Speaker: Ms. May Time: 14/06/2022 14:00:14 Context: Statements Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP): Madam Speaker, Shireen Abu Aqla. Ghufran Warasneh. Say their names. Women Palestinian journalists killed while doing their jobs: covering what was going on before their eyes. They were killed by the Israeli military and somehow even more shocking, their funerals were attacked by the Israeli military. The pallbearers were blocked as they tried to take them to their place of eternal rest. The Vatican representative in Jerusalem denounced it as brutally violating decades old agreements to hold Jerusalem sacred to the three main theist religions for whom all find spiritual significance in Jerusalem. We must, in this country, say something. We must do something. We call for an independent inquiry into the killing of these two brave, women Palestinian journalists. Canada must step up.

The post Elizabeth May pays tribute to the two female Palestinian journalists killed by Israeli military appeared first on Elizabeth May.

Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands)
2021-04-14 15:49 [p.5570]

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated to you informally earlier today, I want to return to a point of order that we were discussing on February 23. It was on the question of not my original point around the right for independent members and members of non-recognized parties to pose questions on Wednesdays, but the more general problem of the distribution among many MPs and that the number has grown.

At the time, you said that you would take that matter under advisement, as the number of hon. members in the category of either independent or non-recognized members has, in fact, doubled within this Parliament. I certainly will not repeat the points I made earlier. I had citations going back to Speaker Macnaughton, Speaker Jerome, Speaker Gilbert Parent, Speaker John Fraser and so on, to the fact that we do have rights to ask questions in question period. It is a matter of the distribution. I been compiling some statistics, and I will be as brief as I can possibly be.

In the 41st Parliament, when Green MPs got their first seat in this place, it was one question a week at the beginning of the Parliament. We have gone from five members of Parliament in the category of independents or non-recognized parties. We had grown to 14 members. We went from one question a week to seven slots per week and we ended up with 0.86 questions per week as opposed to one.

In the 42nd Parliament, we started with 11 members in the category of independent or non-recognized parties. That number grew to 17 members over the lifetime of that Parliament. Again, the effect of that was to go for one question a week to each one of us having 0.82 questions per week. That happened because the Speaker and other parties added three questions to the slots available for members in our category.

In this 43rd Parliament, we started with four members and we had one question per week for each one of us. The number of members in the independent and non-recognized party category has doubled. It is now eight. No questions have been added to the available slots. The result is that rather than where we started after the last election, with one question per week for each one of us, the three Green MPs and the hon. member for Vancouver Granville each of us at the beginning of this Parliament having one question per week, with the addition of four more independents, we now have 0.50 questions, in other words roughly half of what we ever had since the 41st Parliament.

I put it to you, Mr. Speaker, we had near agreement yesterday on unanimous consent. We have a lot of support in the House. There should be more questions available for the category of independent and non-recognized parties. I would be very grateful if you could look at these numbers and these statistics and see if it is not time to add more slots to the available times in question period for members who fall into our category.

The post Elizabeth May rises on a Point of Order to request more questions be allocated to Greens during QP appeared first on Elizabeth May.

March 24, 2021

MP Elizabeth May (Saanich — Gulf-Islands), Parliamentary Leader of the Green Party of Canada, has introduced a bill to lower Canada’s voting age to 16.

A promise to reduce the federal voting age was one of multiple proposals for electoral reform included in the Green Party of Canada’s platform for the 2019 election.

“We know that people who start voting young tend to become voters for life. By including youth in the democratic process earlier, we can take a giant step towards a healthier democracy,” said Ms. May

“It flies in the face of fairness that 16 and 17-year olds are old enough to work — and pay taxes — while not being allowed to vote for the government those taxes are funding,” said Ms. May.

Ms. May tabled a similar bill in 2018 and joins MP Don Davies (Vancouver – Kingsway) and Senator Marilou McPhedran (Manitoba) in bringing forward bills to reduce the voting age during the current parliament. She looks forward to supporting whichever bill they are able to get to the floor of the House of Commons first.

