Planted questions

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, November 23, 2011 at 1:03 PM - 0 Comments

In addition to the questions posed by opposition MPs each afternoon, a few spots are set aside each day for government MPs to ask questions. In theory, Conservative backbenchers might use these opportunities to perform their duty of holding the government to account. Instead they are generally used by the government side to lob friendly requests that ministers stand and expound on the greatness of the government’s efforts in some regard or another.

Yesterday though, the government side abandoned even that pretence and sent up Rob Merrifield to mouth the following on behalf of the people of Yellowhead. Continue…

The impartial Speaker

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, October 7, 2011 at 1:10 PM - 38 Comments

Peter Milliken reflects on his time as Speaker.

Ultimately, the Speaker is left to attempt to curb the worst of any excesses, to uphold the rules insofar as this is possible—for example, to ensure that the time limits applicable to questions and answers are strictly adhered to—and to strive to do this in an unbiased and impartial fashion. The toleration of some indecorous behaviour is preferable to creating the impression that the Speaker is intervening in a partial or partisan fashion. Neither can the Speaker be seen to interfere with or arbitrarily to obstruct the legitimate questioning of government Ministers.

The goodbyes to Jack Layton, both public and private

By Mitchel Raphael - Monday, September 5, 2011 at 11:05 AM - 1 Comment

Photographs by Mitchel Raphael

‘I’ll call you’

At this year’s Toronto Pride parade on July 3, Rev. Brent Hawkes’s Metropolitan Community Church contingent was several groups ahead of the NDP. His group got to the end of the route and then Hawkes waited to watch the rest of the parade. When Jack Layton, who was being pulled in a rickshaw, spotted him, he gave him the sign for “I’ll call you.” The two met soon afterwards. It turned out Layton wanted to plan for the possibility of his death and asked Hawkes to officiate at his funeral. The gay pastor, who helped lead the crusade for same-sex marriage in Canada, was humbled. “You can get the head of the United Church. You could get a bishop,” Hawkes told Layton. The NDP leader insisted he wanted Hawkes. It would be a strong political statement. Hawkes notes that his friend “wasn’t afraid to embrace the edges of our community.” Layton, after all, is the politician who once had towels printed up promoting one of his early municipal campaigns; they were handed out in gay bathhouses.

She sang it at their wedding

Jack Layton died on Aug. 22 at 4:45 a.m. At 6:30 a.m. that day, former Parachute Club singer Lorraine Segato got the call requesting she perform her famous ’80s song Rise Up at the funeral. It was the song she had sung at Layton and Olivia Chow’s wedding in 1988. “They were both really partying with us on Queen Street in the early eighties,” recalls Segato. In 2004 at the Juno Awards in Edmonton, Segato arranged for Layton to meet the performers backstage. “He partied with us until three in the morning.” A few weeks later, Layton would be in full election mode.

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Rae’s plans and the new Speaker’s muscle

By Mitchel Raphael - Friday, June 17, 2011 at 11:00 AM - 3 Comments

Jake Wright/Hill Times; Photographs by Mitchel Raphael

A special performance by Raffi

In honour of her birthday last week, Green Leader Elizabeth May had Happy Birthday sung to her by famous children’s singer Raffi Cavoukian. Raffi, who was in Ottawa to visit May and see her in action as a new MP, lives in her B.C. riding. The singer and MP met when May hosted an Ottawa TV show, and they have been friends ever since. Raffi had an album out at the time called Evergreen Everblue. The 20th anniversary edition of that album was recently released with two new songs about environmental sustainability, Cool It and Sustainable. Raffi, known for such classics as Bananaphone and Down By the Bay, has not done any new children’s songs for nine years.

That Tory blue is looking fabulous

At the recent Tory convention, party members voted to support any religious organization’s right to refuse to perform same-sex marriages. Meanwhile, a group of gay Conservatives at the convention, held at the Ottawa Westin, hosted “The Fabulous Blue Tent,” a hospitality suite open to all. One of the organizers, Jamie Ellerton, a former aide to Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and now a top aide to Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak, rented special pink and blue LED lighting for the occasion and hired hip electronic DJ Trevor Walker from Ottawa’s eclectic Mercury Lounge. The party went on until 3 a.m. Ministers in attendance included Kenney and John Baird. Among the Conservative MPs were Patrick Brown, Rick Dykstra and newly elected Toronto Tory Ted Opitz (who beat Liberal Borys Wrzesnewskyj by 26 votes in a recount). One Tory attendee quipped: “The Conservatives have made progress clearly by upgrading from a closet to a ‘fabulous blue tent.’ And if you keep throwing fabulous parties they have got to love you.”

