Make political decorum part of ‘the new normal’

I watched question period recently. What a pleasant surprise; the lack of heckling and political posturing was refreshing, much more informative, and almost a pleasure to watch.

I am reminded of when on the series “MASH.,” they eliminated the laugh track. Someone decided that we, the viewing public, could decide without prompting what was and was not funny. I had the same feeling today. Without the childish heckling, theatrics, and staged standing ovations and outrage we could concentrate on the questions and answers.

Was it just me, or did anyone else find the questions to be less dramatic and more thoughtful than the “you said it’s black so I’ll say it’s white and vice versa” type we’re used to witnessing. The important component, namely, direct answers to direct questions is still lacking, but even there we saw baby steps.

For the most part, while it still needs work, I felt that the welfare of Canadians took precedence over petty party politics ... at the very least I wasn’t embarrassed by the collective and individual behaviours of our MPs.

A large part of what made today’s question period work so well was due to the authority shown by the Speaker of the House. We need more of that to keep the “inmates from running the asylum.” We must not allow these politicians to go back to their “old normal” of putting party ahead of the benefit of all Canadians.

The hollow promise of our Prime Minister and MPP to “do politics in a different way” must become the reality of our “new normal.” As citizens of this wonderful country we should demand, because we deserve, nothing less!

Dave Nickle, Murray Street