Evidence of meeting #55 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was questions.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Clerk of the House
It could be to Madame Thibault, Monsieur Arthur, Mr. Comuzzi. It would be a question of the Speaker's deciding who had recently had a question. So every week there's one question from an independent and one statement from an independent.
Conservative
Tom Lukiwski Conservative Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK
I'm trying to get what Monsieur Guimond was trying to achieve. I was correcting my assessment. There's one question per independent per week.
Clerk of the House
No, there's one question for the independents in a week.
Clerk of the House
So Madame Thibault, for example, would get one question in a week, not three.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
She can come back during the course of the second week.
Clerk of the House
Then in the next week she could again have another question, if the other two didn't come.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
As things now stand, if Ms. Thibault rises on Monday, on the Tuesday, if Mr. Arthur has not asked a question... I asked how many questions Mr. Arthur has put since April 6, 2006, in other words since we have been sitting here. He has not asked a single question. Mr. Comuzzi, however, is a model...
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
He is a model of discretion, so much so that I even told him, jokingly, that he was not the member for Thunder Bay, but the member for Tampa Bay.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
I do not want to insult my liberal colleagues. They will vote against my motion.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
On Monday, Ms. Thibault rises. She asks a question. On Tuesday, if Mr. Comuzzi does not ask the Speaker permission to ask a question and if Mr. Arthur does not either, then the Speaker will once again recognize Ms. Thibault who will be wanting to ask a question.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
Yes, on the Tuesday, the following day, within the context of the present system. This is what I wish to correct. I do not want to Ms. Thibault to have one question every three weeks. What I want is that, if she rises on the Monday, she be considered to have used the time allowed to the independents, because she will have put a question.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
Yes, for the week.
The following week, if Mr. Arthur and Ms. Thibault rise to ask a question, perhaps the Speaker will tell Ms. Thibault that he is recognizing Mr. Arthur, because it would be his second question since April 6, 2006.
Conservative
Tom Lukiwski Conservative Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK
Thank you. I'm aware of that. I'm good with that.
On the other hand, where we're saying that the members of political parties not officially recognized in the House would not be considered independent members, I believe what Monsieur Guimond is suggesting here.... Let's take the example of the Green Party and assume they elect some members to the next Parliament, but not more than 12. For the purposes of the House, they're not considered to be an official party because they have fewer than 12 members, but Monsieur Guimond is saying they should not be considered merely independents; they should still be considered to be a political party for the purposes of question period.
So would they get as many questions as the number of members they have? It might be one or two questions a day. I'm just trying to figure out what Monsieur Guimond is suggesting here.
Clerk of the House
The example we have as a precedent for this was when the Bloc Québécois did not have membership and was not a recognized party in the House. At the time, the proportion of questions had already been allocated among the recognized parties. But the Speaker sorted it out by using the total number in the group that was unrecognized.
So I can't speculate on what the Speaker might do in the case of a Green Party with three members, for example. But as I read this draft, it suggests that if the Green Party had three members the Speaker would be free to use a formula for what the three members would get, even if meant the same member rising.
Conservative
Tom Lukiwski Conservative Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK
Right. The formula would be similar to the one they use for recognized parties.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
It would be part of the negotiations. At the beginning of a legislature we negotiate. You have 125 members on the government side, the Liberals have 102, we have 51, and the NDP has 29. We negotiate among us the number of spots for the 45-minute period. If there were three Green Party members, we would try to find--
Conservative
Tom Lukiwski Conservative Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK
That's fine. I agree with what you're suggesting. I just wanted to make sure I understood what these changes would reflect.
Thank you, Chair.
