Question Period
According to the House of Commons Compendium, "The primary purpose of Question Period is to seek information from the Government and to call it to account for its actions.
According to the record of debates for November 29, 1867, a question was posed to Chairman of the Printing Committee before Orders of the Day were called.
[2] In the absence of formal rules, the Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada exerted great control over form, nature, and admissibility of questions.
Question Period lasts 45 minutes pursuant to Standing Order 30(5),[4] beginning no later than 2:15 pm or 11:15 am, as the case may be.
In the UK Parliament, other Cabinet members have Question Time on other days, so it is a daily occurrence but to specific Ministers.
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.
[citation needed] Simultaneous interpretation is provided on English and French broadcasts of Question Period, on many news networks, as well as the Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC).
Transcripts of Question Period are published in both official languages in the Canadian Hansard, as with any other proceedings in the House of Commons and its committees.
The simultaneous translation provided to Members in the Chamber as well as visitors in the gallery is also available over the internet on either the website of the Parliament of Canada, or through services such as CPAC.