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Idea alert

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, June 8, 2011 at 2:35 PM - 62 Comments

From Peter Milliken’s conversation with John Geddes, the former Speaker suggests a possible punishment for unparliamentary behaviour.

Q: But why not throw out MPs more often when they get out of line?

A: Before I was Speaker, I said one of the problems with this practice of giving the Speaker the power to throw a guy out is that he’s out of the chamber for a day. No rights or privileges suspended. He gets paid. He can fly to Vancouver. He can go to work in his office. He can go to caucus meetings. He can go and have a press conference in the foyer.

Q: What would be a better punishment?

A: My urging years ago, when I was not Speaker, was the guy should be thrown out of the Parliament Buildings, not allowed in for the rest of the day. All travelling privileges suspended and his pay docked for the day. Then the guy would start listening to what the Speaker says. Otherwise, you just make a saint of the person. He can hold a press conference and say, I called the prime minister a liar, or whatever the offence was, and I was right. Blah, blah, blah. He’ll get more media coverage if the Speaker threw him out. It’s not a very effective penalty.

In conversation: Peter Milliken

By John Geddes - Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 9:30 AM - 2 Comments

Photographs by Blair Gable

When the House of Commons resumes sitting this week, the first order of business for MPs will be electing a new Speaker. It will seem strange not to have Liberal Peter Milliken striving to keep order from the big chair. Milliken, 64, didn’t stand for re-election in his Kingston, Ont., riding this spring, ending his record decade-long run as Speaker. Maclean’s spoke to him in the elegant wood-panelled office he’s now leaving, sitting under a large framed print of Yousuf Karsh’s famous wartime portrait photo of Winston Churchill, which was taken on that very spot.

Q: When did you first become interested in the goings-on of the House of Commons?

A: The first visit I remember would have been in Grade 7 or 8. After I got into high school, my cousin John Matheson got elected from Leeds, right next door to Kingston. Once I got my driver’s licence, I started to come up to visit. He told me I could subscribe to Hansard and I started in 1962. I might have been 16. It was that period when I started following what went on in the House.

Continue…

For your consideration: Barry Devolin

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, May 30, 2011 at 5:32 PM - 4 Comments

Next in our series on the prospective speakers, Barry Devolin, the MP for Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock. His answers are after the jump.

Previously we heard from Lee Richardson, Bruce Stanton and Denise Savoie. Continue…

For your consideration: Denise Savoie

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, May 26, 2011 at 5:26 PM - 0 Comments

Following Lee Richardson and Bruce Stanton, here are responses from Denise Savoie, the MP for Victoria, to our questions for the prospective speakers. Continue…

For your consideration: Bruce Stanton

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 at 3:27 PM - 6 Comments

Ahead of the election of a new Speaker on June 2, I’ve sent each of the candidates a set of questions about the job and promised to post here all responses in their entirety. First up, this morning, was Lee Richardson. Here now is Bruce Stanton, the MP for Simcoe North. Continue…

For your consideration: Lee Richardson

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 at 8:43 AM - 44 Comments

Yesterday, I emailed the offices of the seven MPs confirmed to be seeking the Speaker’s post. I sent each candidate the same set of questions with the promise that I would reprint here any and all responses in their entirety. Those questions were as follows.

1. First and foremost, why do you want this job?

2. To what degree have you been concerned about the levels of civility and decorum in the House during recent sessions? Would your approach to maintaining civility differ from Mr. Milliken’s and, if so, how?

3. Mr. Milliken objected to the use of statements by members to launch partisan and personal attacks? Do you share his concern and, if so, what could be done to deal with this matter?

4. Mr. Milliken made three closely watched rulings on privilege during the last Parliament: specifically on matters related to the opposition’s access to documents in regards to the transfer of detainees in Afghanistan, International Cooperation Minister Bev Oda’s dealings with the House and an opposition demand that the government comply with certain requests for information. Did you at the time, or do you now, have any objections to any part of those rulings? As Speaker, would you have handled those matters at all differently?

Responses will be posted here in the order they are received.

