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Prime Minister... For a Day
Innisfil Enterprise
February 14, 2007
By Peter Van Loan, MP, York-Simcoe
On Monday this past week, I got to serve in
the role of “Prime Minister” – for Question
Period that is. That meant it was my job to
answer questions from Stephane Dion, Gilles
Duceppe, and Jack Layton in what is known as
the “Leaders’ Round” during the daily
theatre in the House of Commons.
The Prime Minister was away from Ottawa
announcing the $1.5 billion EcoTrust program
to fund provincial environmental
initiatives. When he is away, it usually
falls to his seat mate, Transport Minister
Lawrence Cannon to take the Leaders’ Round.
But on this Monday, he too was away at the
EcoTrust announcement. Thus, it was my turn,
as Government House Leader, to take the
Leader’s Round.
The first thing I discovered when I received
the Prime Minister’s Question Period book
(notes with suggested answers) is that
Stephen Harper really charts his own way in
Question Period. Entire sections of the book
were empty and, other did not really reflect
the answers he typically provides in the
House. Stephen Harper is very much speaking
his mind when he answers questions in the
House of Commons.
This was reinforced by the preparation
meeting with the Prime Minister’s Questions
Period team. They don’t try to script or
manage what gets said – rather they are
really a resource to help ensure the facts
are available. Our Prime Minister is not one
of those managed and handled politicians –
he is his own man.
As a result, it was really up to me what I
would say in answer to Opposition questions
(again, contrary to the mythology spun by
the Ottawa media).
On this day, we accurately anticipated the
main Opposition questions. The Liberals and
Bloc were chasing a news story on new
appointments to the Judicial Advisory
Councils (who review and recommend the
appointment of judges).
The answers were simple. The individuals
were all qualified. We think it’s a good
idea that police officers be part of the
process of appointing judges. Judicial
appointments should be based on legal
competence and merit. Our Government is
working to make streets and communities
safer for Canadians by cracking down on
crime. Canada wants a system where
Parliament passes laws, and the courts’ role
is to interpret and apply the law.
When the Liberals were in Government, they
made phone calls to Liberal headquarters to
ask who should be appointed to be a judge.
The Liberals appointed partisan Liberals to
all kinds of judicial and quasi-judicial
roles and are now upset that some people who
aren’t Liberals might get appointed.
My objective this Question Period was to be
low key, and simple in answering questions.
I didn’t need to be witty, clever or hit a
home run – and certainly did not want to go
“over the top” in an effort to grab
attention (usually the way MPs hurt
themselves and their Party in Question
Period).
From the perspective of keeping the tone
settled while responding effectively to the
questions, I got the job done.
For the Opposition Liberals, it was another
failed Question Period – like almost every
one since Stephane Dion became leader. Dion
has proven to be remarkably weak and
ineffective as a leader, in Question Period
and otherwise. This week, he caved in to a
vocal minority in his party and flip flopped
on an extension to Canada’s anti-terrorism
law, opposing provisions originally
introduced by the Liberal Cabinet to which
he belonged.
Although Dion supports term limits for new
Senators, the Liberal Senate is defying his
will, and is obstructing our bill to limit
Senate terms to eight years by voting to
adjourn debate, every day in the Senate.
The weak performance of Stephane Dion is
leaving his own troops visibly deflated,
while Conservative MPs are leaving Question
Period every day in a positive, upbeat mood.
For me, playing Prime Minister for the day
helped keep the stress down, and helped make
Question Period fun!
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