1047 Barry Devolin from Ontario's beautiful Kawarthas is up next. This may be the first time many of us have heard Barry speak. Devolin was a former policy wonk for Preston Manning and — please don't take this the wrong way, Barry — but he looks the part. Devolin cites his resumé. He delivers the front part of his pitch in French. Mind you, unlike the others, he's reading from a prepared text as he speaks French. “I think we need a change in that Chair. I profoundly disagree with [Milliken's] House management style.” Devolin says he is embarrassed about the behaviour of MPs in the House and says he makes excuses for his colleagues when school groups from his riding visit. “There is no other place I can think of where people are routinely subjected to the kind of verbal abuse you see in this chamber.”
1052 – Royal Galipeau, Tory MP from Ottawa is up. He was on the deputy speaker squad in the last Parliament. Odd that he's running for, in the last Parliament, as a demonstration of of the kind decorum he stands for, I suppose, Galipeau physically threatened Liberal MP David McGuinty on the floor of the House of Commons! Here's my blog entry from the time:
I was sitting in the press gallery in the House of Commons at Question Period, quietly minding my own business, when, lo and behold, I saw Conservative MP Royal Galipeau (left) charge up out of his seat, dash across the floor, climb up into the Liberal backbenches, grab MP David McGuinty (right) by the shoulder and vigorously wag his finger in front of McGuinty’s face. I couldn’t hear what was said and so, after Question Period, I asked McGuinty what had happened:
McGuinty: I just rose on a point of privilege in the House of Commons to ask the speaker to formally investigate the conduct of his deputy speaker. The Member of Parliament from Ottawa Orleans, Mr. Galipeau, physically crossed the floor immediately after I finished my second question to the government and grabbed me by the shoulder and was screaming out of control, out of control using unparliamentary language, threatening me, telling me that I was a coward, that I was giving him no chance to defend himself.
In any event, Galipeau tries to flatter MPs by calling them the most “astute electors” in the country. I suspect McGuinty will not be voting for Galipeau.
1057 – Peter Milliken,the incumbent. Rare to see him in a suit-and-tie in the House. Normally, he is wearing the Speaker's robes in this Chamber. “There are certain circumstances that require expertise,” Milliken argues, saying that expertise is different from experience. “In this Parliament we will have a number of challenges.” Milliken acknowledges that decorum is a problem. “I agree that decorum has gone down somewhat but I don't believe that is not uncommon in a minority Parliament.” He, like some other candidates, says that, ultimately, it is up to each MP to conduct themselves with a bit more decorum.