Ms. May’s current version adds a Coming into Force provision that would give Elections Canada six months to implement the changes.

###

For more information or to arrange an interview:
Debra Eindiguer
Chief of Staff
debra@greenparty.ca
613-240-8921

The post Elizabeth May, MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands, tables Private Member’s Bill to Lower Canada’s Voting Age appeared first on Elizabeth May.

My point of privilege was (I think) well delivered. I had worked hard all long weekend digging up precedents from other Speaker’s rulings and debates going back to 1963 when they invented this whole idea of recognized parties and unrecognized parties. Amazingly, Canada is the only country among those using Westminster parliamentary democracy to have this absurd rule that bigger parties have more procedural rights than smaller parties. It all stemmed from a 1963 change in the law so that parties with more than 12 MPs would receive public funding for their parliamentary work. (Funding has now risen to about $2 million/party as soon as they get 12 MPs). Rights were nowhere mentioned in the 1963 bill, but – over time- it became customary to keep MPs from smaller parties off committees and to never allow them to put forward Opposition Day motions. But no one has ever suggested we have no rights to ask a question in QP, even though the slot for smaller parties is the last question – with no supplementary questions – ever.

The YouTube video of my argument runs 13 minutes and is included here:

Elizabeth May: Blocking Greens from asking questions during QP is antidemocratic

The Speaker has not yet ruled, so I wait in hopeful anticipation.

I really wish I had the chance to put a question forward in Question Period this week. I have been trying to get up to speed on an issue of which I was dimly aware and which I am now convinced needs a lot more attention. So, lacking a question in QP, at least I can tell you about it.

One of the most extraordinary resource conflicts in Canada is playing out so far north that we hear little of it in southern Canada. A group of Inuit hunters, widely supported in their community, set up a protest camp that blocked access to the airstrip serving an iron mine on Baffin Island. The mining company, Baffinland Iron Mines Corp, calls itself a Canadian corporation, but is owned by Texas based Energy and Minerals Group and Luxembourg corporation, ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel maker.

After many years of technological and financial hurdles for developers, the open pit mine began operations in 2014. While initially welcomed locally, the mine now wants to double the size of its operations at Mary River from six million tonnes to 12 million. Incredibly, the company has been acting as though it had permission to proceed, even before hearings opened. It has drawn down a billion dollars in financing and, according to the Inuit protesters, has already begun construction.

The doubling of production will involve building a railway and increasing shipping with an additional quay at Milne Inlet. The ore is shipped to Europe along routes that cut through narwhal habitat. As well, the iron ore dust is contaminating the landscape and has been detected in Arctic char, a key food source for the Inuit and other animals that are part of their traditional diet – like narwhal.

The Nuluujaaq Land Guardians set up a camp in early February in peaceful protest against the mine expansion. The camp shut down the airstrip – blocking access to supplies for the mine and its 700 workers. I just cannot help but be inspired by the protest by Inuit land defenders in minus 33 degree weather. In 24 hour darkness. In an outdoor camp.

The company received a temporary injunction against the protest that ended February 10th. The hearing for a permanent injunction has been taking place in Iqaluit. The environmental assessment hearings are to resume in April. Meanwhile, the Nuluujaaq Land Guardians are calling on the federal ministers of Fisheries and Oceans, Natural Resources and Northern Affairs to step up to support their rights and for the RCMP to launch a criminal investigation into Baffinland’s actions.

In another issue pitting resource extraction against Indigenous peoples, I am trying to create some leverage for concerned Canadians to act to stop and appalling project in Namibia. Vancouver-based ReconAfrica has gained rights to frack in very sensitive areas along the border with Botswana. Threatened by the fracking is the Okavango Delta, a UNESCO world heritage site that straddles Botswana and Namibia. The SAN people of the area are protesting the violation of their rights.

