Some thoughts on the debate format
I feel somewhat compelled to write something about last night’s leaders debate, but since I cannot engage in partisan blogging, I will focus on the format of the debate, and ways I would like to see it...
View ArticleYou can’t say that!
While parliamentary privilege grants Members of Parliament the right to exercise of freedom of speech in parliamentary proceedings, there are still certain rules in place that curtail what an MP can...
View ArticleOn giving way
In the Canadian House of Commons, during any debate, each Member of Parliament (MP) who rises to speak does so uninterrupted for a pre-determined length of time, normally 10 or 20 minutes. During that...
View ArticleMP confusion over e-petitions
While listening to the debate in the UK House of Commons on a backbench motion calling for a referendum on membership in the EU, I was struck by regularly repeated claims by MPs concerning the role...
View ArticleOn closure and time allocation
As O’Brien and Bosc explain in House of Commons Procedure and Practice (2nd ed.), one of the fundamental principles of parliamentary procedure is that debate in the House of Commons must lead to a...
View ArticleComparing UK and Canadian House of Commons procedure
Going by the keyword search activity on this blog, there seems to be much interest in comparisons of parliamentary procedure in Canada and the United Kingdom. I have written many posts about various...
View ArticleThoughts on “Saving the House of Commons”
Aaron Wherry of Canada’s Maclean’s magazine recently wrote a blog post proposing a series of reforms to “save” the House of Commons. Some I have previously discussed on this blog, such as changes to...
View ArticleProcedure Committee looks at e-petitions
The UK House of Commons Procedure Committee heard from Leader of the House of Commons, the Rt. Hon. Sir George Young, and from MP Natascha Engel, chair of the Backbench Business Committee (BBC) on the...
View ArticleOn irrelevance
One of the fundamental principles of parliamentary procedure is that debate in the House must lead to a decision within a reasonable period of time. Over time, the business of government became more...
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