QP Thursday: Democratic reform dominates

Lead question and answer

Canadians watching question period Thursday might be forgiven for thinking they had actually tuned in to the Democratic Reform Show.

Conservative MP Jason Kenney kicked off the session by asking whether the Liberal government would hold a referendum on electoral reform, pointing to the multiple referenda held by provincial governments considering changes to their voting systems.

“Why does this Liberal government have so much less confidence in the common sense of Canadians?” Kenney asked. “Why won’t this Liberal government follow the provincial precedent of a referendum on democratic reform?

Democratic Institutions Minister Maryam Monsef responded by saying she doesn’t see how a referendum would help Canadians who don’t traditionally engage in the democratic process.

She only got about halfway through her answer before Speaker Geoff Reagan stepped in to cool hecklers.

Kenney tried again, asking the government to commit to holding a referendum, before fellow Conservative MP Steven Blaney jumped in.

“We’ve gone from sunny ways to a total eclipse of democracy,” Blaney said, before NDP MP Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet jumped in as well to ask whether the government will let all members of its democratic reform committee vote.

The session took a brief detour then into the Saudi arms deal, with NDP MP Helene Laverdiere asking how many civilians have to die before the government reassesses the deal.

Foreign Affairs Minister Stephan Dion responded saying the government has “no evidence, no proof” that the weapons it has sold since 1993 have been misused against civilians.

Then it was back to democratic reform.

Conservative MPs Scott Reid, Blake Richards and Tom Kmiec all lined up to try a few different attempts at the same question: Will there be a referendum?

Monsef gave about as many different responses, stressing the government wants a “collaborative approach” that involves Canadians whose voices are not normally heard.

There were a couple of questions toward the end of question period about Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAuley’s chief of staff and egg empire heiress Mary Jean McFall.

The decision to hire her has been controversial given her family owns Braeburn Farms, one of the country’s largest egg producers.

MacAuley defended McFall’s extensive knowledge of the industry and the expertise she brings to the role but critics shot back.

“The issue isn’t McFall’s knowledge of the industry,” Shipley said. “It’s that she practically owns the industry.”

Moment of the day

After repeated rowdy outbursts while Liberal MPs were speaking, Reagan stepped in to admonish parliamentarians to cool their heels.

“They don’t want to be invisible to the Speaker when they want to speak,” he warned.


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