ABSTRACT

Question Period is the most visible part of the Canadian parliamentary process. Indeed, for most Canadians, Question Period is Parliament. It provides a summary indication of those issues most salient to Canadian elected officials; it is a primary venue for ‘position-taking’ on the part of government and opposition members alike; it is a central means by which the executive is kept in check by Parliament; and last but certainly not least, it plays a starring role in nightly newscasts. Nevertheless, in spite of its promotional and institutional centrality to parliamentary federal politics, political scientists know relatively little about oral questions, in the Canadian House of Commons or elsewhere.