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A Liberal MP says he wants to see question period in the House of Commons offer longer, more detailed answers and fewer social media-friendly clips.
Alberta MP Corey Hogan said Wednesday he plans to push for question period reform when MPs debate the rules of the House of Commons, known as the standing orders, on Friday.
“I think having 35-second questions and 35-second answers is of low nutritional value. And Canadians deserve to get real answers about the issues of the world,” Hogan said before the weekly Liberal caucus meeting.
Question period is the daily question-and-answer session where opposition MPs grill government ministers in Parliament. It’s often the most visible part of the parliamentary process.
It operates under strict timelines and the House Speaker closely watches the clock whenever a member of Parliament is speaking. The Speaker is often seen giving MPs a hand signal to indicate their allotted speaking time is coming to a close.
The Speaker can and does move on to the next MP in the question period order if a member takes too long to ask or respond to a question.
But Hogan said the brief answers permitted by question period don’t offer much substance and the current format does a far better job of generating sound bites for social media than of holding the government to account.
“For example, in the United Kingdom a question has to be on the order paper,” he said. “I’m not suggesting that. I like the spontaneity of question period. But it does mean you come having a real, thoughtful, prepared answer that’s going forward on the specific issue that you’re being asked for.
“But you just can’t get into the meat of it in 35 seconds. It’s as simple as that.”
Hogan didn’t suggest a firm time limit on answers. He said they could run upward of two to three minutes back in the 1990s.
He said the response length should depend on the question but the Speaker should still be able to cut off a minister who is taking too long to reply.
Opposition MPs weigh in
Question period has a 45-minute time limit and opportunities to ask questions are divided among the opposition parties based on how many seats they have.
B.C. Conservative MP Dan Albas said Wednesday that if the government is given more time to respond, it would take away from the time allotted to opposition parties.
“Many constituents tell me on a regular basis that they like seeing that their members of Parliament are getting up and asking questions,” Albas said outside the Conservative caucus meeting.
“Sometimes these are questions that have to do directly with their constituencies that may not be a burning issue for Mr. Hogan, but are for that individual riding.”
Interim NDP Leader Don Davies, whose party only gets to ask seven questions a week, said the quality of question period is a matter for the government itself to address.
“I don’t know if we need longer answers but we certainly need better answers,” Davies said.
No concrete change will come from Friday’s debate, since any changes to House of Commons procedure would need to go through the relevant committee.
Hogan said he is speaking with colleagues on the House procedures and affairs committee about getting question period reform on the agenda.
Committee chair Chris Bittle, an Ontario Liberal MP, said Wednesday he’s happy to discuss any matters MPs want to bring forward.
