Milliken should remain Speaker

Kingston MP Peter Milliken is uniquely qualified to be the Speaker of the House of Commons. Canada may never again be so fortunate as to find someone whose doctoral work centred around House proceedings, and Milliken has excelled throughout his parliamentary career as an unparalleled expert in the rules and spirit of the House.

Not only has he done a spectacular job facing nearly impossible challenges, the confidence crisis of 2005, 3 important tie-breaking votes in one session, and the rare legal requirement for a Speaker's Warrant in the Mulroney/Schreiber affair (the first in generations), but also he is a popular Speaker likely to be re-elected. The opposition holds a majority in the House, and their best bet for Speaker is Milliken, whose only real prospect of defeat is a split vote if another opposition MP allows his/ her name to stand.

Granted, some of my blogging friends, especially Toronto pollster, statistician, and commentator Dan Arnold have pointed out the decline in the level of decorum in the House. I don't know exactly when they think politicians in Canada were more polite, but I had a chance to discuss this matter with Speaker Milliken, and I found his answer quite satisfying.

Enforcing discipline, naming members, or ultimately ejecting members from the house favours the Bloc and the NDP and discriminates against the Liberals and the Conservatives. If he were to take action against those MP's he perceived behaving badly, he would undoubtedly end up booting those blowhard finger-pointers sitting nearest him. John Baird and his likes would receive unfair judgement compared to their separatist and socialist colleagues, even though their behavior is arguably comparable.

Plus, nobody listens to the Speaker anyway. Calls for order largely go unnoticed. MP's speak out of turn and jeer. Discipline, if it is ever to be achieved, can only be enforced by those individuals with actual authority over the MP's who behave as they do. The party leaders should be held to account for the behavior of their caucus. Unfortunately, in most cases it is more than likely that the leaders encourage boisterous behavior, seeking to make a show for the TV cameras.

Get rid of the cameras - then you'll see better behavior!

Gordon O'Connor is quoted in the recent edition of the Hill Times saying that a new and updated Tory Obstruction Manual is in the works. Good faith in this Parliament has been thrown out before a Speaker has been elected, committees have been struck, or debate has begun. Who on Earth could possibly supervise 307 MP's who come to Ottawa already with the understanding that order is just something you do in a restaurant?

Good manners are nice. Quality debate is to be encouraged. Sacking Peter Milliken, the most astute and well-suited Speaker in memory, however, will do nothing to improve behavior in Parliament. Saying that it will is merely a convenient excuse used by those who want to make the Kingston riding more competitive for a Conservative candidate. Interestingly, the person who wants that is the same person who is actually responsible for the Obstruction Manual, the most MP's of any party in the House, and the level of decorum - Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

And sacking him would be fine by me.