A critical change to improve the quality and effectiveness of the whole sordid affair of Canada’s Question Period is needed. Anyone who has seen some of the antics played out here would agree. Question is asked and some winded speech having little to nothing to do with the question is given as a response. It is time the speaker of the house was mandated with instructions and power to deal with this matter.
The solution is obvious. Any attempt to skirt around an issue in question period should be met with immediate dismissal. The requirement of the speaker of the house should be to ensure this occurs each and every time a question has not been directly addressed. Any member not capable of providing information directly related to the question is obviously incompetent or deliberately making a mockery of the process. The behavior is undeserving of a wage, pension, or any other tax payer financing.
Better to hold an immediate election and re-fill the member’s position – it wouldn’t take long before order was restored and Question Period became what it was meant to be all along.