Our Government Our Election

Objective
The concepts of how opposition parties hold the government to account will be explored..

Procedure
1. Briefly review the role of a member of the legislature. Discuss how they spend many hours in the legislative chamber, in committee meetings, and in their constituencies. Then point out that substantial media coverage of politicians and almost all coverage of legislative proceedings focus on a half-hour window of each day, known as Question Period.

2. Read Question Period – Debate or Spectacle?
KEY QUESTION

• Question Period has been called political theatre. Does the emphasis on "theatre" help propel good performers into public office, regardless of whether or not they have good ideas? ?

3. View live or archived video of Question Period for the activity Considering Question Period. Transcripts are found in Hansard.

4. To illustrate that much of the work legislators do is tedious and rather non-acrimonious, share a brief clip of a legislative committee meeting, possibly one that links to a relevant current event.
KEY QUESTION
• Would public debate be better-served if the media and the public paid more attention to legislative debates and committee meetings, and less attention to Question Period?

FURTHER EXPLORATION
5. Students interested in learning and practising parliamentary procedure can check out Saskatchewan Youth Parliament.

6. Students interested in learning speech and debate skills can check out The Saskatchewan Elocution and Debate Association (SEDA).