First up, Lee Richardson, the MP for Calgary Centre, who sends along the following. Continue…

The Liberals' wake and some parting remarks

By Mitchel Raphael - Monday, May 23, 2011 at 9:35 AM - 33 Comments

A new day: Peter Milliken with Ted Hsu

The final humiliation: a cash bar

Last week the Liberals gathered the night before what would be their final caucus meeting with both defeated and elected MPs. One Liberal staffer called the party a “wake”; a Hill security guard predicted it would end early because it was a cash bar. Surviving Toronto Liberal MP Kirsty Duncan arrived with a bandaged hand that will need surgery. “I fell on Wednesday and the government fell on the Friday,” she says. Five weeks campaigning didn’t help: “Even when you break your hand,” said Duncan, “people still want to shake it.” Some days ended with Duncan in excruciating pain. Defeated MP Marlene Jennings arrived with a white cane, announcing that she is now officially vision-impaired. The one person who spoke at the party was surviving MP Ralph Goodale, but no one seemed to be listening; former Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff left before Goodale spoke. The Liberals’ only two rookie MPs were there: Sean Casey from Charlottetown and Ted Hsu from Kingston, Ont., which was previously represented by Speaker Peter Milliken. Hsu’s win was a surprise for the Conservatives, who for years said that once Milliken retired they would easily win the riding.

Continue…

Place your bets

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 11:37 AM - 29 Comments

The Canadian Press widens the current field to replace Peter Milliken as Speaker to six MPs, all of them Conservatives.

Ever-cheerful Saskatchewan MP Andrew Scheer, who has worked alongside Peter Milliken as deputy speaker and assistant deputy speaker, is again trying his luck. He’s also the only functionally bilingual candidate among the Conservative MPs in the running. The NDP has said it believes the Speaker should be bilingual. ”I think back in 2004 I was quite the heckler, quite the partisan guy, and spending so many years in the chair has really taught me the importance of impartiality for the chair occupants but also a better personal understanding of what motivates other members of other parties,” said Scheer, who turns 31 on the weekend. ”(It’s) the idea that while you certainly might believe that your ideas and your policies are the best for Canada, not to take anything away from the opposition MPs who truly do want the same thing that you want — for Canada to be the best country in the world.”

The power imbalance

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, May 16, 2011 at 10:16 AM - 7 Comments

Peter Milliken repeats his concerns about the state of Parliament.

“And if your views aren’t in accordance with the leader’s position on an issue, you will not be speaking on that issue in the House and you won’t be asking questions on that issue in the House,” Milliken said, in the interview broadcast Saturday on CBC Radio’s The House.

He proposed giving party caucuses more say in such matters and more say in choosing party leaders. He also said that parties should not be so fixated on unity, and that it’s OK if differing opinions are made public.

The next Speaker of the House

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, May 13, 2011 at 8:55 AM - 2 Comments

Conservative MPs Andrew Scheer (who served as deputy speaker during the last Parliament) and Barry Devolin (who served as an assistant speaker) will apparently seek to replace Peter Milliken as Speaker of the House of Commons. NDP MP Joe Comartin, who sought the Speaker’s chair in 2008, apparently won’t do so this time around.

Mr. Comartin had publicly recommended Michael Chong for the post, but Mr. Chong’s not interested. Via email, he explains as follows. Continue…

The trouble in Ottawa

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, May 5, 2011 at 12:20 PM - 5 Comments

Speaker Peter Milliken offers a few parting words.

Canada’s longest-serving Speaker of the House of Commons says federal politics have become more partisan and less democratic than they were when he first arrived in Ottawa as a rookie MP. This erosion is due mainly to the increase in the power of party leaders, Peter Milliken told Postmedia News in an exclusive interview at his rural home in the Kingston area.

“The leader says you vote this way or else you’re out, and bango, you have to do it, or else. I don’t think that’s the way our democracy was intended to function,” said Milliken, who was first elected to the Ontario riding of Kingston and the Islands in 1988.

'I must respect the Act that governs my work'

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, April 14, 2011 at 11:55 AM - 119 Comments

The Auditor General has officially replied to Jack Layton’s letter of Tuesday evening.

The Auditor General Act outlines our reporting responsibility and specifically addresses the situation of Parliament not sitting. Subsection 7(5) provides for the submission of our report to the Speaker of the House. When the House is not sitting, it requires the Speaker to table the report on any of the first 15 days on which the House is sitting after the Speaker receives it.

How many people does it take to release a report?

