#1. That our MPs resolve to stop acting like unruly elementary school children
According to a recent report from Samara, a majority of MPs think that heckling in the Commons is a problem, three-quarters think the public disapproves of the heckling, and yet two-thirds of MPs admit that they heckle. Rookie MPs especially dislike the heckling and half of them would abolish it, which suggests that this is to at least some extent a learned behaviour. It has become part of the culture of the Commons and reasserts itself no matter how many new members are elected or how often members vow to do better. Even the much praised speech of a dying Arnold Chan this past June appears to have had little lasting impact – in spite of his call for members to ditch their canned talking points and to treat the Commons, and each other, more honourably.
It is unfortunate that the juvenile antics of MPs are most evident during Question Period. The exchanges do nothing to improve the negative image that most Canadians have of politicians and politics, especially for those watching from the public galleries or seeing the highlights featured in a news story later that day. Question Period once played a very important role in holding a government to account. Not only were the questions spontaneous, but no one knew who would be asking a question, of whom, until the Speaker chose a questioner by recognizing a member from among the various hands waving for attention. As a result, governments were often caught off guard and left scrambling when faced with a totally unexpected question.
Lists of those who will be asking questions are now submitted in advance and much of Question Period is now preplanned and far from spontaneous. All too often questions are read from a prepared text and members of the government respond with talking points that have been developed to handle the subjects that arise. The main spontaneity remaining involves members shouting oh, oh, no, no, and other inanities. While a good deal of heckling is in response to ideas or comments that have been put forth, the Samara study found two other categories of heckling that are all too prevalent. One involves personal attacks that heckle members for their delivery or even for their intelligence. The other category is discriminatory, attacking members based on the groups to which they belong, including heckling based on gender, accent, socio-economic class, and ethnicity. Geoff Regan, the Speaker of the House of Commons, indicated that you’d think it was Grade Five, except that he didn’t think Grade Fives would behave so badly.
If MPs don’t show some respect for each other, why would the Canadian public have respect for those politicians? If politicians are no longer respected, why would qualified candidates be interested in running? Without good candidates, and elected members, conditions will only worsen. As discussed in an earlier blog, politics was once a noble calling. If it is ever to be so again, elected members need to do their part and stop acting like school children.