Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Categories: Beyond The Commons, Capital Read

Strangers yelling at each other

by Aaron Wherry on Thursday, October 22, 2009 10:55am - 32 Comments

Speaker Peter Milliken talks to the Globe and considers the House he has presided over longer than anyone else.

Q: How much has the Hill changed, or what’s changed the most?

A: I think the biggest change has been in the increased partisanship in the House. When I was first elected we had morning sittings and a lunch time break, then evening sittings after a dinner break. Members would go up to the restaurant to eat and mix and mingle there. The chances for mixing and mingling these days are much, much less. And so you have members who barely know each other sitting on opposite sides of the House yelling at each other. It makes it much harder, I think, for members to be as friendly and polite, maybe is the word, as when I was first elected here.

Tags: democracy, house of commons, Ottawa, Parliament, peter milliken, Question Period, Speaker

More by Aaron Wherry

http://intensedebate.com/people/jolyon jolyon

"The chances for mixing and mingling these days are much, much less. "

That surprises me. What, with M Raphael's photos, there seems to be plenty of opportunity to mix and mingle while getting free food and booze from lobbyists. Have they closed this unique restaurant where partisanship was left behind at the door?
Foreigner

Milliken…he's always so mystified by what's happening in Parliament.
http://intensedebate.com/people/lgarvin lgarvin

Indeed, you'd almost think he was Minister of Defence.

I like Milliken as an individual, but his excuse here is just rubbish.
http://intensedebate.com/people/SeanStok SeanStok

If only our parliament had someone responsible for policing the behaviour of MPs during times like Question Period.
knick

Masterfully understated.
http://intensedebate.com/people/madeyoulook madeyoulook

Yes, indeed, Milliken has been an impotent useless pushover of a bumbling good-for-nothing dope in the Speaker's Chair. But.

MP behaviour is also the responsibility of the MPs themselves, with oversight by House Leaders and party leaders. It seems to be that NOBODY in that pit wants to be better behaved, else they might have elected somebody more effective in seeing to exactly that.
http://intensedebate.com/people/madeyoulook madeyoulook

I'm having a déjà parlé moment. Hasn't this topic come up before, here at Blog Central?
kcm

Did previous speakers do a better job?
http://intensedebate.com/people/Crit_Reasoning Crit_Reasoning

Yes, and the general conclusion was that we need more old-school boozing opportunities to lubricate the gears of parliamentary civility.
http://intensedebate.com/people/madeyoulook madeyoulook

Must they be funded by sleazy lobbyists eager to wrest more and more of Canadians' wealth to their own petty fiefdom?
http://intensedebate.com/people/SeanStok SeanStok

Agreed. But once again, we have a Conservative unwilling to accept even a shred of responsibility when talking about a problem. They seem pathologically unable to shake the victim mentality, as a rule.
http://intensedebate.com/people/SeanStok SeanStok

And one more thing. At what point did it become acceptable, or at least excusable, to behave like an a**hole toward 'strangers'?
http://intensedebate.com/people/madeyoulook madeyoulook

If the Opposition will bury their own pathological insults into every question "holding them to account," the ugly tone clearly arises from both shores of the cesspool.

Ignatieff had a small stretch where he was indeed employing language that simply and fairly asked questions about relevant issues, without resorting to gutter vocabulary. And the Tories looked, frankly, stupid for avoiding the question with insults of their own. If only he continued in that manner, alas. And if only others on the opposition benches learned from that example.
http://intensedebate.com/people/SeanStok SeanStok

I'm not pinning the lack of civility on the Conservatives alone. I've noticed too that the Libs have been acting with equal a**hattery, of late. It would just be nice to see the freakin' Speaker show a tiny bit of contrition, and at least allow that he might have had a role in letting things get out of hand. Or that it was something he'd given a shot at reining in., but unsuccessfully. Instead, we get the all too familiar Conservative obfuscation and dodging of *any* responsibility.
http://intensedebate.com/people/lgarvin lgarvin

Who else?

Certainly you don't want the hardworking taxpayer to fund their debauchery. We can barely afford to fund our own.
http://intensedebate.com/people/madeyoulook madeyoulook

Keep up, S. I believe the term you're looking for is "Honourable."
http://intensedebate.com/people/sea_n_mountains sea_n_mountains

no… hey could easily fund their own, useful piss ups.
http://intensedebate.com/people/madeyoulook madeyoulook

You are suggesting they can't pay for their own tray of cafeteria slop like the rest of us hardworking Canadians?
http://intensedebate.com/people/LynnTO LynnTO

I wonder how many more Canadians would be engaged in our politics if we had the Question Period drinking game.
http://intensedebate.com/people/lgarvin lgarvin

Out of their own money, you mean?!?!

Are you some kind of radical? True civility can only come from sharing FREE food & liquor. That way there are no financial concerns to impair the feelings of good fellowship.
http://intensedebate.com/people/jolyon jolyon

"Must they be funded by sleazy lobbyists eager to wrest more and more of Canadians' wealth to their own petty fiefdom?"

Can't say for certain but I am mostly convinced that these lobbyists are funded by government. So taxpayers get to foot the bill for lobbyists corrupting pols. It is a very cushy system the elite have implemented for their own benefit.
Foreigner

"At what point did it become acceptable, or at least excusable, to behave like an a**hole toward 'strangers'? "

Shortly after the advent of the World Wide Web.
http://intensedebate.com/people/zamprelli4731 zamprelli4731

OK, everyone to Darcy McGee's for a pint and a group hug!

Oh right, the PMO has banned Conservatives from going to Darcy McGee's.

Can they at least be Facebook friends with members of other parties? It's a start…
Scott M.

Milliken is a Liberal…
http://intensedebate.com/people/Be_rad Be_rad

Good question. Bosley, Mulroney's first Speaker before Fraser, tried being "tough on crime" and lost the House – and his job.