. But what about the hazier, lazier daysin-between, when Parliamentarians disappear from the radar for weeks at a time?

Here's whata few MPs were up to during their break from the Hill:

Paddling the Fraser

When your MP's first name is Fin, maybe it's only fitting to hear he spentthe summer on the water rather than behind a desk.

Fin Donnelly, the New Democrat from Vancouver, has a unique relationship with the Fraser River, which forms the southern boundary of his New Westminster-Coquitlamriding.Donnelly has swam its entire length (1,375 km), from the Rocky Mountains to the Georgia Strait, not just once, but twice. Before that, he swam Georgia Strait four times, raising some $50,000 for the Georgia Strait Alliance.

Hisswimsand other work for the Rivershed Society of B.C. have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last two decades, he estimates. This year, he spent 25 days at the helm (literally) of a leadership development program he founded that takes small groups of young people down the entire length of the Fraser by34-foot Voyageur cargocanoe and whitewater raft.

The Sustainable Living Leadership Program is now in its tenth year, offering not onlya physical adventure, but alsoan educationalexperience during stops along the wayat First Nations andother communities that rely on the river for their livelihoods.

"While it's a fantastic trip, it's a lot of work," Donnelly says. "It's pretty intense, but I definitely take a lot away from it."

Donnelly is the NDP's western fisheries and western economic development critic. While the more remote parts of the trip take him well outsideBlackBerry range, he appreciates the chance to connect in person with people involved in fishing, tourism and other industriesalong the way.

This year, thegroup paddled a massive cargo canoe right into arally at Kitsilano, where Donnelly spoke against recent cuts to coast guard service.

"For me, it's a real inspiration and recharge," Donnelly says of working with the young people chosen for the trip. "It reminds me of why I'm doing the work I'm doing in Ottawa."

Receiving honorary citizenship

ConservativeStella Ambler thought her trip to Italy this summerwould be apersonal one, butthe Mississauga, Ont., MPended up at a government meeting anyway.

Her parents immigrated to Canada in the fifties as children. In 1962, a group of Italian-Canadians in Toronto formed a social club for everyone who came from the town of Pescosolido,northeast of Rome. As part of the club's 50th anniversary this summer, a reunion trip was planned and Ambler's father wanted to take her 13-year-old son.Ambler decided to join part of the trip.

The MP has cousins, aunts and uncles still living in the town. When she arrived on a Saturday morning, her uncle showed her a poster in the town square advertising a special meeting of the municipal government scheduled for that evening.

There was only one item on the agenda: a surprisehonorary citizenship for her, to commemorate one of their own being elected to Canada's House of Commons.

"It was so cute and such an honour," Ambler says, adding she had some helpcrafting a short speech in Italian to thank her hosts.

The entire group of about 70 from Toronto, her extended family and much of the town turned out to hear the mayor and her first cousin, who's a town councillor, speak about what she's said and done so far as an MP, including her committee work and speeches from the House of Commons. She was particularly touched when they spoke of her being a role model for their daughters as a woman in politics.

"There's something special about going back to where you are from," she says, saying the Pescosolido club was very formative for her growing up. "These are people who supported each other when they didn't know anyone."

Hitting the open road

Here's a tip for married guys who want to take an epic summer road trip with one of your buddies: first, get in your wife's good books.

Sudbury, Ont., MP Glenn Thibeault started the summerby celebrating his tenth wedding anniversary with a trip and wedding vows renewal ceremony in Cuba. The trip was a chance to reconnect with close friends and family after long absences in Ottawa earlier in the year.

That, he says, cleared the way for another trip he wanted to take with a friend at the end of the summer: a week-long, 1,700-km motorcycletripto Cape Cod, Mass., and back.

Thibeault had started a similar trip last year, reaching only the tip of Lake Michigan beforenews reached him of his leader Jack Layton's resignation to fight cancer.

The NDP MP knew he had to turn around and go back to Ottawa to be with his colleagues.

This year, he was able to do it all, including a "breathtaking" ride up Vermont'sHogback Mountain, which he describes as a highlight.

