Reigning in the bully MPs
In her role as an assistant deputy speaker of the House of Commons, Victoria MP Denise Savoie is charged with trying to keep a lid on the proceedings.
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Updated: July 21, 2009 10:41 AM
Savoie using speaker role to encourage civil debate
During conversation, MP Denise Savoie is quick to slip in a dig at her political opponents.
There’s a fine line, however, between dissent and bullying – a style she says has taken over the House of Commons.
“I think you can have strong debate without resorting to intimidation, heckling and cat calling,” said the Victoria New Democrat. It’s this lack of civility she’s taken on as assistant deputy speaker, a role she accepted after last fall’s election.
Several times a week she chairs debates, sets the speaking order, rules on points of order and maintain other routine procedures of the House.
She wants to initiate workshops to introduce MPs to nonviolent communication.
On several occasions she says she’s made it clear to hecklers that she won’t recognize future requests to speak if bad behaviour continues. Even her fellow NDP members aren’t immune to her chastisements. “I pick on them equally,” she said, adding her approach has won the praise of MPs across the floor.
Impartiality between NDP and other party members comes with the job. To be seen as impartial, however, also requires her to keep out of debates while presiding over them.
It’s the hard part of the job, she said.
“I accepted the job because of the dismal tone and my desire to see change, but at the same time ... I want to get up and say ‘hey, what about this issue?’ I hear comments by the government to say they’ve contributed the most to housing, and yet I see the figures are really distorted.”
While frustrating, being occasionally barred from debate isn’t much of a disadvantage, says political scientist Dennis Pilon. “If the Democrats lose one person to be the speaker every now and then, it’s not really going to weaken them that much,” the University of Victoria professor said.
On the plus side, the good will generated by the speaker’s impartial ceremonial role often translates into more votes, he added.
Pilon confirms the deputy speaker has the power to set the tone at meetings and even to eject MPs. The speaker can be overruled, however, and so must have support for decisions they make.
“The difficulty is ... that confrontation is the only part that that gets any coverage,” he said. “Opposition parties often have difficulty getting the attention of media, so they might not want to tone down their rhetoric.”
rholmen@saanichnews.com
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