In order to launch an investigation, I have written the newly created CORE – Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise – Sheri Meyerhoffer. The CORE office was supposed to have more robust powers than ultimately were established. My letter and call for an inquiry into ReconAfrica is something of a test case. I will keep you posted as we create a petition and other tools for Canadians to protest this outrageous assault on indigenous rights, biodiversity and climate. This link has a very good briefing on the issue: Open Letter: Save the Okavango Delta — HowNow Magazine

So, we enter the last week of February. My personal COVID counter, like marking the walls in an imaginary prison cell called COVID, started with Monday, March 9, 2020. That was the day we recorded the first COVID death in Canada. So we approach a full year of this. The threat that the variants will outrun the vaccines, creating a far worse third wave, is never far from my thoughts.

Be very careful. Stay safe.

Sending love and hopes for happier days – soon!

Elizabeth

PS more links for parliamentary interventions:

Elizabeth May: Can Canada meaningfully commit to obtaining the free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous peoples?
Elizabeth May: Tabling a Private Members’ Bill is not the time to make a partisan speech
Elizabeth May: How much sovereignty has Canada lost under the Canada China FIPPA?

To subscribe to Good Sunday Morning, visit the Saanich-Gulf Islands Greens:
http://www.sgigreenparty.ca/

The post Good Sunday Morning – February 21 appeared first on Elizabeth May.

My point of privilege was (I think) well delivered. I had worked hard all long weekend digging up precedents from other Speaker’s rulings and debates going back to 1963 when they invented this whole idea of recognized parties and unrecognized parties. Amazingly, Canada is the only country among those using Westminster parliamentary democracy to have this absurd rule that bigger parties have more procedural rights than smaller parties. It all stemmed from a 1963 change in the law so that parties with more than 12 MPs would receive public funding for their parliamentary work. (Funding has now risen to about $2 million/party as soon as they get 12 MPs). Rights were nowhere mentioned in the 1963 bill, but – over time- it became customary to keep MPs from smaller parties off committees and to never allow them to put forward Opposition Day motions. But no one has ever suggested we have no rights to ask a question in QP, even though the slot for smaller parties is the last question – with no supplementary questions – ever.

The YouTube video of my argument runs 13 minutes and is included here:

Elizabeth May: Blocking Greens from asking questions during QP is antidemocratic

The Speaker has not yet ruled, so I wait in hopeful anticipation.

I really wish I had the chance to put a question forward in Question Period this week. I have been trying to get up to speed on an issue of which I was dimly aware and which I am now convinced needs a lot more attention. So, lacking a question in QP, at least I can tell you about it.

One of the most extraordinary resource conflicts in Canada is playing out so far north that we hear little of it in southern Canada. A group of Inuit hunters, widely supported in their community, set up a protest camp that blocked access to the airstrip serving an iron mine on Baffin Island. The mining company, Baffinland Iron Mines Corp, calls itself a Canadian corporation, but is owned by Texas based Energy and Minerals Group and Luxembourg corporation, ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel maker.

After many years of technological and financial hurdles for developers, the open pit mine began operations in 2014. While initially welcomed locally, the mine now wants to double the size of its operations at Mary River from six million tonnes to 12 million. Incredibly, the company has been acting as though it had permission to proceed, even before hearings opened. It has drawn down a billion dollars in financing and, according to the Inuit protesters, has already begun construction.

The doubling of production will involve building a railway and increasing shipping with an additional quay at Milne Inlet. The ore is shipped to Europe along routes that cut through narwhal habitat. As well, the iron ore dust is contaminating the landscape and has been detected in Arctic char, a key food source for the Inuit and other animals that are part of their traditional diet – like narwhal.

The Nuluujaaq Land Guardians set up a camp in early February in peaceful protest against the mine expansion. The camp shut down the airstrip – blocking access to supplies for the mine and its 700 workers. I just cannot help but be inspired by the protest by Inuit land defenders in minus 33 degree weather. In 24 hour darkness. In an outdoor camp.

