Come Clean House Speaker Scheer

Please send your letter now calling on House of Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer to come clean and use the clear power he has to clean up the answers government Cabinet ministers and politicians give in Question Period.

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Last week, Conservative MP Paul Calandra, supposedly answering questions in the House of Commons for Prime Minister Harper and other Cabinet ministers, refused to answer a simple question three times and instead repeatedly launched a profanity-laden attack on a member of one of the opposition parties.

House of Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer, also a Conservative MP, refused to do anything to ensure Mr. Calandra answered the question.

The next day, Speaker Scheer issued a ruling claiming he has no power to ensure government Cabinet ministers and politicians deal with the subjects raised in questions from opposition MPs.

Speaker Scheer is wrong! The rule book for the House of Commons says that answers in Question Period “are to be as brief as possible, to deal with the subject matter raised and to be phrased in language that does not provoke disorder in the House.”

Speaker Scheer could have, and should have, required Paul Calandra to answer in a respectful way that addressed the issue raised by the questions.

Recently, the NDP proposed changes to make the rules, and the Speaker’s power, even more clear – but the Conservatives rejected those changes.

If government Cabinet ministers and politicians are not required to answer questions in Question Period, but instead can use that time to launch attacks, a key way of holding the Prime Minister and the government accountable will be lost, and Question Period will continue to be debased and degraded.

Please send your letter now calling on Speaker Scheer to come clean and clean up Question Period.

Key Info About The Speaker and Answers in Question Period

Under the House of Commons rules, the Speaker can’t force a government Cabinet minister or politician to fully answer a question from an opposition party politician, but he has the power and can take steps to ensure they answer honestly, don’t heckle or provoke disorder with their answer and, again, that their answer addresses the subject matter of the question.

To see the rules in the Replies to Oral Questions section of the House of Commons rule book, click here and scroll down on the page until you see that section.

And please help keep this campaign going until these key changes to clean up Question Period are won. To donate now, please click here.

Send your letter now calling on House Speaker Andrew Scheer to come clean and use the clear power he has to clean up Question Period!

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Dear Speaker Scheer,

Last week, Conservative MP Paul Calandra, answering questions in the House of Commons for Prime Minister Harper and other Cabinet ministers, refused to answer a simple question three times and instead repeatedly launched a profanity-laden attack on a member of one of the opposition parties.

When asked to do so, you refused to do anything to ensure Mr. Calandra answered the question.

The next day, you issued a ruling claiming you have no power to ensure government Cabinet ministers and politicians deal with the subjects raised in questions from opposition MPs – you went further to claim that you have no responsibility for the content of answers to questions asked in Question Period.

However, in fact under the rules in the House of Commons’ rule book, you do ensure that all statements in the House, including answers to questions, are truthful and respectful.

I call on you to enforce the additional rule in the House of Commons’ rule book that says that answers in Question Period “are to be as brief as possible, to deal with the subject matter raised and to be phrased in language that does not provoke disorder in the House.”

As I am sure you know, this rule is set out in the “Replies to Oral Questions” section of the House of Commons rule book that you cited in your ruling concerning Mr. Calandra’s answers.

It is true, as that section says, that government Cabinet ministers and politicians are not required to provide full answers to oral questions – various forms of non-answers are allowed in part because they may not have the answer at hand. You are therefore not responsible for the quality or content of replies to oral questions in this way. This is for the obvious reason that you, as Speaker, could not enforce a rule that required full answers – you would have to be an instant expert in every area asked about in order to enforce such a rule. That would be impossible.

However, that section contains the other rule that answers must deal with the subject of the question. You are clearly responsible for ensuring that replies to oral questions comply with this rule.

As a result, I call on you Speaker Scheer:

To state publicly that there is an enforceable rule in the House of Commons rule book that required Paul Calandra to provide an answer that dealt with the subject of the questions he was asked (and not provoke disorder with his answers);
To state publicly that you could have, and should have, required Paul Calandra to comply with the rule by answering the questions posed to him in a respectful way that addressed the issue raised by the questions, and;
To state publicly that you will enforce this rule in the future in all cases.

If government Cabinet ministers and politicians are not required to answer questions in Question Period, but instead can use that time to launch attacks on unrelated subjects, a key way of holding the Prime Minister and the government accountable will be lost, and Question Period will continue to be debased and degraded.

So please, Speaker Scheer, come clean and clean up Question Period by making it clear with a public statement that you should have enforced all the rules that applied to Paul Calandra’s replies last week, and that in the future in all cases you will enforce all the rules that apply to Question Period answers.

Canadians expect and deserve no less from you.

Dear Speaker Scheer,
Last week, Conservative MP Paul Calandra, answering questions in the House of Commons for Prime Minister Harper and other Cabinet ministers, refused to answer a simple question three times and instead repeatedly launched a profanity-laden attack on a member of one of the opposition parties.
When asked to do so, you refused to do anything to ensure Mr. Calandra answered the question.
The next day, you issued a ruling claiming you have no power to ensure government Cabinet ministers and politicians deal with the subjects raised in questions from opposition MPs – you went further to claim that you have no responsibility for the content of answers to questions asked in Question Period.
However, in fact under the rules in the House of Commons’ rule book, you do ensure that all statements in the House, including answers to questions, are truthful and respectful.
I call on you to enforce the additional rule in the House of Commons’ rule book that says that answers in Question Period “are to be as brief as possible, to deal with the subject matter raised and to be phrased in language that does not provoke disorder in the House.”
As I am sure you know, this rule is set out in the “Replies to Oral Questions” section of the House of Commons rule book that you cited in your ruling concerning Mr. Calandra’s answers.
It is true, as that section says, that government Cabinet ministers and politicians are not required to provide full answers to oral questions – various forms of non-answers are allowed in part because they may not have the answer at hand. You are therefore not responsible for the quality or content of replies to oral questions in this way. This is for the obvious reason that you, as Speaker, could not enforce a rule that required full answers – you would have to be an instant expert in every area asked about in order to enforce such a rule. That would be impossible.
However, that section contains the other rule that answers must deal with the subject of the question. You are clearly responsible for ensuring that replies to oral questions comply with this rule.
As a result, I call on you Speaker Scheer:
<ol>
<li>To state publicly that there is an enforceable rule in the House of Commons rule book that required Paul Calandra to provide an answer that dealt with the subject of the questions he was asked (and not provoke disorder with his answers);
<li>To state publicly that you could have, and should have, required Paul Calandra to comply with the rule by answering the questions posed to him in a respectful way that addressed the issue raised by the questions, and;
<li>To state publicly that you will enforce this rule in the future in all cases.
</ol>
If government Cabinet ministers and politicians are not required to answer questions in Question Period, but instead can use that time to launch attacks on unrelated subjects, a key way of holding the Prime Minister and the government accountable will be lost, and Question Period will continue to be debased and degraded.
So please, Speaker Scheer, come clean and clean up Question Period by making it clear with a public statement that you should have enforced all the rules that applied to Paul Calandra’s replies last week, and that in the future in all cases you will enforce all the rules that apply to Question Period answers.
Canadians expect and deserve no less from you.

Thank you for sending your letter, and please help keep this campaign going until these key democracy reforms are won. To donate now, please click here.

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