Robert Henderson holds government to account in question period

Robert Henderson used to answer questions during question period. That was when he served as Minister of Tourism & Culture under former Liberal premier Robert Ghiz.

The three-term MLA for O'Leary-Inverness wasn't named to the cabinet of Premier Wade MacLauchlan. (There is no longer a separate portfolio for tourism. It's been merged with the Department of Economic Development). So now Henderson finds himselfasking questions during question period as abackbench MLA, rather than responding to them. It's a role he's taken on with a gusto unmatched by anyone else on the Liberal backbench, and some days, unmatched even by the members of the Official Opposition.

Last Thursday, the opening day of the fall sitting of the P.E.I. Legislature, was just such a day. The Official Opposition haddecided on a more constructive tone during question period. Rather than criticize government over its perceived failures, the opposition spent most of its time trying to get government to agree to hold a summit to talk about priorities for infrastructure spending.

'Minister, is this the time to limit the opportunities?'

So Henderson stood in particular contrast when, with his three questions allotted by the Speaker, he chose to hammer away at government's decision to discontinue potato truck disinfection services.

"Internationally there are numerous quarantinable potato pests that can limit access to international marketplaces," Henderson explained to Agriculture & Fisheries Minister Alan McIsaac.

With trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership and CETA on the table, he went on,"Minister, is this the time to limit the opportunities of Canada's Food Island where we can have a competitive advantage by offering reputable potato disinfection services on PEI to boost our exports and to reduce the PEI trade deficit?"

There was a fairly thunderous amount of desk-slapping from MLAs in support of Henderson's questionmost,if not all,of the support coming from the Opposition side of the House.

Contrast Henderson's question with the slow-pitch lob over the plate served up by his Liberal backbench colleague Jordan Brown, who spoke of the "great hope" in P.E.I. and across the country regarding the new government in Ottawa, asking the premier to "please outline the priorities he has set for dealing with this new federal government?"

(The response from the Premier on that question went on a full 2 minutes, 52 seconds, drawing howls of protest from the opposition partway through due to its length. Following question period Speaker Buck Watts told members their questions and answers were too long, asking them to "make it a little more to the point".)

Henderson says it's always been the practice of sitting cabinet ministers (he did the same himself) to provide prepared questions to backbench MLAs so the minister can stand up in question period and provide the answer. He says there's nothing wrong with that.

Every backbenchMLA's job to hold government to account

But now that he finds himself asking questions instead of answering them, he doesn't take up those assigned questions, but comes up with his own based on the priorities in his district.

"I had a number of calls from farmers concerned about the decision being made to eliminate disinfection services on the Island," says Henderson. "And it is my role to hold government to account, so if there's a particular issue that I have concerns about and it affects my district, then I'll put together the questioning to reflect that."

Henderson says he's moved past the disappointment of being left out of cabinet, and is embracing his current role. And he's correct when he points out that, under our parliamentary system it's the role of every MLA who's not in cabinet, even those with the governing party, to hold the premier and his executive to account.

"I think I've been encouraged to make sure we have an open and transparent government within our caucus. The premier has selected me to hold government to account. That's my role and I do that with enthusiasm and to the best of my abilities."