Comments on: The Commons: Unsophisticated debate will not be tolerated in this place

By: joe in ottawa

joe in ottawa — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:12:50 +0000

You are right on the money! I wish Jennings or Goodale would become leader that way Harper could beat their — everyday in QP!

By: joe in ottawa

joe in ottawa — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:11:17 +0000

My experience dealing with protesters is that many of them are there because they are being paid! I know several unverisity students who would work protest events because they would get $100 dollars for the day!

By: frenchie101

frenchie101 — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:22:36 +0000

I think the NDP organised it.It wa nothing more than an unruly mob.I noted now that one of them complaining about being hurt, is covered with blood at 5.30 pm, and yet after security threw him out at 2.30pm, there is no blood on his face at all. Hooligans, nothing more nothing less.Of course they have no money, and they have no jobs.

By: Jenn_

Jenn_ — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:32:29 +0000

She admitted she screwed up. See the difference?

By: Jenn_

Jenn_ — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:13:40 +0000

I was really struggling with my opinion on this one. Thanks for clearing up that "respect of institutions" vs. "peaceful act of protest" thing for me.

Parliament is the place where The People conduct their business. Parliament, as such, should be respected. However, it is not a place for the elite power players to behave however they like, i.e., disrespectful of The People, then get all upset when some of The People behave in the same manner.

In fact, while I know this isn't what these particular protesters were protesting, I think it would be awesome if every question period that deteriorates into catcalls, heckling and questions that can have no answers, or answers to everything except the question–the gallery did this same thing. Throw it back at them until respect is restored.

By: Lu Galasso

Lu Galasso — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:57:29 +0000

Wow only one question on the environment and energy. And we wonder why people were protesting about climate change. http://www.envirogy.wordpress.com

By: bert

bert — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:13:32 +0000

To say the least I am suprised that some person has not taken a gun to parliament to make a point instead of using verbal abuse. Is the attack on the WCB office a sign of things to come. Are Canadains getting so fed up and frustrated that we are going to see third world type answers, guns and bombs. I can see why political leaders want more gun control. i would be afraid too.

By: Nich

Nich — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:02:51 +0000

What a woefully ignorant post. Ill-informed stereotypes are wonderful for debate where you live perhaps, but today's youth have much higher standards than you do.

By: Nich

Nich — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:57:00 +0000

Are they also wrong to worry about the rights of indigenous peoples?

By: Nich

Nich — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:53:12 +0000

Any action that portrays a political communication or meaning is free speech.

Their 'braying like idiots from the gallery' is free speech.

By: LynnTO

LynnTO — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:43:15 +0000

He's said before he wasn't interested in running the Liberal party, I doubt he's changed his mind.

By: wayne moores

wayne moores — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:27:21 +0000

Same ole' granola crunching nut jobs who want western civilization shut down. Thet want the energy sector completely shut down because they think it doesn't affect them. They don't work there(or anywhere else) and they think the power to run their laptops that daddy bought them appears magically out of a hole in the wall. What a pathetic useless bunch. If they object to a modern western civilization I suggest they might like Albania, I understand the lights are hardly ever on, there is no industry and people leave no carbon footprint whatsoever. Somehow I don't think any of them will be signing up for that anytime soon. Truth is they like a nice warm bed in the morning so they will be well rested to get up at the crack of noon and go protest things they expect others to provide for them for nothing. Cheers

By: Tom P.

Tom P. — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:23:08 +0000

Aaron, I think your description of the exchange between Baird and MHF is pretty selective. He actually took down Hall Findlay quite hard – he tabled an email from her parliamentary office sent to all MPs offices to solicit funds for Martha’s leadership dept – they said they wanted to “shamelessly” raise funds through the Liberal Party’s website. This is the kind of thing that is the subject of a Conservative complaint about the Liberals to the Ethics Commissioner. She admitted she screwed up…but as Baird said… “when Liberals do it, it is always a mistake and an error. When the Tories do it, it is always a conspiracy.

By: dan in van

dan in van — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:44:28 +0000

Right. Spoken like a real Pierre Poliervere fan club member — did you get the plaid swatch with that?

By: OntarioTown

OntarioTown — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:42:22 +0000

Actually, they looked pretty clean cut for protesters. Hey, at least parliament had some excitement for a change. Those kids are probably mostly university students.

"Parliament is not a barn"? Watch QP much?

By: kc

kc — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:13:12 +0000

Couldn’t agree with you more with you joylon…gulp. :)

By: madeyoulook

madeyoulook — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:27:29 +0000

Braying like idiots from the gallery is not free speech (especially since they were semi-immediately ousted, and some were assessed fines by summons). It is imposing on all the obligation to pay attention to you. Not at all the same thing.

By: jolyon

jolyon — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:23:31 +0000

Yes. If you don't bray about like idiots than you are stuck on Parliament Hill lawn where you can be comfortably ignored. Five less minutes of Question Period is a small price to pay for those people to have their voices heard. If you don't use a right, they are quickly lost.

By: madeyoulook

madeyoulook — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:05:38 +0000

The right to petition government is somehow lost unless you bray about like idiots from the gallery of the House? Really?

