RON MACLEAN
Welcome to House of Commons Night in Canada.. Tonight is our roundup for 2013. I'm Ron MacLean here with Don Cherry and our special guest, Ken Dryden. Ken, welcome to House of Commons Night in Canada.
KEN DRYDEN
Thanks, I've been looking forward to it.
RON MACLEAN
Ken, you're one of the few Canadians to have played the game of hockey AND the game of parliamentary democracy at the highest levels. How do you compare the experiences?
KEN DRYDEN
It's an interesting question. The first thing that comes to mind I guess, is that there's not as much talking in hockey.
DON CHERRY
There's a lot of yapping...
KEN DRYDEN
You're absolutely right, Don, there is a lot of yapping in hockey. But now that I think of it, there's a lot of yapping that goes on in the House of Commons as well.
RON MACLEAN
Maybe we should get into that a little, the difference between yapping on the rink and yapping in the House of Commons.
KEN DRYDEN
Don, why don't you take that one?
DON CHERRY
Thanks Kenny, but as you know I've never played in the House of Commons....
KEN DRYDEN
I know, but you've seen Question Period and have pretty informed opinions about what you see there compared to the British House of Commons...
DON CHERRY
...and I'm not a lawyer, like you are...
KEN DRYDEN
There's lots of lawyers around the NHL but only one Grapes...
DON CHERRY
I think that's a compliment but anyway, in hockey yapping is needling a guy, trying to get him to do something stupid, or getting him off his game.
KEN DRYDEN
I agree, except my experience of the Commons is the yapping isn't that sophisticated - it's more trying to shout people down, drown 'em out.
RON MACLEAN
The fans normally do that in hockey.
KEN DRYDEN
Yeah, the Commons yapping is more like a bunch of drunks in the nosebleed section.
RON MACLEAN
So does the Commons do any better than just yapping?
KEN DRYDEN
Yes it does. Really - and I'm sure you'll get this, Don - it's about respect...
DON CHERRY
I'm happy to hear you say that...
KEN DRYDEN
...respect for your opponents..
DON CHERRY
I'm happy to hear you say that, too...
KEN DRYDEN
...and really you can see that at work in the recent debate about Syria in the British House of Commons.
RON MACLEAN
How so?
KEN DRYDEN
Well, I've got a clip of it here.
DON CHERRY
Let's roll it.
DON CHERRY
We don't normally do 15 minute clips but I gotta say, it's a long way from Question Period in our House of Commons.
KEN DRYDEN
And that's the difference between talking and yapping, and I think Michael Chong's Reform Act is a step in the right direction. But I think we shouldn't be discouraged about this. British Parliamentary democracy is in constant evolution and has about 800 years behind it, that's one of its strengths. As Winston Churchill said in the British House of Commons in the dark days of 1942:
Thus we arrive, by our ancient constitutional methods, at practical working arrangements which show that Parliamentary democracy can adapt itself to all situations and can go out in all weathers.DON CHERRY
So besides the Canadian election in 2015, it's the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta?
KEN DRYDEN
It's going to be a very big deal. The Queen is Patron.
DON CHERRY
I don't wanna get in trouble like I usually do but shouldn't she be the Matron?
KEN DRYDEN
You'll have to take that up with the Organizing Committee.
RON MACLEAN
So we should be optimistic?
KEN DRYDEN
Absolutely.
RON MACLEAN
What would you suggest for starters, if you could reform House procedure?
KEN DRYDEN
I'd rip out all the desks.
RON MACLEAN
Really? Why?
KEN DRYDEN
Not sure I can explain it, but I think the desks provide too much cover and separate the government from the opposition like it was trench warfare.
DON CHERRY
The Australians have desks.
KEN DRYDEN
Not the front benches.
RON MACLEAN
And on that note, we'll have to leave it until....
DON CHERRY
Kenny, you always were a little different but you never fail to surprise me.
KEN DRYDEN
I feel the same way about your suits. Would you mind if I went shopping with you some time?
DON CHERRY
First Mercer, now Dryden Where will it end?
RON MACLEAN
...next time on House of Commons Night in Canada.
