Stop using BlackBerrys, Alberta MLAs told
p2pnet news view P2P | Mobiles:- In Canada, an MLA is a Member of a Legislative Assembly in one of the provinces and in Alberta, some MLA owners of the Blackberry, the Canadian handheld beloved by people around the world, are driving Speaker Ken Kowalski up the wall.
How come?
Some MLAs are apparently busy — too busy — Twittering and, “some messages … would appear moments before a question is asked in the House,” Metro Edmonton has Kowalski stating.
“BlackBerrys and cellphones are taboo in the chamber,” says Sun Media »»»
Kowalski had to repeat his lecture after the end of yesterday’s question period, asking that each party’s disciplinarians (known as whips) warn their MLAs to stop using the phones in the house.
They’ve been termed CrackBerrys because some people are seemingly addicted to them.
Adds the story:
“Tory MLA Thomas Lukaszuk (right) admits it’s hard for him to stop using his BlackBerry in the chamber, but denies he’s addicted to it.
” ‘I’m addicted to trying to serve my constituents,’ the Edmonton-Castle Downs MLA quipped to Sun Media.”
Noting US president Barack Obama is a big BlackBerry fan, “If Obama can keep his, I need to keep mine,” said Lukaszuk, “adding that, ultimately, he’ll follow the warnings of the house Speaker”.
Meanwhile, was Lukaszuk tweeting? Or was he merely texting?
We could’t find a listing for him on Twitter. 
[Pic - Wikipedia]
Metro Edmonton – House a-Twitter over MLAs’ posts, March 11, 2009
Sun Media – BlackBerry addicts draw ire of Speaker, March 11, 2009
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March 12th, 2009 at 11:56 am
Just because they’re not driving at the time, doesn’t take away the fact that they’re willfully allowing part (or all) of their attention to be focused on something other than the business at hand, in favour of something that doesn’t need to be done at that moment. And I don’t buy this argument that their Blackberry activities are “serving their constituents”.
It’s bad enough you can’t get these clowns to show up for work half the time, or account for their use of the public till, which is surely paying for their handheld equipment. Their constituents would be better served by paying attention and participating, and coming in more often to do just that.