Members of Parliament gathered today for their first full session by videoconference. Viewers were treated to technical glitches and glimpses of politicians’ personal tastes in interior decorating — and a remarkably civilized question-and-answer session.
The health minister could not be heard, so the Speaker of the House of Commons was compelled to intervene.
“Please unclick your mute,” Anthony Rota begged — a phrase that surely never crossed the lips of any of the other 36 occupants of the chair over the first 152 years of the House’s existence.
Here was history being made — the moment when the Parliament of Canada truly and fully entered the virtual era. With those immortal words committed to the official and permanent record (and after Health Minister Patty Hajdu successfully unmuted herself) the House proceeded with its first mass gathering via video conference.
It was, in a word, glitchy.
But that’s life in a pandemic for you: almost nothing is working perfectly right now.
Watch: The House of Commons has its first virtual session
Commons Speaker Anthony Rota guides MPs from all parties through the start of the first full virtual sitting of the House 3:13
However flawed, it was a serviceable meeting of nearly 300 MPs and a testament to the institution’s utility. In various ways, the virtual meeting on Tuesday afternoon may have even been an improvement on the real thing.
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For one thing, the cameras offered glimpses of our elected representatives’ personal taste in living spaces, and showed us which MPs know their way around a camera.
Bill Morneau’s house looks just as nice as you’d imagine. Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs has a lovely kitchen. Maryam Monsef might want to hang a few more pictures on her walls. NDP MP Daniel Blaikie posed mysteriously in front of a white sheet.
Many MPs positioned themselves in front of Canadian flags; two of the Bloc Quebecois MPs opted for the blue and white of Quebec’s flag. Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains stood before a colourful image of turbans. Conservative MP Michelle Rempel sat near a handsome stone fireplace.
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