Toronto – Premier Dalton McGuinty is missing opportunities to make the legislature work better for MPPs and the public – he is too busy looking after himself.
The Liberal premier has forced through rule changes under which the legislature conducts its most important event, question period, in the mornings on the ground this corresponds more to others’ normal workdays.
Criticism properly has focused on this, because it reduces the time opposition parties and their small staffs have to prepare questions, which mostly are based on happenings late the day before and morning newspapers.
It provides no such problem for the government in preparing answers, because it has so many eager young staffers running around the corridors at Queen’s Park it looks more like a branch of the University of Toronto next door.
Ministers also do not have to give real answers, but can just smother questioners in irrelevancies.
The government argues it is providing more time for debates, but this could be achieved better by, for example, abolishing the practice of allowing all parties to ask questions in rotation so government MPPs ask almost as many as opponents.
Liberal MPPs use their opportunities almost invariably to ask ministers to re-announce programs they have already announced (as the Progressive Conservatives and New Democrats did when they were in government.)
The first day under McGuinty’s new rules exemplified this. Liberal Linda Jeffrey wanted to know what the government is doing to keep Ontarians safe in emergencies.
Community Safety Minister Rick Bartolucci congratulated her for being `so proactive on emergency preparedness’ – ministers always praise Liberal questioners, hoping this will be reported back in their ridings — and said, by coincidence, he recently outlined government policies and did it again.
Yasir Naqvi, the next Liberal questioner, said he was pleased Health Minister George Smitherman visited a hospital in his Ottawa riding and asked him baldly to repeat what he said there.
Smitherman gushed, the MPP is `so vigorous in supporting investments in his community’ and their government is busy making radiation treatment more accessible.
Bas Balkissoon suggested the government has been tough on crime and asked for an update and Attorney General Chris Bentley lauded the Liberal as an ardent advocate of fighting crime and reeled off his policies.
Carol Mitchell needed to know what her government is doing to support festivals in her riding and Tourism Minister Peter Fonseca called her a wonderful champion for her community and read a list of its help.
The Liberals did not have a genuine question and should no longer be allowed to take up time in which the opposition parties could ask real questions.
The government has ended almost all evening sittings of the legislature on the grounds they interfered with MPPs’ family life and provided a poor level of debate, and there is some truth particularly in the latter.
Few MPPs attended, often not the required number to continue so whips had to scurry to round up others, and sittings often adjourned early because they had nothing to debate. News media virtually never attended and there was no chance MPPs would get their names in the papers.
But the parties made the evening sessions what they were. They used to be well attended and sometimes a premier would show up. Reporters also covered them and found them worth staying for.
The Liberals and other parties also have not suggested the legislature stay open more of the year. It sits an average of only 83 days, although governments usually count each evening sitting as an extra day to suggest to the public they work longer.
The Liberal government complains constantly debates take too long and cuts them off and the opposition parties are always protesting they are not allowed enough time to discuss important issues.
The legislature is fully staffed to operate year-round and politicians should have it sitting more of the year, dealing with issues while they are topical – they no longer have to be home tilling their fields.
Eric Dowd is a veteran member of the Queen’s Park press gallery.
