MP report for Okanaga-Coquihalla for the week of October 8th, 2012: Questions Surround Question Period

As the House of Commons is currently on the Thanksgiving break
week until October 15th there is one area of Parliamentary business that I have
yet to discuss in my weekly reports and that is the infamous “Question Period.”
It is challenging to try and summarize question period in a logical manner given
that the parliamentary procedure involved for question period does not, in my
view, follow a logical path. Question Period is undeniably an important part of
our democratic process; however, it is also a function where many elected
members can often demonstrate some of their worst behaviour right at the moment
when most of the Canadian public (through the media) are paying utmost
attention. The end result often gives members of the public a rather jaded view
(to put it mildly) on how our governance is conducted on Parliament Hill.


From my own perspective it is not only members of the public who are
frustrated by “QP” (as it is often referred to as) but it can also be equally as
trying from the standpoint of being a Member of Parliament. Is there method to
this madness? It is important to recognize that question period is largely for
the benefit of the Opposition to raise issues of importance and to hold the
government to account, at least in theory. However the rules governing question
period are not set by the opposition, but rather by parliamentary precedence and
while the rules have slowly evolved over many decades, I am likely not alone to
question if further reform is not an idea worthy of
investigation.


As it stands currently question period occurs for 45 minutes each
day the House is in session– generally starting at 2:15pm in Ottawa everyday
save for Friday when it occurs at 11:15 am. Parliamentary procedure generally
dictates the question order and what parties, including independents, follow in
the order of question allotments. Parties also have control over who asks
questions within the allotment they are provided much as Government has the
ability to decide who responds. The biggest challenge to question period that
many in the public are unaware of is that questions and answers are time
  limited, currently the amount of time a Member of Parliament is allowed to ask
  a question is 35 seconds. Likewise for a member on the Government side of the
house, 35 seconds is also the time limit for a response. Members can at times
ask a supplemental however it is again subject to the same 35 seconds as is the
response from Government.

While it is possible to ask a meaningful
question in 35 seconds, I am certain most would agree that when it comes to
governance, very few answers can be given in such a short timeframe. As a result
often questions become comments or statements and the responses follow a similar
pattern, all of course with a very political theme. Typically the thirty five
seconds in many cases ends up being utilized as an effort to score political
points often with quickly delivered commentary that often is more frequently
evaluated by the performance of the orator then the actual content. In many ways
it is not unlike stand up political theatre however in real terms it only
occupies a very small portion of the parliamentary day and effectively
overshadows the more important work that occurs in parliamentary committees and
during debate on bills. Generally there is far less attention on parliamentary
committees and debate unless an individual MP or group of MP’s use profanity or
otherwise submit offensive remarks in such cases then it becomes more
newsworthy.

Fortunately I can confirm that Parliamentary committee work
is generally far more productive and unlike question period there is typically
much more respect and stronger working relationships between members from all
sides of the House. While I do not expect question period to change any time
soon it is important to recognize that although it often dominates the media
spotlight, the 45 minutes of 35 second questions and answers is only a small
part of what occurs on a daily basis in
Ottawa.

Sincerely,

Dan Albas

Dan Albas is the Member of Parliament for Okanagan-Coquihalla,
 and can be reached at dan.albas@parl.gc.ca or by phone 1(800) 665-8711.