as I became Speaker in 1986, I made a point of setting up a public information office to respond to requests and provide information about Parliament and how it functions.

If the institutions of parliamentary democracy are worth preserving, the duty to explain them to the people they are meant to serve becomes vitally important.

Question Period is not part of the legislative process,and has nothing to do with it. It is a means of monitoring the Executive that the Government cannot evade.

The purpose of privilege is not to place parliamentarians above the law, but rather to allow them to carry out their duties independently and effectively, in the national interest.

Democracy is not a form of government. It is a political philosophy that can be embodied in various systems of government.

Debates must take place in an atmosphere of courtesy.

But while the American Constitution was the child of war, ours grew out of discussion, bargaining and negotiation.

In the long and dogged crusade that the human race has fought in favor of democracy, the ideal of liberty, of freedom, has always been the goal.

A careful and sympathetic sense of humour can also be a great asset when there is need to get out of difficult situations gracefully.

On a craggy bluff above the majestic Ottawa River stands the remarkable embodiment of our system of governance: Parliament.

What you feel is making sense could really be dramatized nonsense. So think again.

The blessings of God will complicate your life, but unlike sin, they will complicate your life in the way it should be complicated.

The fact is that certain themes cannot be celebrated in words, and tyranny is one of them. No one ever wrote a good book in praise of the Inquisition.

The etiquette is higher consciousness, sensitivity, gentleness, gracefulness, intensity, power, and knowledge.

The essence of kitsch is the confusion of ethical and esthetic categories; kitsch wants to produce not the "good" but the "beautiful."

There is not any present moment that is unconnected with some future one. The life of every man is a continued chain of incidents, each link of which hangs upon the former.

Music is moral law. It is the essence of order and leads to all that is good, true and beautiful.

Sometimes I do wake up in the mornings and feel like I've just had the most incredible dream. I've just dreamt my life

To a people warlike and indigent, an incursion into a rich country is never hurtful.

Malaria kills and its main victims are children and women. We can stop this scourge so people can live with dignity and go to work and school.