Spend an hour apiece with the men and women voted by their peers as Parliament Hill’s best MPs, and you learn a few things. Maclean’s live-chatted with four of this year’s parliamentarians of the year: Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, the year’s big winner; Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, the hardest-working MP; NDP MP Peter Stoffer, the most collegial; and Independent MP Brent Rathgeber, the best constituency representative. We also heard from representatives of Samara, a non-profit devoted to connecting Canadians to politics. Here are 10 things we learned from our week of live chats.