Â鶹ӰÊÓ

OTTAWA - "Blocked veins = poisoned brains," said one of the placards being hoisted Monday on the front lawn of Parliament Hill. And no, they weren't talking about MPs whose neck ties are too tight.

On the day the House of Commons resumed from a three-month summer break, a group of multiple sclerosis sufferers, their families and advocates held a small rally to push for clinical trials of a controversial new treatment that involves unblocking the neck veins of MS patients.

Less than an hour later, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq told the Commons that if doctors were to recommend that clinical trials proceed, the government would fund them.

According to pollsters, a great many Canadians believe this country's federal political discourse also could use a collective angioplasty — opening up blocked communications channels, draining the bile and pumping in a little more oxygen. Hand-wringing over the lack of decorum in the daily question period is again in the news.

"Canadians are not happy with the behaviour in question period and in the last election, more than four out ten Canadians refused to vote," Conservative backbencher Michael Chong said Monday outside the Commons.

"I think that is evidence of a growing disconnect between our democratic institutions and Canadians and I think we need to close that gap by beginning to reform Parliament, which begins with question period."

Chong, as a champion of change, is well-intentioned, intelligent and sincere. Judging by previous reform attempts, he's also unlikely to succeed.

But an interesting and instructive thing happened Monday in the Commons just before the TV cameras started rolling.

A slow trickle of MPs of all political stripes eased their way across the green-carpeted aisle and approached the front bench seat of veteran Liberal MP Albina Guarnieri, the longest serving woman in the House.

John Baird, the combative Conservative House leader who is adept with the acid-dipped barb, gave Guarnieri a hug, as did Defence Minister Peter MacKay.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper slipped through the Liberal ranks, circled around and arrived at Guarnieri's desk beside the Speaker's chair to shake her hand and wish her the best.

Guarnieri announced on the weekend that she was diagnosed four years ago with MS. The 57-year-old has decided only now to reveal her condition to explain why she won't seek re-election whenever the next federal election is held.

"People just started to drift over," Liberal MP Paul Szabo, a longtime Guarnieri friend, said of the 20 or so well-wishers in the Commons.

"A lot of them weren't sure quite what to say, other than, 'I was thinking about you.' It's a courtesy. The prime minister was very courteous."

Szabo, a 17-year veteran MP, would like to see question period reformed, but he's able to see past the House histrionics that are aped and magnified by vicious partisans in the blogosphere.

The Toronto-area MP compares question period to a vintage Warner Brothers cartoon.

"It's like the coyote and the sheep dog, for Pete's sakes. They punch in, they beat each other up, and then they punch out. 'See you tomorrow George!' It's what we do."

"Some of my best friends in this place are in other parties. We've travelled together on committees, on parliamentary associations. We know each other's family members. We know of problems or good news," said Szabo.

"When you're away from your family and your home, this is your family and your home. You never take it personally."

Tempers, however, do flare and some MPs delight in attempting to rankle.

Monday was LaVar Payne's day to shine. You may have never heard of the Conservative backbencher from Medicine Hat, Alta. — but if you tuned into question period, you likely heard him.

Payne, a first-term MP elected in 2008, carried on a running stream of abuse from the back row Monday, the cupped hand at the side of his mouth helping project his nasal whine into the farthest reaches of the Commons.

"Is that from American, professor?" he taunted Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff. "You signed on to that as an American, professor!"

When Jack Layton rose for a question, Payne lit into him — "You never co-operate, Jack!" — causing the NDP leader to break stride and offer an aside.

Layton dryly noted that the new focus on decorum "is working out well on the government side."

Szabo would later observe there are hecklers in every party.

"It's a handful of people that are the same ones day in and day out," he said.

"You heckle to try to distract them from their answer so they'll muff up somehow. It's strategic. But we've carried it far too far. We have people who yell, scream ... being distractive to the extreme."

Whether question period can be reformed is an open debate. But Albina Guarnieri learned that there's real humanity beneath that question period bluster.