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, April 13, 2011 at 4:12 PM - 23 Comments

The Speaker seemed yesterday to say it was up to the four party leaders and the Auditor General to discuss the release of a report into G8-related spending. On that note, Jack Layton wrote last night to the other party leaders and the Auditor General to request a meeting.

The official Liberal response today—with an additional comment on a vote at committee by the NDP’s David Christopherson—is as follows. Continue…

Mitchel Raphael on who's trying to get Peter Milliken's job

By Mitchel Raphael - Monday, April 11, 2011 at 9:40 AM - 1 Comment

Photograph by Mitchel Raphael

Insider’s guide to door-knocking

As MPs headed out to knock on doors for the election, some revealed their techniques to Capital Diary. Liberal Mark Eyking, campaigning in Cape Breton, says that before he knocks, “I check out the people’s flower and vegetable gardens and their lawns and see how things are growing. I give them advice because I’m a gardener and a farmer. I look to see if they need some more lime put on their lawn or I recommend some new perennials that are out there and vegetables. I’ll tell them about the new variety of beets that are easier to slice, easier to grow.” While working the riding of Mississauga-Brampton South, Liberal MP Navdeep Bains notes, “I try and be very respectful of people so the technique is not to be intrusive at all. When I knock on a door I then make sure I am five feet away from it. As they open the door, I get slightly closer and closer to develop that comfort level.” Bloc MP Carole Lavallée says her secret to door-knocking is to wear Skechers shoes. “I have three pairs—black, green and beige,” and no, none in blue, the colour of the Bloc, though “I have special blue clothes.”

Isn’t it a bit late for Christmas cake?

During the grand opening of Ottawa NDP MP Paul Dewar‘s campaign headquarters last week, one campaign worker got up to announce the top priority for the office. It turned out not to be more volunteers or sign makers but a microwave. The office was decorated with the standard Jack Layton and Dewar posters and signs as well as an old Ed Broadbent campaign sign (he held the riding before Dewar) and a poster of NDP icon Tommy Douglas. Those weren’t the only relics. Among the trays of treats in the back was someone’s contribution of Christmas fruitcake.

Photograph by Mitchel Raphael

How soon will they be back on the Hill?

There is hope that Parliament will resume by the end of May. The writs take two to three weeks to be returned and MPs need to be sworn in. But the date can change with additional proclamations by whoever ends up becoming prime minister. Even if the House does resume in May, members will sit only until June 23 unless the House leaders from each party agree to extend the sitting. In 1988, Parliament resumed three weeks after Brian Mulroney‘s second win, while in 1979, after Joe Clark defeated Pierre Trudeau, it took five months. Peter Milliken, who is not running again, remains Speaker until Parliament sits again. The first order of business on the first day back will be to elect a new Speaker. Conservative insiders say there are four party members seriously vying for the position: Saskatchewan MP Andrew Scheer, who is already deputy Speaker, Ontario MP Barry Devolin, the assistant deputy Speaker, Manitoba’s Merv Tweed and Ontario’s Ed Holder. If the Conservatives get another minority, many Tories feel it would be time for a Conservative Speaker. In the event of a slim Tory majority, look for the Conservatives to do everything possible to have a Speaker from another party since Speakers do not vote except in the event of a tie. One potential candidate is the NDP’s Joe Comartin, a well-respected MP who has shown interest in the job. One of the first orders of business for the new Speaker may be dealing with the National Capital Commission, the body that oversees the official residences. Restoration and repair work needs to be done on the Speaker’s official residence, the Farm at Kingsmere (particularly the windows), and it seems for now that Milliken prefers to let the new Speaker decide how to proceed.

Photograph by Mitchel Raphael

The coffee shop barometer

At the Bridgehead coffee shop across from the PMO it was all smiles from Conservatives staffers right up until the election was called. Now it seems the coffee-drinking barometer has shifted. One barista noted that the smiles have faded from Conservative staffers’ faces. “Now it’s just, ‘Give me my latte!’ “

The Commons: So it ends

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, March 25, 2011 at 6:55 PM - 140 Comments

Whatever else was discussed within the walls of the House of Commons these last 14 months, the 40th Parliament was about Parliament. From its unprecedented start to its unprecedented end, here was a debate about our democracy—how it works, why it exists and what it means. These were the questions this place wrestled with each day. There are the questions now, implicitly or explicitly, laid before the public.

