The Canadian government’s refusal to answer questions from the Official Opposition NDP party in the House of Commons Question Period flared up Tuesday (September 23) into an accusation from Official Opposition Leader Thomas Mulcair that the Speaker of the House was not neutral.
Mulcair repeatedly asked the government for details on Canada’s participation in a military advisory force in Iraq, to which a government spokesman repeatedly referred to statements made by a part-time NDP party member about Israel.
After Mulcair questioned the Speaker’s neutrality in forcing the government to answer questions, the Official Opposition Leader was cut off from asking more questions by the Speaker.
The next day the Speaker ruled it was not his role, unless the Commons decided it, to force answers, suggesting “As we have heard many times, that is why it is called ‘Question Period’ not ‘Answer Period’.”
RCI’s Wojtek Gwiazda has a report.
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