Procedure and House Affairs committee  I will begin, too, by expressing Samara Centre's gratitude for being invited to testify before the committee today. Dr. Morden has already spoken to some of the challenges that we feel are facing the House of Commons, so I will focus my remarks on how a parallel chamber could be

Procedure and House Affairs committee  If I could add to that, I think one of the major elements of the petition system has been that it's an ongoing relationship with the person who signs. If a debate is selected, they receive a notification of when that debate happens. Signing the petition is not the end of your inv

Procedure and House Affairs committee  From the research we have, I would say there is a dissatisfaction with the current debates of the House by both MPs and citizens. Having more debates, while perhaps allowing for greater scrutiny, may not necessarily meet the immediate need as compared to having a different type o

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I must confess that I have not watched the debate in its entirety. My knowledge of it comes largely from the reporting of BBC Radio 4, through the Today in Parliament podcast. From that report, it did appear to be more of that fundamental discussion of Brexit. It is challenging,

Procedure and House Affairs committee  This is true. In that regard, it was a different place, as compared to the indicative votes, but those issues certainly did bleed into the content of the debate.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Again, from the report I read, it was quite extensive. One element of British debating style is that members often take interventions from their colleagues, so while the traditional format for a 30-minute Westminster Hall debate is to have one speaker present for 15 minutes, and

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It's the same practice as in the House. There they also will often be asked in debates to give leave or give way for someone else to interject a question as the speech is being delivered.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I am less familiar with that, but perhaps.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That's very much so, and that is the idea where it is not ceding the floor, but giving way temporarily. I guess it's one's convention as to how long such interventions would be. I imagine a Speaker may need to get involved if it becomes its own filibuster.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I should let my colleague speak.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I think this reflects to some extent the tendency of the British Parliament to sit nearly continuously. It sits in July and then has a six-week break and then is back at the end of August. Part of the reality is that they just generally don't have that same extended period when t

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It has been done provincially as well, particularly following elections, as was seen in Ontario, I think, following the last two elections, but I think that's more why many things just don't happen because their breaks are so much more condensed. The breaks are truly breaks. In

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I think the reason we suggested the Westminster Hall model as the inspiration—and particularly to have a space that would be qualitatively different from what goes on in the House in order to have a different type of debate—was precisely for the reasons that you address. It is th

Procedure and House Affairs committee  This is the element. It would be having a place where debates are chosen, ideally without the involvement of the party whips, and having a place where speakers would participate without involvement from the party whips. The goal, ideally, would be to have this as the beginning

Procedure and House Affairs committee  What I was trying to say is, if reforming the main chamber hasn't worked, why not try something new?