Category Archives: Decorum

Question Period and the “Administrative Responsibility” of Federal Ministers

Posted on 2022/11/05 by J.W.J. Bowden

The Moral Panic Over Ontario’s Invocation of the Notwithstanding Clause Breaks the Rules of the House of Commons The moral panic over the Notwithstanding Clause escaped containment in Toronto and spread to Ottawa on 2 November 2022. The federal House … Continue reading →

Posted in Constitution (Written), Decorum, Notwithstanding Clause, Parliament, Traditions and History | Leave a comment

Parliamentary Decorum and How Canadians Perceive Britons

Posted on 2022/07/15 by J.W.J. Bowden

Earlier this year, I noted that the current Speaker of the British House of Commons, Lindsay Hoyle, does not enforce the Standing Orders properly and allows members to address one another in the second person unchecked, with entire flocks of … Continue reading →

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Orrrrrrrddaaaaa! Speaking in the Second Person

Posted on 2022/01/18 by J.W.J. Bowden

Rhoticity Makes Melody Speakers of the House of Commons of Canada sound so flat when they say, “Order” in our rhotic (pronouncing the ‘r’) North American accents. Australian and British Speakers of the House sound far more comical and entertaining … Continue reading →

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A Day in the Life of the 32nd Parliament, Part II

Posted on 2021/09/18 by J.W.J. Bowden

Brian Mulroney responded to Pierre Trudeau with convivial good humour, and his half of the exchange provides an example of my observation yesterday that MPs in the 1980s often spoke to their counterparts directly in the second person. Mulroney’s jovial … Continue reading →

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A Day in the Life of the 32nd Parliament

Posted on 2021/09/17 by J.W.J. Bowden

The first televised proceedings of the House of Commons of Canada began in 1977, fully two years before C-SPAN began televising the United States House of Representatives. Our equivalent of C-SPAN, CPAC, has now uploaded online all the video footage … Continue reading →

Posted in Decorum, Parliament, Traditions and History | 2 Comments