The production values are less than slick, but MPtv's weekly webcasts feature the biggest political names on Parliament Hill. Not surprising, considering the host and creator is parliamentarian Garth Turner.

"What I'm trying to do is use the new technology to blow open the windows and doors of Parliament," Turner told CTV News.

The Conservative MP, who has a broadcasting background, dragged the Hill into the digital age with his webcasts. He even turned part of his office into a mini studio to produce MPtv.

The last episode of the season aired Thursday, but the show will resume when the House of Commons sits again in September. Meanwhile, old episodes are archived on Turner's website.

The weekly shows are a high-tech variation on the sort of weekly newsletters most MPs send by mail.

"I think it's actually a crime in this digital age for people to be cutting down trees and making paper to send out crap that ends up in blue boxes," said Turner.

Aside from the webcasts, Turner's website boasts a regularly written blog and audio blogs, and the odd interactive feature for residents of his riding -- Halton, just west of Toronto.

But all Canadians can tune in -- the site is even accessible to the visually impaired.

Turner takes viewers behind the scenes, like the extravagant washroom connected to his cabinet minister's office.

Special guests have included NDP Leader Jack Layton and CTV's own Mike Duffy.

"We try to bring in all voices here," Turner told CTV's Mike Duffy Live earlier this week. "Part of the problem (in the House of Commons) is that this place is so black and white. But when I sit down as a colleague with another member of Parliament, we have to get along."

Part of the reason why politicians like Layton are willing guests on a Conservative MP's show could be Turner's reputation as being a maverick.

In early February, Turner went public with accounts of being sternly dressed down by the prime minister for speaking out on David Emerson's defection from the Liberals.

And shortly after the January election, he criticized his party's pledge to defer capital gains taxes.

If Turner's reputation as a renegade Conservative member gets him into hot water, he can always turn MPtv into a full-time occupation. He's already said the show could become a lot more frequent.

"In the fall I'm going to completely lose my mind and do a Mike Duffy and try and do daily programming," Turner joked on Tuesday.

With a report by CTV's Roger Smith in Ottawa