The company received a temporary injunction against the protest that ended February 10th. The hearing for a permanent injunction has been taking place in Iqaluit. The environmental assessment hearings are to resume in April. Meanwhile, the Nuluujaaq Land Guardians are calling on the federal ministers of Fisheries and Oceans, Natural Resources and Northern Affairs to step up to support their rights and for the RCMP to launch a criminal investigation into Baffinland’s actions.

In another issue pitting resource extraction against Indigenous peoples, I am trying to create some leverage for concerned Canadians to act to stop and appalling project in Namibia. Vancouver-based ReconAfrica has gained rights to frack in very sensitive areas along the border with Botswana. Threatened by the fracking is the Okavango Delta, a UNESCO world heritage site that straddles Botswana and Namibia. The SAN people of the area are protesting the violation of their rights.

In order to launch an investigation, I have written the newly created CORE – Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise – Sheri Meyerhoffer. The CORE office was supposed to have more robust powers than ultimately were established. My letter and call for an inquiry into ReconAfrica is something of a test case. I will keep you posted as we create a petition and other tools for Canadians to protest this outrageous assault on indigenous rights, biodiversity and climate. This link has a very good briefing on the issue: Open Letter: Save the Okavango Delta — HowNow Magazine

So, we enter the last week of February. My personal COVID counter, like marking the walls in an imaginary prison cell called COVID, started with Monday, March 9, 2020. That was the day we recorded the first COVID death in Canada. So we approach a full year of this. The threat that the variants will outrun the vaccines, creating a far worse third wave, is never far from my thoughts.

Be very careful. Stay safe.

Sending love and hopes for happier days – soon!

Elizabeth

PS more links for parliamentary interventions:

Elizabeth May: Can Canada meaningfully commit to obtaining the free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous peoples?
Elizabeth May: Tabling a Private Members’ Bill is not the time to make a partisan speech
Elizabeth May: How much sovereignty has Canada lost under the Canada China FIPPA?

To subscribe to Good Sunday Morning, visit the Saanich-Gulf Islands Greens:
http://www.sgigreenparty.ca/

The post appeared first on Elizabeth May.

Green MPs share speaking slots with Independent MPs on a rotation. Recently, an increasing amount of MPs have been expelled from their caucuses, joining the rotation shared by Greens. Though Green MPs are in excellent standing, they must share their time with MPs whose reputations have been disgraced. When Elizabeth was first elected, she got to ask one question per week. Now, her next scheduled question is not until March 8. Elizabeth, Paul and Jenica have sent letters to the Speaker and the House Leaders of the recognized parties; they have also issued press releases and held a press conference to raise awareness about the anti-democratic nature of this issue.

This week the House debated Bill C-15, to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) at the federal level in Canada. Under article 19 of UNDRIP, Canada must obtain the free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous peoples before beginning any development project that might impact them. Elizabeth asked the Minister of Justice how Canada can claim to respect Indigenous rights while spending $17 billion of public money on the Trans Mountain Pipeline.

In his question, Paul pressed the government to improve coordination between the provinces and territories to stop the spread of COVID-19 by creating a special task force. Paul also joined Green Party Leader Annamie Paul in a press conference calling for the government to decriminalize the possession of opioids.

Paul requested an emergency debate on Canada’s crisis in housing affordability. Citing structural issues, Paul said that government spending alone will not solve this problem, but that regulation and a coordinated government approach is necessary. Paul and Jenica held a press conference with Vancouver City Councilor Jean Swanson on this subject as well.

When Andrew Scheer, former leader of the Conservative Party, tabled a Private Member’s Bill, he launched into a partisan speech attacking the Liberal government’s environmental record. Elizabeth agreed that the Liberals have a terrible environmental record, though not as bad as the former Conservative government. Elizabeth put Scheer in his place with a Point of Order telling him that the tabling of a Private Members’ Bill is not the place to make a partisan speech.

