Visiting Parliament
On Monday a colleague and I spent the day in Ottawa to visit an ethanol company that wants to build a new plant in southern Idaho. We had a great trip, despite the snow still piled on the ground, but our highlight was definitely visiting the Canadian Parliament. I have to confess, we both agreed that it was nice to get a tour of the capitol instead of giving one!
We also got to watch the questions session in the House of Commons, which was especially cool to two semi-nerdy legislative staffers. If your not familiar with the Canadian style of government (and I wasn't), it is very similar to the British government. Rather than having separate executive and legislative branches, the Prime Minister and his/her cabinet are elected from among the majority party (or, in Canada's case, the party with the most votes, which is currently not in the majority). The Prime Minister is still a sitting Member of Parliament, so during the question period, the opposing party hurls questions at him and his cabinet about their policies, looking for answers.
When we were there last week, the Prime Minister and his entire cabinet were actually present. We watched them yell and cheer and boo and do all sorts of things you don't get to see on C-SPAN. Of course, I spent part of most days yelling, cheering, and booing at C-SPAN myself, so I wholeheartedly approved.
We also got to watch the questions session in the House of Commons, which was especially cool to two semi-nerdy legislative staffers. If your not familiar with the Canadian style of government (and I wasn't), it is very similar to the British government. Rather than having separate executive and legislative branches, the Prime Minister and his/her cabinet are elected from among the majority party (or, in Canada's case, the party with the most votes, which is currently not in the majority). The Prime Minister is still a sitting Member of Parliament, so during the question period, the opposing party hurls questions at him and his cabinet about their policies, looking for answers.
When we were there last week, the Prime Minister and his entire cabinet were actually present. We watched them yell and cheer and boo and do all sorts of things you don't get to see on C-SPAN. Of course, I spent part of most days yelling, cheering, and booing at C-SPAN myself, so I wholeheartedly approved.
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