Puffballs and Seals

Most know I am not politically savy, but I am trying to learn.  A recent article in the Edmonton Journal about puffball questions made me a little curious.  If the idea of the Question Period in the Alberta Legislature is to bring forth questions to the Government, then I guess in theory, all MLA's should be able to ask questions.  As with many things in life, "in theory" is a very subjective term.

I would like to think that the 'order' of those questions should be from any opposition parties first, and the time allowed for those questions should be greater than those of the ruling party.  I am kinda thinking that isn't the case, and thats pretty sad.

Question Period only works when you have good questions being asked, but then what defines a good question?  Certainly the folks that communicate with their MLA would think their question is a good one deserving an answer, even if their MLA was in the ruling party.  So how do you decide what should be asked and when?  As I said, I'm far from politically savy, so I don't know what a good answer would be.

What I do know, is what flippant and snotty is.  Questions asked with respect should be answered with respect. And of course, if you are not in the ruling party, the trend seems to be that of bashing.  When you have a government that tends to be non-responsive, questions of that nature seem to appear more often than not, which is of course another issue to resolve.

Part of the Journal story also has a comment from Rob Anderson, who jumped ship.  I've had the unfortunate pleasure of watching QP on TV from time to time, and I've seen Rob work.  He makes it quite clear he is not happy with his former party, which I guess is his right.  But the arrogance he shows in the gestures and body language is "hey, look at me... you guys suck and my shit doesn't stink".  This seems to be backed up by the snotty remark about back benchers and others being seals.  And that leaves me wondering what kind of bait his leader is holding over his nose, and how often he flaps his flippers and barks for his trainer.