Jenica closed off the week with a debate in adjournment proceedings, a response to a Minister’s statement, and a question! In adjournment proceedings she reminded the government that Canadians needed income support before the pandemic, and that they will need it after. She urged the government to transition the current COVID-19 relief benefits into a permanent Guaranteed Livable Income for all Canadians.

Responding to a statement from the Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages, Jenica spoke in English and French to express her enthusiasm for the long-awaited modernization of Canada’s Official Languages Act. She encouraged the government to protect Canada’s official languages as well as Indigenous languages, while modernizing the Act.

And one year since Parliament held an emergency debate on the Wet’suwet’en Nation’s assertion of their inherent rights on their ancestral territory, Jenica asked the government if anything had changed for the better for Indigenous peoples in Canada.

Key Moments

• Elizabeth May: Blocking Greens from asking questions during QP is antidemocratic
• Elizabeth May: Can Canada meaningfully commit to obtaining the free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous peoples?
• Paul Manly requests emergency debate on housing affordability crisis in Canada
• Elizabeth May: Tabling a Private Members’ Bill is not the time to make a partisan speech
• Elizabeth May: Could taking action on the Uighur genocide mean more difficulty repatriating the two Michaels?
• Elizabeth May: How much sovereignty has Canada lost under the Canada China FIPPA?

Question Period and Member’s Statements

• Paul Manly: Canada needs to coordinate more with the provinces to halt the spread of COVID-19
• Jenica Atwin: Canadians needed income support before the pandemic, and they will need it after. Implement a GLI!​
• Jenica Atwin: Let’s protect French, English and Indigenous languages when we modernize the Official Languages Act
• Jenica Atwin: One year since the Emergency Debate on Wet’suwet’en land rights, has anything changed?

Press Conferences and Media Releases

• Press Conference: Green Party reiterates call for decriminalization of possession of opioids
• ​Online Press Conference: Canada’s Housing Affordability

In Their Own Words​

• Elizabeth May: Good Sunday Morning – February 14

Petitions

• e-3071 Discontinue GDP measurement and shift to a wellbeing economy (closes Feb 27)
• e-3108 Enhance Canadians’ access to holistic health services and natural products (closes March 3)
• e-3094 Reduce dependency on China (closes March 8)
• e-3184 Make Bill C-12 a world-class climate law (closes March 20)
• e-3177 Condemn discrimination in Poland (closes March 20)
• e-3058 Ban fracking, transition to renewable energy (closes March 21)
• e-3014 Modernize the complaints review panel of the Canadian Judicial Council (closes May 7)
• e-3075 Halt all transfer of Canadian made weapons to Saudi Arabia (closes May 27)
• e-3138 Make Election Day a paid holiday when it falls on a weekday (closes May 29)
• e-3159 Ban new strip mines in the Rocky Mountains (closes June 5)

The post Green Caucus Week in Review: Feb 16 – 19 appeared first on Elizabeth May.

When Andrew Scheer introduced a private members bill to greater restrict the power of federal ministers to allow the release of untreated sewage, he used it as a platform for a long, very partisan speech, attacking the carbon tax, attacking the Liberals’ record on the environment. Introducing PMBs is, under our rules, a brief summary of the bill, and not a platform for a speech. Elizabeth joined in the objections, slamming both Liberals and Conservatives for their environmental records.

Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands)
2021-02-18 10:18 [p.4211]

Mr. Speaker, I rise with some trepidation to support the point of order just made by the hon. member for Winnipeg North.

The former leader of the official opposition knows full well what he is doing. As a former speaker of the House, he must know this is a violation of our rules. By the way, I agree with him entirely about the terrible record of the current Liberal government. It is not as bad as that of the former Conservative government, but the introduction of a private member’s bill is not a time to deliver a partisan speech.

The post Tabling a Private Members’ Bill is not the time to make a partisan speech appeared first on Elizabeth May.

The post Blocking Greens from asking questions during QP is antidemocratic appeared first on Elizabeth May.

And a very Happy Valentine’s Day!

