Canada PoliticsThree alternatives to Nathan Cullen’s ‘Civility Project’ for Parliament
'Props' to NDP member of Parliament Nathan Cullen for attempting to bring some civility into the House of Commons with a motion, introduced on Tuesday, that would punish misbehaving MPs.
Unfortunately, Cullen's proposal, dubbed the Civility Project, is not going to work.
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As explained by CBC News, Cullen wants to give the Speaker of the House the power to suspend, fine or reprimand MPs for using 'harassment, threats, personal attacks, or extreme misrepresentation of facts'" during Question Period.
First of all, I'm a little confused as to how one would distinguish between an 'extreme' misrepresentation of facts from a 'minor' misrepresentation of facts?
Secondly, as former MP Dan McTeague points out, there are some serious logistical issues here.
"The Speaker has to be able to hear/see these things in order for it to be effective," he told Yahoo! Canada News. "Otherwise accusations of breaking the proposed code will be a matter for partisan point scoring."
So, is the Speaker going to have to watch a video replay of each Question Period to decipher who said what? Are we going to have frequent stops in QP — like they stop play in the NHL to see if a goal went in?
Again, good attempt by Mr. Cullen, but there are too many holes in his plan.
Here are three other ideas, however, that might just work:
1) Shine a light on the misbehaving MPs:
The Sun News Network's David Akin has a simple but intriguing idea:
"...how about a little more sunlight on those misbehaving MPs so their voters can judge them?
I'm speaking here of the ridiculously restrictive broadcasting rules that govern the House of Commons TV cameras.
The rules require that whenever the Speaker stands, the cameras may only show him. When he is not standing, the cameras may only show the MP who is speaking.
If TV networks - Sun News Network, CPAC, CTV, CBC, etc. - were able to control the cameras, we would certainly zoom in on sleeping MPs, on MPs giving others the finger, and so on."
2) Give back-benchers more power:
In 2010, Conservative MP Michael Chong came up with his own six-point plan on how to improve the level of civility in the House.
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One of his better planks, as chronicled by the Toronto Star, was to give more power to back-bench MPs.
"“The fundamental problem is that members of Parliament have lost the right to ask questions in the House, questions of concern to their constituents, and as a result they have turned from being true participants in Question Period to being mere spectators and to behave as any spectators would, as any Canadian would in any public arena. They cheer and cheer against the opposition or for their team,” Chong told reporters.
One of Chong’s proposals would put more power in the hands of the Commons Speaker – instead of political parties – to choose who gets to ask questions in the House."
3) Just act like adults?:
Call me a cynic but I don't think this will ever happen.
Nevertheless, here's an idea put forward on Twitter by Conservative MP Michelle Rempel:
Here's a thought - we're all adults, maybe we could take personal ownership for how we conduct ourselves in the House. #cdnpoli #decorum
— Michelle Rempel, MP (@MichelleRempel) January 29, 2013
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