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Hon. Steven MacKinnon

Member of Parliament
Leader of the Government in the House of Commons Member of the Board of Internal Economy
Liberal

Gatineau
Quebec
Voting Attendance: 67%
Expenses Last Quarter: $80,565.87

Government Page

Context: House Hansard - 285 - Feb/26/24

Feb/26/24 12:41:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my friend from the New Democratic Party asks why Conservatives have done this. We have seen this around the world. They think that if they come in and make these places, these precious chambers of democracy, so toxic, so laden with invective, so dripping with insult, Canadians will turn away and simply say that they do not want any part of it. That is how they come to suppress voting and try to get Canadians disillusioned with their politics rather than interested in the results that politics and government can have on their daily life. My friend from New Westminster—Burnaby outlined many of them, such as dental care, lower grocery prices and child care. These are all things that we work in earnest every day to pass through this House in a democratic way but the Conservatives spend all of their time trying to tie up in procedure and nonsense.

154 words

Context: House Hansard - 248 - Nov/7/23

Hon. Steven MacKinnon (Gatineau, Lib.)

Nov/7/23 4:13:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am rising to add my voice to the point of order raised on Thursday, November 2, and Friday, November 3, by the member for New Westminster—Burnaby, respecting our rules and practices, that questions posed by members during Oral Questions must be within the administrative responsibilities of the government or of the individual minister addressed in the question. Let me start by stating that I agree with the member for New Westminster—Burnaby on this point. The member has raised excellent precedents to support his argument and I would like to summarize these precedents and add my own perspective to the matter before the House. The member raised rulings from the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle when he was Speaker. I will submit that the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle has been consistent in his approach on this matter when he was in the Chair and more recently. On January 28, 2014, the Speaker ruled with respect to this matter: ...as Speaker Milliken stated in a ruling on June 14, 2010...“...the use of [...] preambles to questions to attack other members does not provide those targeted with an opportunity to respond or deal directly with such attacks.” Thus, unless a link to the administrative responsibilities of the government can be established early in the question to justify them, such questions can be and indeed have been ruled out of order by successive Speakers.... ...we have witnessed a growing trend: we hear preambles to questions that go on at some length to criticize the position, statements, or actions of other parties.... What we have, therefore, is an example of a hybrid question, one in which the preamble is on a subject that has nothing to do with the administrative responsibility of the government but which concludes in the final five or ten seconds with a query that in a technical sense manages to relate to the government's administrative responsibilities.... ..it would be helpful if the link to the administrative responsibility of the government were made as quickly as possible. I would now like to address the question of consistency on the matter by the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle, raised earlier in my submission. I draw the attention of the House to the question raised during Oral Questions on Wednesday, June 21, at 3:10 p.m., by the member for Kings—Hants, respecting the Conservative Party. As you and all members of the House can see from the video of this question at 3:11 p.m., the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle was standing beside the Speaker in heightened agitation, pointing his finger and admonishing the Speaker that this was an inadmissible question. I agree with the member on the facts but certainly not on the approach. In this case, the Speaker did rule that the question from the member for Kings—Hants did not qualify as a question. Following Oral Questions that day, the Speaker ruled at 3:28 p.m. and stated: This is not to explain my answers but so everyone here will know why I said it was not a valid question. The point I was looking at is on page 509 of House of Commons Procedure and Practice, which states, “ask a question that is within the administrative responsibility of the government or of the individual Minister addressed.”... The reason I did that is there was a long preamble that really had nothing to do with administration.... That is the reason I said it was not a valid question. When members are putting their questions together, I ask both sides to put something together that has to do with administration and, if they can, to make my life easier, to make it clear that it has to do with administration right from the beginning. In conclusion, there are many clear precedents to support that questions during Oral Questions must be within the administrative responsibilities of government. There is no doubt on this matter. We must all abide by these rules if we have any hope of restoring the dignity of this place and better comport ourselves in this august House of Commons.

704 words

Context: House Hansard - 198 - May/16/23

Hon. Steven MacKinnon

May/16/23 3:35:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I believe if you seek it, you will find agreement to apply the results from the previous vote to this vote, adding the member for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, with Liberal members voting against.

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Context: House Hansard - 198 - May/16/23

Hon. Steven MacKinnon (Gatineau, Lib.)

May/16/23 3:33:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I believe if you seek it, you will find agreement to apply the results of the previous vote to this vote, adding the member for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, with Liberal members voting against.

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SoVote

Leader of the Government in the House of Commons Member of the Board of Internal Economy

Hon. Steven MacKinnon