Inconsistency

An amusing exchange from yesterday's House of Commons Hansard.

Mr. Pierre Poilievre: Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, the member repeatedly directed his comments straight over to the member over here without going through the Chair. We would urge all members to follow the Standing Orders and direct their comments through the Chair.

The Speaker: I quite agree with the member for Nepean--Carleton. I did not hear the remarks. I was having a discussion with someone else and missed it. When I listened in after seeing him rising on a point of order, I only heard one such error and it was the word “you” which I assume, of course, was not directed at me.

Mr. Gary Carr: Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member may know, I was Speaker of the Ontario legislature. I definitely know the rules and I was going through you, Mr. Speaker, to the hon. member. I will always say “through Mr. Speaker”.

Carr was indeed Speaker of the Ontario house during the course of the 37th Parliament there, from 1999 to 2003. What is ironic is that, contrary to the tradition in Ottawa referred to above, in the Ontario house, while Carr was Speaker, it became the custom to refer to other members directly by name, and not through the Speaker at all. There was already a trend this way in earlier Ontario Parliaments, but it became very prominent in the 37th and now in the 38th. (Ontario Hansard)