Where MPs crow, and men and women thunder: a postcard from Question Time Down Under

Looking for ways to make Canada’s Question Period more dignified? Don’t look to Australia.

We Australians have something of a reputation, whether it’s our backpackers or our Members of Parliament. For all the recent talk of decorum in the Canadian House of Commons, there’s been much consolation in Ottawa that it’s not as bad as the scenes in Canberra, writes Stephen Jeffery. Photograph courtesy of Alex Proimos/Wikimedia Commons

Opinion

BY STEPHEN JEFFERY

November 27, 2023

COFFS HARBOUR, AUSTRALIA—Ever thought the worst thing about Question Period was its unenviable timeslot? A time of day better reserved for daytime talk shows and soap operas, 2:25 p.m. is not—using Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s words—the “sacred period dur...

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