Parliament's new referee says he hopes MPs will lead the way on restoring decorum

Opposing aisles in the House of Commons are said to be placed two sword lengths apart, a reminder that disputes in the chamber should be resolved peacefully.

For Greg Fergus, two hockey stick lengths would probably be better. He prefers a more familiar analogy for his role in Canada's democracy as the new Speaker of the House of Commons.

"It's like being a ref in a game," he told CBC's The House in an episode that aired Saturday. As part of the show, CBC shadowed the newly elected Speaker for a day on the Hill. 

"Politics is not a game, but to make the analogy: For any sport to go well, it has to be done within the framework of the rules that are set out. And people within that explore excellence. So my job is just to make sure people are conducting themselves in a way that respects the rules of the game, and then let them do what they need to do to win the game," he told host Catherine Cullen.

Fergus, who was elected to the Speaker position on Oct. 3, is making an explicit push to make the House of Commons a more cordial, productive and effective part of Canadian democracy. In a speech ahead of Question Period on Oct. 18, he argued that the House of Commons was witnessing a "deterioration in the collective decorum of this place" and pushed MPs to do better, saying "We can choose to conduct ourselves differently."

The new Speaker's argument that House dysfunction was undermining itself got some additional backing this week. A new Angus Reid Institute poll showed many Canadians have a dim view of the institution's activities, with respondents most likely to describe debates in the House as "posturing," "useless" and "dishonest."

Fergus said decorum has been the most common issue raised during his one-on-one conversations with MPs.

The new Speaker added he had seen "a real noticeable improvement in the decorum" in the past several weeks.

The House spoke with Fergus on Nov. 1, what he described as one of the "tougher" days of his short tenure so far. Question Period almost derailed completely as MPs heckled one another while Fergus appealed for calm.

The Speaker's campaign for civility got off to a rocky start as Conservatives complained that his extensive speech on decorum was delaying QP.

Fergus' efforts over the last two weeks have certainly not eliminated completely the sorts of interruptions or distractions that can often characterize debate in the House. Conservative MP Ben Lobb described the situation as "so-so" while Liberal MP Chris Bittle said the state of things could at times be "disgraceful."

NDP MP Charlie Angus said parliamentarians should not be aiming for some sort of idealized civility, with a House that is free of conflict.

"The idea that we're all supposed to be well-behaved and super polite, sometimes there's a falsity to that. These are serious issues, people should be passionate, people should be willing to challenge. The problem is when we get into mob behaviour, intimidation, shouting people down — that's really gone well over the line," he said.

Fergus told The House he hoped to set a good example and provide an environment where individuals MPs could choose to behave more productively.