By: jolyon

jolyon — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 03:49:47 +0000

I think right to petition government trumps your concern.

By: Craig O

Craig O — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 03:26:43 +0000

Well, it's good to know that, despite their posturing to score points on the subject, both sides of parliament believe people should be getting their flu shots. The Conservative message on the H1N1 vaccinations, while a bit half-hearted, has been adequate – even if they gave it their all, there would still be plenty of people wearing their tinfoil hats.

And since the subject was brought up, we could really use 50 more MRI machines…

By: tobyornotoby

tobyornotoby — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 03:25:37 +0000

When I was "a kid" who went to protests, people used to shout this at us even though most of us had found some way to take time off work to be at the demonstration. You know that Archie Bunker was a parody, not a role model, eh hollinm?

By: madeyoulook

madeyoulook — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 03:15:30 +0000

Eh. The accepted convention is your free speech does not constitute an obligation that the entire country pay any attention to you.

Signboards and chats on the lawn of Parliament Hill? Cool.

Interrupting the business of government so that we may all hear you screech and b!tch? Not cool.

By: FPSS_Dave

FPSS_Dave — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 03:14:05 +0000

I am with you there kcm. I believe the whole article is somewhat tongue in cheek in regards to the irony of it all? How it's ok for our elected officials to act like complete children, but when the children show up to throw it back at them, they flinch aghast at the audacity.

By: hollinm

hollinm — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 02:32:20 +0000

No they are kids that need to get out into the real world and get a job. Then we can take them seriously after they have learned some of lifes hard lessons.

By: hollinm

hollinm — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 02:29:22 +0000

You notice he is reading French not speaking it naturally as other bilingual politicians do. He couldn't carry on a French conversation if his life depended on it. No leadership for Ralphy boy. Thank God. He along with Marlene Jennings are the reason Quesition Period has deteriorated. Listen, you can hear the two of them yapping away.

By: kcm

kcm — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 02:28:09 +0000

Something stinks here, but i don't think it's the protesters.

By: Shahi

Shahi — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:40:11 +0000

The filthy,great unwashed need to stay away from proceedings and behave in civilized manner.Parliament is not barn.My God they annoy me.They spend their time worrying about tree and bear they ahve never come close to.Oh these idiots need to get back to their empty lives.Fotrgiove them everyone,the great unwashed hardly know the difference between a toilet and living room,for they relieve themselves everywhere.Police need to guard parliament and keep our parliament and leaders safe from these children in adult bodies.Somebody should fumigate that place,the great unwashed just made it unsanitary.

By: kcm

kcm — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:39:54 +0000

I'm genuinely pleased Believe it or not i believe i'm one of those old time liberal libertarians…don't know if there's many of us left.

By: jolyon

jolyon — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:20:48 +0000

Since we rarely agree, I will take this opportunity to agree with you. As long as no one is physically assaulted, protesters are just exercising their right to petition the government and should be left alone.

By: joops

joops — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:54:03 +0000

I should add – a good example of nonviolent methods of protest. These guys have read their Gene Sharp.

By: joops

joops — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:52:43 +0000

This was a well-organized protest. They were prepared with call-and-answer chants, and took turns making noise so that only a few were ejected at a time – until security figured out the whole Gallery was in on it. But no, they did not "hurl anything" – in the past protesters have dropped flyers on MPs from the Gallery, but this was bigger and better than anything I've witnessed.

By: Dot

Dot — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:27:43 +0000

http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/02/13/equal-voices-g...

By: kcm

kcm — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:25:21 +0000

I hav'n't heard what May had to say. Was it so bad? This is a democracy. Anyone has the right of protest, right? Hooligans! Did they actually hurl anything other than epithets from the gallery? Is it illegal to protest from there – well probably i suppose. Some of you posters sound like a bunch of reactionary fuddy duddies. I know there's a time and a place for everthing,but aren't most of these protesters just kids. I like their passion.

By: Dot

Dot — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:19:02 +0000

What was the word you called me before when I took a similar stance? Harridan?

By: Crit_Reasoning

Crit_Reasoning — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:08:06 +0000

One of these days I'll have to do a full accounting of the verbs that Wherry uses to describe the Conservative reactions in QP. "Yapping" and "squawking" are the latest additions. I suspect that Wherry has exhausted all other options in the thesaurus. ;-)

By: TwoYen

TwoYen — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:08:04 +0000

I've noticed Goodale speaking French more often lately.

Is he gearing up for a leadership campaign?

By: Dot

Dot — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:04:23 +0000

No, all protesters summarily absconded to Milliken's wine cellar, where the days activities are fondly being remembered, as we write…purple initiation dye for Queen's alumni being improvised.

By: anon

anon — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:00:52 +0000

With all due respect today is the one day to leave off mocking MPs. It’s quite funny most days, but when Lizzie is praising hooligans and dissing mps no need to try to one-up her fine comedy.

By: kc

kc — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:39:43 +0000

“Not a single constable reappeared to drag away any of the more vociferous participants who are duly elected to be here”

lol. If only!