The events of this day are thus now open to interpretation. By one understanding, a majority of the people’s representatives expressed their lack of confidence in the those representatives who presently form the people’s government, thus compelling the government to resign and the Governor General to call for a general vote of the people. By another understanding, the Liberals conspired with the socialists and separatists to defeat Stephen Harper’s government and force an unnecessary and dangerous election.

Or understand what happened today as a concession. From all sides. An admission of defeat on the part of the 40th Parliament and a plea to the public to sort out what are wildly divergent views on the proper functioning of Parliamentary democracy.
Continue…

The Speaker says goodbye

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, March 25, 2011 at 3:00 PM - 2 Comments

Below are the Speaker’s parting words to the House of Commons, delivered shortly after Question Period.

Avant de commencer mes remarques personnelles, je voudrais me joindre aux collègues pour saluer la présence parmi nous aujourd’hui de l’honorable députée de La Pointe-de-l’Île. Bienvenue madame, c’est un plaisir de vous voir.

I am honoured by the very kind comments so many colleagues have made today.

Je voudrais vous remercier pour vos remarques. Cela a toujours été un plaisir pour moi d’être ici, en Chambre et j’ai apprécié cette opportunité, depuis mon élection en 1988, par les électeurs de Kingston et les Îles.

I have really enjoyed being their representative in this House. I am honoured to have been able to do it for so long, and so consistently in the sense that they keep re-electing me. I have appreciated that support immensely. I am very pleased and honoured to have been the member of Parliament for such a great constituency, obviously Canada’s first capital. It has been a privilege to serve my community of Kingston. I must say I look forward to spending a little more time there, if there is a dissolution shortly.

Continue…

One hour (or so) to go

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, March 25, 2011 at 12:36 PM - 20 Comments

The House has finished its tributes to Speaker Peter Milliken and Mr. Milliken has offered his parting words. He is still receiving well wishers at his throne now. After he has shaken every hand that is to be offered, the House will resume debate on the Liberal motion.

The Prime Minister, who was absent from Question Period for a third straight day, is scheduled to speak to reporters in the House foyer following the vote (now scheduled to take place at precisely 2:03pm). Michael Ignatieff is due to speak shortly thereafter.

The Commons: John Baird will not be distracted by your democracy

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, March 10, 2011 at 6:04 PM - 142 Comments

The Scene. The rules of this place require him to address the other side indirectly, but Michael Ignatieff did not bother to look at Peter Milliken as he spoke.

“Mr. Speaker, your rulings yesterday should not have been necessary,” the Liberal leader said, staring down the government side. “A decent government would have complied with the rules of democracy without being forced to, but this is not a decent government.”

There were groans from the Conservatives in attendance.

“This is not the first time, not the second time, but the third time the government has been forced to respect the rulings and order of the House. Now the game is up,” Mr. Ignatieff continued. “If the government actually respects the rulings of the Speaker, will it deliver the documents to the House and will it fire that minister?”

Had the Prime Minister not been away, he could have shrugged for the official record. In Mr. Harper’s place stood Mr. Baird and by Mr. Baird’s estimation this was all one big misunderstanding. “We had considered the information that we had provided to the House,” he explained. “We believe that it responded in substance to the request that had been made by the House.” All the same, he promised to make “every effort” to now comply.

Mr. Ignatieff was not satisfied. “Mr. Speaker, every effort is not good enough,” he declared. “The House order is clear. This is a question of compliance, it is not a matter of discretion.”

After the Liberal had restated his query en francais, Mr. Baird stood. And here he took a stand. Continue…

Prime Minister Shrug

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, March 10, 2011 at 3:45 PM - 51 Comments

The Prime Minister reacts to yesterday’s rulings.

“We have debates in Parliament all the time. The Speaker rules, you win some, you lose some,” Mr. Harper said Thursday following a health-care announcement in Toronto. “If you lose, you comply and that’s what we’ll do.”

Three rulings in 12 months

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, March 10, 2011 at 9:01 AM - 26 Comments

Ned Franks considers yesterday’s two rulings together with last year’s ruling on detainee documents.

Parliamentary procedure expert Ned Franks said no government in Canadian history has been cited so many times for ignoring the rights of Parliament. He offered two possible explanations.”(The rulings) suggest, to put it kindly, that the government is, at a minimum, ignorant of the rules and principles governing parliamentary democracy and, to put it unkindly, that they don’t give a damn and they’ll try to get away with what they can.”

The Globe sees contempt. Steven Chase adds yesterday’s rulings to Peter Milliken’s legacy.