There’s one gaping hole in the Conservative Party’s election platform: It overlooks the rot infiltrating the culture of the House of Commons that all MPs have come to recognize and lament.
Last May, Conservative MP Michael Chong introduced a motion that deplored the nastiness and futility of exchanges in the Commons, particularly during Question Period. He proposed that the parties develop a program of reforms. In October, by a vote of 235-44, his motion was adopted in principle and referred to a committee. But that committee met only once and broke down in disagreement. The Bloc Québécois, in particular, seemed to be against making Parliament more functional.
The comportment of parliamentarians might seem to interest only Ottawa insiders. But former British prime minister Tony Blair, in his memoirs published last fall, illustrated how a parliament’s cut and thrust has national consequences. “Prime Minister’s Questions was the most nerve-racking, discombobulating, nail-biting, bowel-moving, terror-inspiring, courage-draining experience in my prime ministerial life, without question,” he confessed with disarming candour.
In opposition, he had noticed that the prime minister devoted almost two days preparing for those 15 minutes on Tuesdays and Thursdays when he was peppered with questions, then doing postmortems. To save time and anguish, Mr. Blair resolved to reduce this to one 30-minute session on Wednesdays. He announced it in his 1997 election platform and, once elected, swiftly made the change.
But even that was harrowing. “The fear never abated for an instant. Even today, wherever I am in the world, I feel a cold chill at 11:57 a.m. on Wednesdays, a sort of prickle on the back of my neck, the thump of the heart. I used to call it the walk from the cell to the place of execution.” He took a sleeping pill Tuesday nights so he could face the Wednesday ordeal.
And yet, Canada’s Question Period is incomparably more gruelling. A prime minister can be questioned five times a week. And all cabinet ministers can be questioned daily, without notice. In Britain, all questions except those to the prime minister must be submitted three working days in advance. The ministers know when their ministry is on call, so have the leisure to prepare their answers.
It’s inhuman to expect every minister to answer any possible trap question about his or her responsibility. This fosters the culture of fear and evasion that now rules our Commons.
For Canadians, Question Period, televised, is the most visible and defining political activity of our parliamentarians. Journalists love it because the sparks fly. It offers totally partisan and antagonistic theatrics, a game of cat and mouse, a cockfight, a shootout between gunslingers that diminishes and demeans every politician.
More seriously, it defines Canadian political culture, which hoards information rather than delivering it. It creates a pervasive atmosphere of caution, of fear that any information will be used against one. The MPs engage in constant demagogy rather than in the respectful exercise of ministerial responsibility.
John Diefenbaker used to say, “Never ask a question unless you already know the answer.” So of what use is Question Period? Here is Mr. Blair’s view: “In truth, the whole thing is a giant joust, a sort of modern, non-physical duel. The weapons are words, but my God they can hurt, and to devastating effect. For those 30 minutes, the prime minister is essentially on the ‘at risk’ register.”
But there’s a ray of hope. The Liberal platform says: “Many observers believe a model closer to that of the British Parliament would be better, with more time for both questions and answers, scheduled themes and rosters of required ministers, and a weekly Prime Minister’s question period (though the Prime Minister should still be expected to attend all days possible).”
The one way to redeem our disgraceful political culture is to do what Tony Blair did. The Conservatives must announce before May 2 that the Chong reform motion is part of their electoral platform. Then, together, the Conservatives and Liberals can bring about desperately needed reforms.
William Johnson is an author and former president of Alliance Quebec.
