Question Time

[Barnes]

Members may pose questions to ministers in this thread under the relevant Standing Orders:

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Time for questions without notice.  Are there any questions?

[Barnes]

Order! I would like to ask the Member to address his question to a specific minister to help avoid any confusion.

[Barnes]

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if the Prime Minister is putting words in the mouths of the Social Liberals, or if the Social Liberals agree with the Prime Minister that the Socialists are "radical revolutionaries" using "ploys and deceptions" in exposing the nepotism and wastes of taxpayer money in this Government.

Order! I must rule this question out of order.  The Deputy Prime Minister's portfolio does not cover the the affairs of the Social Liberals, and certainly not of his opinion of the Conservative Party's opinion of the Socialist Party!

I invite the Honorable Member to rephrase his question to target the Deputy Prime Minister's portfolio responsibilities in the government.

[Barnes]

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if the Prime Minister is putting words in the mouths of the Social Liberals, or if the Social Liberals agree with the Prime Minister that the Socialists are "radical revolutionaries" using "ploys and deceptions" in exposing the nepotism and wastes of taxpayer money in this Government.

Order! I must rule this question out of order.  The Deputy Prime Minister's portfolio does not cover the the affairs of the Social Liberals, and certainly not of his opinion of the Conservative Party's opinion of the Socialist Party!

I invite the Honorable Member to rephrase his question to target the Deputy Prime Minister's portfolio responsibilities in the government.

Are you not a member of the Social Liberals? Answer the question of comrade PJ!

Order! The Member will respect the ruling of the chair as well as desist in a belligerent attempt to involve party politics in points of order.

[Barnes]

I thank the Member for his rephrasing of the question. 

Question Time is meant for Members to question Ministers about their conduct with regards to their portfolio and administrative duties, and not the functioning of a political party of which a Minister is a member.  Questions can very easily be rephrased to ensure that they follow those guidelines, as the Honorable Member has shown. 

[Barnes]

Order! I would like to ask the Honorable Member to withdraw that final word that he used. That is most certainly an example of unparliamentary language, and cannot be tolerated within the House.

The Member's question itself is in order.

[Barnes]

The Prime Minister has another 24 hours remaining to answer the Honorable Member's question.  I will remind ministers that I take a dim view of failure to answer questions and will act appropriately when such a situation arises.

[Barnes]

I do agree that the statement "How uncomfortable it must be for the gentleman's ideology to be caught in the company of narcotic peddlers, human traffickers, murderers, and terrorists" pushes the boundaries of what is parliamentary language and I do request for the Prime Minister to either withdraw that statement or to rephrase it in such a way as to remove the un-parliamentary insinuation.

I further note that a censure motion can only be moved by Members and not by the Speaker, as I am sure the Honorable Member is aware.

[Barnes]

The Member is certainly within his rights to suggest such a course of action.  As a matter of course, I do remind Members that the Speaker does have the ability to suspend Members from the House for a period of twelve hours, which is of course distinctly different from any form of censure motion.

[Barnes]

I note that the Prime Minister has rephrased his remarks.

[Barnes]

The first IRC Question Time will be held tomorrow afternoon/evening with the Prime Minister and Mr. PJ on behalf of the Leader of the Opposition.

I will post a link to the IRC at the appropriate time tomorrow. Everyone is allowed to view the QT, but only Members may take part in proceedings.

[Barnes]

The IRC Question Time is going to be held in #QuestionTime starting at 6:00 PM EST.  Everyone is welcome to come watch in the galleries.

[Barnes]

Questions Without Notice -- Sunday, September 27, 2015

The Speaker: Questions without notice.  Mr. PJ?

Mr. PJ: To ask the Prime Minister: when he will listen to the reasonable demands of the occupy Cochabamba movement and respect the rights of the people to a decent social safety net?

Mr. Potus (Prime Minister) (Interjecting) The Opposition just arrived!

Mr. Talleyrand (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Lands) (Interjecting) I see!

The Speaker: I call the Prime Minister.

Mr. Potus (Prime Minister) Mr. Speaker, I have said this before and I will say it again because of its importance. The people in the streets are good people, but they have been looked down on and lied to by government after government.  Our continent has been forced to endure decades of backwater economics have failed to deliver a shared prosperity.

Mr. Oakvale (Minister for Justice) (Interjecting)  Hear, hear!

