A rchive Date
[ 15-06-2003 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Canada ]
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[http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/world/1951870
Question Period puts Canadians in squeeze
Political exercise of accountability hounds officials
By TIM JONES
Chicago Tribune
OTTAWA
June 14, 2003, 5:13PM
Oh, the indignity.
In the same week that the Ottawa Senators were knocked out of the NHL playoffs by the New Jersey Devils, Time magazine slammed the freshly bruised Canadian psyche into the boards by asking on the cover of its Canadian edition, "Would Anyone Notice if Canada Disappeared?" Time hammered the point home by featuring a North American map with Canada gone, replaced by water.
Provocative questions like this stoke the political hot-stove league in Canada, a country that perpetually ponders its place next to its aggressive, boisterous and sometimes overbearing southern neighbor. So for the sake of furthering national angst, if Canada were to suddenly go poof, what would be missed?
Any list of dearly departed would have to include Question Period, a raucous and most un-American exercise in political accountability that occurs every day the House of Commons is in session. For 45 minutes this green-carpeted Gothic cathedral becomes a rhetorical mud pit with members of the opposition parties challenging the actions of the ruling government.
"This is usually lively," is how the prone-to-understatement Library of Parliament describes the daily event. Indeed. Amid the catcalls, badgering and invective hurled at Prime Minister Jean Chretien's Liberal government recently were charges that included: "Liar," "You oughta be in jail," "Shame on you," "You guys are crooks," "Bull!" and "It's the prime minister's fault."
The script can change, but the basic scathing substance does not. The intent of the opposition is to ask embarrassing questions. The desire of the government is to endure the indignity, avoid embarrassing answers and, when possible, fight back.
In retaliation, Liberals set upon Conservative Party leader and former Prime Minister Joe Clark. With only a few days left in his political career, Liberals chanted, "Three more days! Three more days! Three more days!" as Clark spoke.
Question Period has deep roots in parliamentary history, dating to the 1700s in Britain. The Canadian Parliament embraces the exercise as "an important part of the process of keeping the government responsible and responsive."
In that regard, it sets itself apart from the political system to the immediate south, where embattled U.S. politicians send their hapless press secretaries to deal with the media horde or throw themselves at the television mercies of Larry King or Connie Chung. Or they simply hide and pray the matter will blow over.
Question Period is a reminder of a gaping hole in American politics - daily accountability. Imagine President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney standing in the pit at the House or the Senate and responding daily to questions regarding the whereabouts of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction or Halliburton's government contracts. Imagine then-President Bill Clinton being queried about Monica's dress.
All sorts of nasty and uncomfortable matters are fair game in Ottawa. The last week in May was a tough one for the Liberal government. Mad cow disease prompted a U.S. boycott of Canadian beef. SARS reappeared in Toronto. The proposed decriminalization of possession of small amounts of marijuana forced the government to explain how its plan would not encourage young people to toke up.
Stephen Harper of the Canadian Alliance Party called Chretien "the petty little guy from Shawinigan" for criticizing Bush. There also were questions about conflict-of-interest charges against Chretien, who, according to reports, lobbied on behalf of a friend who was later convicted of fraudulently diverting federal money into offshore accounts.
Answers from Cabinet ministers often are not revealing. Nearly every response is greeted with laughs, hoots, guffaws and groans. But the cumulative effect is to offer Canadians a daily opportunity to see how the government can take the heat.
At one point the speaker of the House broke in to ask "how the member can hear the answer with all this noise?"
His pleading did no good
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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