Question Period

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Question Period or, as it is known on the Order Paper, Oral Questions (French: questions orales), is a Canadian parliamentary practice similar to the British Prime Minister's Questions in which Members of Parliament submit questions to the government ministers including the Prime Minister for answer. It lasts 45 minutes pursuant to Standing Order 30(5): "Not later than 2:15 o'clock p.m., or 11:15 o'clock a.m., as the case may be, oral questions shall be taken up."

Question Period has a reputation for being quite chaotic due to the commonplace cat-calling and jeering from non-participating MPs, but notwithstanding the heckling, Question Period is actually tightly-regulated. Parties are only allowed to ask a predetermined number of questions based on the size of their caucus, and must ask their questions in a specific order, predetermined by their party leadership for that day on a list given to the Speaker. Questions and responses are all timed as well, in order to prevent excessive speeches, and the Speaker of the House has the ability to cut the microphones of members speaking after the specified time has elapsed.

As with other parliamentary procedures in the House, members of opposition parties must place questions through the Speaker, addressing them only indirectly to the minister responsible for the issue at hand. Furthermore, there is no obligation for the minister addressed in the question to actually respond, and often the minister's parliamentary secretary or a fellow cabinet member will rise to answer the question. This is particularly true when the minister addressed is not actually present in the House during Question Period, and arguably occurs most often when the Prime Minister is addressed on a specific issue for which one of his ministers has more information.

Each of the provincial legislatures also conducts its own form of question period.