It used to be the case, up until 1997, that members had up to a minute, sometimes a minute and a half, to ask a question and to answer a question. I'm proposing that we put more flexibility in the length of time given to ask and answer a question.
There are two things I would note that are interesting. The first is that the other Parliaments in Canada have longer times to ask and answer questions. Many provincial legislatures, the Assemblée nationale, and Queen's Park I believe have up to a minute to ask and answer a question. In the Westminster Parliament in the United Kingdom they also have up to a minute, a minute and a half, to ask and answer questions.
What's interesting in both cases is that members often ask much shorter questions of 10 or 15 seconds and often receive very substantive and direct answers of 10 to 15 seconds.