The MPs thought little better of the rest of their
work carried out on the floor of the House.
Outside of Question Period, most MPs sit in the
Commons only when they’re on “house duty”—a
period of time assigned by their party whip when
they are required to represent their party in the
House. Most MPs we spoke to viewed house duty
as monotonous and a general waste of time.
“Outside of Question Period, it was dead in
the House. There were 20 to 30 people there.
They’re on their computer, catching up on correspondence.
They’re there because they have to
be. There are very few members who are there
because they want to be,” said one MP, capturing
the sentiment of many of his colleagues.
One important aspect of house duty is Parliamentary
debate. However, MPs felt that these
debates held little significance given their poor
attendance, and the fact that the parties and the
media focused nearly all of their attention on
Question Period.
“You don’t attend the House except for your
[assigned] duty day. So a speech is made to a
House of 20, maybe 40, people. The media do
not report them, or if they report anything, they
report from the written records,” said another MP.
Several MPs said they were told to make
speeches on subjects they knew nothing about.
One newly-elected MP from Québec recalled
receiving 20 minutes notice before having to
debate the mountain pine beetle in British
Columbia. “Okay, but what’s the deal with the
mountain pine beetle? I have no idea. I’ve got to
improvise for 20 minutes. And when you’re new,
it’s not so funny,” he said.
A handful of MPs, however, still enjoyed
making speeches. “I was the pinch hitter. If [my
party] needed someone to make a speech at the
last minute, I was always ready. I loved it because
I’m someone who’s able to very quickly synthesize
a problem,” said one MP. More frequent,
however, was the observation that the talent for
oration was fast disappearing from the House.