"I call it my decompression," he said over the phone on the last leg of his journey back to Sudbury last week. "It's nice just to be able to drive and not worry about my BlackBerry and everything else."

Reuniting with teammates

In Canada, Corneliu Chisu is known as the Conservative MP for the Ontario riding of Pickering-Scarborough East. But this summer he returned for a reunion inhis Transylvanian hometown, where he's known for something else: fencing.

The Romanian city of Satu Mare is famous for producing outstanding fencers. Chisu was the junior champion of Romania in 1965, when he was 16, and competed for Romania at the World University Games.A friend of his became a world champion representing Germany, while others competed atpast Olympic Games.

Chisu, who left Romania when he was 29,says fencers from Satu Mare are nowscattered all over theworld. Of the 200 or so who attended this summer's reunion, about 20 competed internationally in the sport. Others, he says, were unable to attendbecause of their continuedinvolvement in the sport at this year's Olympics in London.

He's not the only politician in the group:a former president of Hungary is also a fencer.

"Fencing taught me a lot of things," he says. "You can't blame anyone for your faults ... You must attack your priorities and make decisions in time. You can't postpone."

Chisucalls fencing an "intelligent sport" where you engage directlywith oneadversary and need to outsmart him. "That guided me my entire career," he says.

Across the Commons aisle, Chisu has learned that Quebec MP Christine Moore also enjoys fencing. He's hoping to organize a friendly competition againstthe NDP opponent, perhaps for charity, sometime in the future.

Emergency room nursing

For her part, Moore hasn't exactly been taking it easy this summer.She's used her time away from Ottawa to take nursing shifts in the ERand ICU ather local hospital,the Centre de sant et de services sociaux des Aurores-Borales.

The NDP MP for Abitibi-Tmiscamingue already puts in long hours over long distances get to andfrom and aroundher remote Quebec riding, travelling an estimated 8,000 km each month. But when she's home, she tries to fit in a few shiftsin order to keep her nursing licence whileserving asan MP.

"It helps me keep in contact with people," she says. "At the emergency room people talk about work, families, the difficulties of their kids at school ... I really like to know what the reality is of true people."

Moore says people are sometimes surprised to realize their nurse is also their MP. Some have joked about going to Parliament Hill next time they need an injection, or going to see her at the hospital instead ofher office when they have a concern. Sometimes students at the hospital call her "Madame La Deput [French for MP]."

Fitting in enough nursing shifts to keep her qualifications is a challenge for a busy politician. She also recently purchased a home in Hull,Que.,to use when she's in Ottawa and she's spent part of the summer fixing it up.

"I didn't really take vacation," she says.

Racing to fundraise

Several members of the Liberal caucus hit the road this summer for the fundraising circuit. In Halifax West MP Geoff Regan's case, heused his bicycle to raise money for charity.

Regan's first contact with his region's MS Bike Tour camea few years ago when his former law partner called him to say they needed another team member to ride and raise money for multiple sclerosis. He's seena friend, brother-in-law and former assistant fight the disease.

"I've seen what they've gone through when they were first experiencing it," he says. "It's baffling at first ... with a bunch of effects that can really be tough."

Regan says he's done other charity runs as an individual and MP, but this is his big fundraiser each year. He raised more than $1,500 as part of a large team "Road Kill"that brought in close to $49,000 as a group.

Doing the touris a chance to ride with people he doesn't often have a chance to see due to his hectic schedule as an MP.

"It's fun to see folks I've known off and on since high school," he says.

The Windsor-to-Wolfville, N.S.,course is either 50 or 85 km each way, depending on a rider's abilities, with an overnight stop. This year, Regan did the shorter distance on the first day so he could rush back to Halifax for the 25th anniversary ofthe city's Pride Parade. He was one of the first riders to complete the 50-km ride on the Saturday morning, hustled back to the cityto walk and dance his way through theparade, then hurried back to complete the full 85 km on the second day of the tour.

Other years he's had to miss the parade for the bike tour, but he wanted to attend this year to show his support after thedeath of a prominent gay activist in Halifax earlier this year.

Compared to previous years, "I was pretty darn slow" on Sunday, Regan says. But "it's really important to support research in this area."