Speaker’s ruling brings MPS’ rights to the forefront
But members not hopping up ‘like Whac-a-mole’: Warawa
OTTAWA — Two Conservative backbenchers who fought for the right to speak in the House of Commons without their party’s prior consent say their victory has ushered in a new appreciation for individual members’ rights in Parliament.
But Mark Warawa and Stephen Woodworth say it was unrealistic to expect a dramatically new era of MPs ignoring their party leadership and springing to their feet “like Whac-a-Mole” to tell their fellow MPs whatever was on their minds.
“You have to have rules. You have to have structure,” Warawa said.
“And that’s what the (party) whips are there for, to provide that structure. The scenario of everyone jumping up like Whac-a-Mole would have been chaos.”
Party whips are responsible for running many of a party’s day-to-day operations in the House of Commons, including assigning speaking slots and maintaining discipline.
Warawa and Woodworth were among nearly a dozen Tory MPs who prompted talk of a mini-rebellion in the Conservative caucus this spring after voicing their objections to their party’s control over which members get to speak in the chamber.
“If you’re too rebellious, you can be punished.”
THOMAS HALL
This came after Harper’s senior parliamentary team, which hand-picks which Conservative MPs get to deliver oneminute statements before the daily question period, blocked Warawa from speaking about sex-selection abortion.
In what many called a historic ruling in April, House Speaker Andrew Scheer promised that if MPs wanted to make a statement, they could simply stand, catch the Speaker’s attention and ask to be allowed to speak.
Warawa and a few other MPs took advantage of Scheer’s promise in the days that followed, but it’s unclear how many others did the same in the two months between the Speaker’s ruling and the House rising for summer.
Both Scheer’s and Government House Whip Gordon O’Connor’s offices say they do not track that information, and there is no easy way to determine whether an MP was pre-approved to make a statement or rose on his or her own.
Anecdotally, however, it doesn’t appear that many MPs took advantage of the opportunity.
Experts and opposition critics say that’s exactly what they predicted would happen because MPs still face potential repercussions from Harper and O’Connor if they don’t fall in line.
“The whips still have all their power,” said former House of Commons procedural clerk Thomas Hall.
“And if you’re too rebellious, you can be punished.”
“There were a couple of symbolic people getting up and being recognized,” said NDP House leader Nathan Cullen. “But there was so much tension with the prime minister that every gesture is seen as another challenge to his power.”
But Warawa and Woodworth say that’s not the case at all.
“People are creatures of habit, and so if there’s not a topic that’s real important to you, you may just go with the flow,” Warawa said.
This suggests the problem of Conservative MPs, in particular, feeling beaten down or overtly controlled wasn’t as wide-ranging as people may have believed.
“I don’t think that the number of times that members were denied the opportunity to deliver (private statements) was that frequent,” Woodworth said.
“So in that sense, yes it would be unrealistic to expect much of a sea-change.”
Warawa and Woodworth say Scheer’s ruling also resulted in a changed attitude in their whip’s office, with more flexibility for letting MPs speak when they want without having to go directly to the Speaker.
And they say working within the party is the preferred path to simply standing up whenever the mood to speak strikes.
“It is a major change, that your whips cannot tell you what you can speak on,” Warawa said.
“But for me to be able to stand up in the House, it’s still always best to let your whip know. You’re part of a team.”
Both Conservative MPs feel the Speaker’s ruling represented an important reminder of MPs’ powers and responsibilities, and said they hoped members would be empowered to represent their constituents first and foremost.
“When you have a change and somebody is given a new tool, it may be a while before they actually start to use that tool,” Warawa said.