Here on Vancouver Island, we had an uncommonly large snowfall yesterday after a deep chill from the Polar Vortex that has gripped much of Canada. Another reminder of the climate emergency generally missed by our nightly news and weather reports.

How the warming of the globe impacts the Arctic – and vice versa- is still being researched. What happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic! The warming waters that melt the ice, that reduce the albedo effect that result in a positive feedback to faster warming and more loss of ice also impacts global climate. The jet stream used to move in a strong horizontal flow at mid latitude. It helped keep a sort of ring of wind at the poles, keeping the Arctic cold. As the temperature differential between cold Arctic and warmer equator begins to shrink, the jet stream wobbles. Arctic blasts reach southern Canada, while the Arctic is far warmer than southern Canada. I found this fairly clear explainer on the NOAA website of the US government. Good graphs and clear communication if you want to dive in.

Parliament did not sit this week, but first thing on Tuesday, I am going to be asking the Speaker for help. The larger parties are preventing Green MPs from having any questions ever to the prime minister.

When I was first elected in 2011, I had a question a week. The questions for those of us not in one of the larger parties are always at the end of Question Period (QP), and we rotated through the week days. I never knew it was lucky that in 2011 the MPs not part of the larger parties were exactly five in number. A great number – one for every day of the week.

The ebb and flow of questions changed with additional Bloc members in 2015, still shy of the required 12 MPs to be considered a “recognized party,” but I still got a question a week.

All that changed after the 2019 election. With only about 100,000 more votes than the Greens, the Bloc jumped to 32 seats. (We really do need to get rid of First Past the Post!) And the Conservatives, Liberals, Bloc and NDP met secretly and decided that since Justin Trudeau had adopted the practice of answering all the questions asked on Wednesdays, no Greens should ever have a Wednesday question. Ditto no questions for Jody Wilson-Raybould on Wednesdays. For more than a year, I have been asking for an explanation from the Speaker – who says – go ask the other parties. So I make the rounds of in-person chats – when that was possible – with each of the party house leaders. No one will take responsibility or provide an explanation. We have written all of them. No reply.

On January 27th, we held a press conference by zoom to make the situation public.

And some media began to ask questions of the other parties. Althia Raj from HuffPost got an answer from Jagmeet Singh. To my deep shock, he claimed there was a rule and the rule was fair and that MPs from smaller parties should not be able to ask questions in QP. Of course, just like the Bloc, back in the day when the NDP was below 12 seats, they argued for more questions in QP. But never in the history of our parliament has anyone suggested some MPs d not get questions in QP.

Considering we had just shy of 1.2 million votes in 2019 and elected three members of parliament, the idea that our limited rights of participation should be further reduced by the bigger parties strikes me as profoundly anti-democratic. My last question in QP was on February 4th. My next one is not until March 8th. With Wednesdays pulled from the roster for questions for MPs who are independent or in non-recognized parties, there are only four days to divvy up. And every time an MP gets booted from their caucus, they get a slot in the rotation. So with Derek Sloan being given the heave-ho from the Conservative benches, Paul Manly, Jenica Atwin and I have less opportunity to ask a question. What was four MPs a year ago – 3 Greens and Jody – is now eight as MPs face discipline in their own party. Please keep your fingers crossed the Speaker will agree that we have the right to ask the prime minister a question – now and again.

I have a request that I hope you can take on board. In addition to the notices in the post-script, I wanted to draw a government consultation to your attention. The issue is very well explained in this article from FOCUS magazine:

Getting arsenic out of your garden – Earthrise – Focus on Victoria

The issue is of posts treated with a very nasty arsenic mixture called chromated copper arsenate (CCA). CCA treated posts are still being sold in places like Rona, Slegg, and Buckerfields. The arsenic can leach into soils and contaminate the veggies we eat. And some people do not know how such treated wood products must never – ever – be burned. Thanks to Allan Galambos, who contacted me about this a few years ago, I have been pressuring the government to act. Now there is a consultation with the Canadian Standards Association that ends on February 18. So please do send your comments and a call for tighter regulation to Kat Crew, Project Manager with the CSA, kat.crew@csagroup.org.