Mr. Potus (Prime Minister) Our Government is bringing forth several proposals to alleviate concerns of many of these protesters.  The future of this continent is in freedom and growth.  This Government is committed to building a shared prosperity.  Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker: I call Mr. PJ.

Mr. PJ: To ask the Prime Minister, what are these "proposals" and how will they alleviate the plague of poverty? Both the Conservatives and their so called  socially liberal coalition partners have been too busy passing meaningless resolutions to address one of our continents most important issues.

The Speaker: I call the Prime Minister

Mr. Potus (Prime Minister) Mr. Speaker, I don't expect our Opposition to understand the details of the market economy, but there can be no sharing of prosperity until there is a growing economy. My Chancellor is introducing an economic standardization plan within the day to encourage investment in South America and growth of our economy.

To guarantee that the people are adequately protected, we are bringing forth a comprehensive healthcare plan within the next few days. This is a moral calling of ours and I hope to find the support of the Socialists in protecting the most vulnerable among us when they go to see a doctor.

While I understand the gentleman finds reason to object to the government's introduction of resolutions, I must sincerely ask the gentleman to visit the families of those injured by FARC.

While the Socialist Party awkwardly abstains from the government's resolutions, FARC, an organization which shares the Marxist commitment to revolution, kills South Americans.  To hear the stories of those Colombian soldiers who were held prisoner, that is something especially harrowing. I implore the gentlemen to visit the families of the fallen and tell them, as you have told us, that the Government's resolutions commemorating their family member are pointless --

The Speaker: The Prime Minister has a few seconds remaining in his time.

Mr. Potus (Prime Minister)  Thank you, Mr. Speaker

The Speaker: The Prime Minister's time has expired.  Mr. PJ?

Mr. PJ: I don't expect the prime minister to understand the plight of people living paycheck to paycheck, or those without a paycheck at all, if he cannot be bothered to even introduce piecemeal reforms to address the issue until South American workers call for a general strike --

The Speaker: Order!  The Member will ask his question!

Mr. PJ: My next question is directed towards the Deputy Prime Minister: why has nothing been done to address the issue of protection of the Amazon Rainforest. The Social Liberals campaigned on environmental protection, yet we have seen no effort from the Ministry of Lands to protect one of our continent's most beautiful resources while it is slashed and burned.

Mr. Talleyrand (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Lands) Mr. Speaker, the Government will have a major announcement on that in the next day. It is what I mentioned as the major news I planned to announce at the Social Liberal Conference.

Mr. PJ: (Interjecting) Answer the question!

The Speaker: Order!

Mr. Talleyrand (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Lands) I have answered the question.  This government will end the destruction of the rainforest --

Mr. Oakvale (Minister for Justice) (Interjecting) Hear, hear!

Mr. Talleyrand (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Lands) And ensure it will exist for future generations.

Mr. Potus (Prime Minister) (Interjecting) Hear, hear!

Mr. Talleyrand (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Lands) While your party wishes to exploit for the sake of the union bosses!

Mr. Potus (Prime Minister) (Interjecting) Aye!

The Speaker: Has the Deputy Prime Minister concluded his answer?

Mr. Talleyrand (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Lands) Yes, unless the Deputy Leader of the Opposition has a follow-up.

Mr. PJ: Well it seems evident that the Deputy Prime Minister is more interested in attacking the only party interested in the protection of the working person rather than answering a direct question, so no.

Mr. Talleyrand (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Lands) I have already answered the Deputy Leader's question.  I just didn't give the answer he wanted!

Mr. Oakvale (Minister for Justice) Hear, hear!

The Speaker: Order, order.  We will proceed to the next question.  Mr. PJ?

Mr. PJ: In lieu of the Minister for Foreign Affairs absence, my next question is directed towards the Prime Minister.  Why has this government chosen to effectively ignore the Syrian refugee crisis and instead delegate the responsibility of accepting refugees to South American member states?

The Speaker: I call the Prime Minister to answer on behalf of the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Potus (Prime Minister) Mr. Speaker, this Government accepts that the different nations will have different interests as we build the national community. However, until we get to that point, we must accommodate the complexity of this issue by deferring the existing national governments.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker: I call Mr. PJ.

Mr. PJ: To ask the Prime Minister: what exactly makes this issue more complex? Syrians are dying at the hands of radical revolutionaries this government claims to oppose.

Mr. Potus (Prime Minister) I believe the gentleman is attempting to insinuate that we're assisting the radicals in Syria. That we're exacerbating the situation. I must object to the very nation of that.

