The trouble with members’ statements

The 15 minutes that immediately precede Question Period each day have been a point of some fascination over the last few years—see here and here for previous posts.

Glen McGregor publishes the latest attempt to quantify the partisanship that has come to dominate that time. Eric Grenier published a similar analysis last September. Three years ago, Evan Sotiropoulos studied the 38th and 39th parliaments to chart the rise in attacks.

There are, in my mind, if it is agreed that this is a problem, two possible solutions: move the time for statements by members to a less conspicuous time in the schedule or, as I wrote yesterday, remove the parties’ power over who gets to speak during that time.