Enjoy your valentine today – whatever it might be!! Cuddle with your favourite human, dog, cat, or if stuck alone in this awful pandemic – have some fair-trade chocolate and watch a schlocky romance on TV!

Tomorrow is family day! So zoom it is!

Much love and thanks for all you do!

Elizabeth

P.S.

Amazing true story – the new leader of the Green Party of Alberta, Jordan Wilkie is the grandson of the legendary founder of Wardair, Max Ward. Max Ward passed away in November and Jordan has a petition to have the Edmonton airport renamed in his honour. Please sign!

DEADLINE FOR COMMENT TO BC GOVERNMENT!

BC Government’s Trans Mountain Expansion Reconsideration Engagement by the MARCH 1st deadline. You may already be aware of the above, but wanted to share this link to their webpage with the details just in case.

“Trees in the Wild” ZOOM event on the Great Bear Rainforest on Sunday, 07 March 2021 2:00 p.m. (pst)…….registration is available on EventBrite.

Go to Saanich-Gulf Islands Greens to subscribe to Good Sunday Morning.

The post Good Sunday Morning – February 14 appeared first on Elizabeth May.

In a virtual news conference, Green Party parliamentary leader Elizabeth May is joined by party MPs Paul Manly and Jenica Atwin to discuss concerns with what the party is calling the “discriminatory approach” to question period in the House of Commons. They object to a decision that was made by the four other federal parties following the 2019 general election to exclude Green MPs from asking a question on Wednesdays. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made it his practice to be the only person to answer questions during Wednesday question periods.

January 27, 2021

OTTAWA — Green Party Members of Parliament have been attempting to un-do a massively discriminatory approach to Question Period that began immediately following the 2019 election. Due to a decision made behind closed doors by the Conservatives, Bloc Quebecois, New Democrats and Liberals, Green Party Members of Parliament are never to be allowed a question on Wednesdays. As the Prime Minister now makes it his practice to answer all questions on Wednesdays, this exclusion is additionally unfair.

On January 17, 2020, the Green Caucus wrote Speaker Anthony Rota, “In the previous parliament Green MPs were allotted multiple Wednesday questions over the course of each Spring and Fall session. During these opportunities we exercised decorum and posed questions of real content on behalf of our constituents and Green voters. We now return to a new parliament with more Green MPs than ever before… only to find that we are to be further disadvantaged by not being allocated a single Wednesday question.”

The Speaker advised negotiating with the other parties. Multiple attempts have been made to engage in discussion and negotiation to allow at least one Wednesday question. Polite and persistent entreaties have been in vain.

Speaking for the caucus MP Paul Manly (Nanaimo-Ladysmith) explained “It is even more outrageous when one considers that every time a member of parliament is turfed from their party, such as happened last week with a member of the Conservative and Liberal caucuses, that tends to result in fewer questions for Green MPs and for Jody Wilson-Raybould. So in addition to never getting a Wednesday question, our opportunities for questions on other days are further diluted.”

Mr. Manly continued, “The Green Party of Canada received nearly as many votes in 2019 as the Bloc Quebecois. Only due to the perversity of First Past the Post, do we have three seats after being supported by nearly 1.2 million voters. If you average the number of votes per party by the number of MP’s elected, each Green MP represents 380,000 voters while each Liberal MP only represents 38,000. To deny Green MPs the chance to pose a single Wednesday question, ever, is undemocratic. The other parties have refused to say who opposes our rights, or why. We would like to know how they can justify this.”

# # #

For more information or to arrange an interview:

Debra Eindiguer

613-240-8921

debra@partivert.ca

Rosie Emery

Attachée de presse

613-562-4916, poste 204

rosie.emery@partivert.ca

The post Green Party MPs raise concerns with current question period allotment appeared first on Elizabeth May.