Mr. Oakvale (Minister for Justice) (Interjecting) Hear, hear!

Mr. Potus (Prime Minister) But the complexity is clear. Our constituent governments are uniquely qualified to know the logistical capacity of their cities.

For example, would the people of Cochabamba have an interest in taking in refugees?  Of course not!  It is up to the constituent nations to understand their own limitations and respond to the crisis in kind.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker: I call Mr. PJ.

Mr. PJ: My next question would normally be for the Minister for Social Protection, but I would like to ask either the Prime Minister or the Minister for Justice to answer why this government has not taken a stance on the issue of abortion. It is well known that a 13 year old Paraguayan victim of rape was denied access to an abortion in violation of her reproductive rights, while this government remained silent.

The Speaker: If Mr. PJ could specify which Minister he intends to ask, that would be helpful.  Otherwise I will call the Prime Minister to answer.

Mr. PJ: The Minister for Justice.

Mr. Potus (Prime Minister) I defer to the Minister for Justice.

The Speaker: Have you concluded your question?

Mr. PJ: Yes

The Speaker: I call the Minister for Justice

Mr. Oakvale (Minister for Justice) Mr. Speaker, the South American project is its infancy.  As we've already seen the lines between national and federal power are at best blurry in some cases. One of these must be what's so often termed 'social issues', such as the honorable gentleman's question relating to the legality of abortion.

The Government, as, I imagine, do the Opposition, have members with a wide variety of views on this matter. Some object to the practice of abortion on moral and religious grounds, some call for its pan-South American legalisation on liberal or pragmatic grounds, but as with so many of these issues the unfortunate stark reality is that there is no 'right' answer.  As unfortunate and messy as the current situation is, this Government has no intention of by fiat overruling the very real concerns of people across the continent on both sides of this debate.

The story the honorable gentleman refers to was horrifying, it's true.  But I must be as clear as I can with the house - this Government has no intention of legalising access to abortion on demand.

Mr. Potus (Prime Minister) Hear, hear!

Mr. Oakvale (Minister for Justice) I respect the Honorable Gentleman's position, and those of my colleagues, on this. My private view is irrelevant. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I hope that's clarified the matter.

The Speaker: I call Mr. PJ.

Mr. PJ: To ask the Chancellor why we have seen no action from the ministry on a currency union. This Union is vital to transforming South America into a unified state.

At this point, a member of the Public Gallery began to make injections during proceedings.

Mr. Oakvale (Minister for Justice) Intruder on the floor!

The Speaker: I take note of the interrupter from the Gallery, and have asked the Sergeant-at-Arms to have the person in question removed from the Chamber.

I call the Chancellor.

Mr. Dereich (Chancellor of the Exchequer) Mr. Speaker, the Member's question is a highly important and relevant one. The Member should expect a bill creating a customs union to be put before the House tonight.

The Speaker: Has the Chancellor concluded his answer?

Mr. Dereich (Chancellor of the Exchequer) I have.

Mr. Talleyrand (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Lands) I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper, Mr. Speaker.

[Barnes]

Under the Standing Orders, the Deputy Prime Minister has until tomorrow to answer the Leader of the Opposition's question.

[Barnes]

Mr. Speaker,

With Parliament's dissolution fast approaching, I would ask that you and the Leader of the Opposition discuss the logistics of a second Questions Without Notice session. This Government is proud of the work it has done and I look forward to the opportunity to defend our record.

Thank you.

I think this is an excellent proposal if the Leader of the Opposition is also willing to participate.  As the dissolution is scheduled at present for late Thursday evening, we will have to plan this quickly.

[Barnes]

Given my busy schedule and school this week, and a limited time frame to hold a QT session, I think having a full and proper debate would be best.

Actually, why not two? One with just Potus and Cranberry, and the other with all the party leaders?

[Barnes]

I'd always be open for that. We would just need an impartisan figure to conduct it. Anyone interested?

This would still be real time on IRC however, correct?

Of course. I think that would be the best option.

[Barnes]

Unlocked and bumped for the Second Parliament.

[Barnes]

My question is to the Prime Minister or the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Is the Government aware of any South American citizens who were killed or injured in the horrific and despicable attacks upon the people of Paris on Friday night?

[Barnes]

My question is to the Prime Minister or the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Is the Government aware of any South American citizens who were killed or injured in the horrific and despicable attacks upon the people of Paris on Friday night?

I am still awaiting my answer, Mr. Speaker.