Question Period Rules

Whether applied in London or Ottawa or Edmonton, today's rules for question period reflect its cautious development.  One of Parliament's rule books, Beauchesne, contains a long list of restrictions on the questions members can ask, all of which stem from Speakers' rulings going back to 1783.  For example, a question may not

• repeat another question which has already been answered,
• be a statement of opinion or a speech,
• ask about a matter that is before a court,
• be hypothetical; that is, a "what if?" question.