House Speaker wants new beginning in Parliament in 2018

House Speaker Alix Boyd-Knights

Speaker of the House of Assembly Alix Boyd-Knights is hoping that 2018 will be a period of new beginnings, especially in Parliament where members strive to learn the rules of the House.

She spoke in an interview with state-owned DBS Radio.

“Every year I like to think of a New Year being a period for new beginnings, that is to say, we can start afresh on anything,” she stated. “And so, the House of Assembly in particular we can bring the new beginnings to a new dispensation where all members of the House can strive to learn the rules so that they can understand the rules to the extent that when I am making a ruling and so it is not a question of reading a rule.”

She pointed out that Standing Orders in the House are not one specific ruling all by itself.

“Rules are interwoven, so you just don’t look at one rule and conclude that’s it,” she noted. “There is probably another rule telling you to do something as well.”

Boyd-Knights said it behooves members of the House to read and understand the rules and seek the assistance of their attorney if they need help.

Furthermore, she stated that her office is always open to members who have questions.

“Members know very well that my chambers are always opened if they make an appointment I come and they sit with me and I can discuss anything with them,” she said. “So let us hope the new beginnings for Parliament is going to be a reality this year, we really need some of that.”

Boyd-Knights also stated that she looks forward to 2018 as being a year of growth in Dominica.

“A year when we try our best to put things in order that we always lapsed on, a year when we seek out good in others as opposed to always seeking out and saying things that are more than likely untrue,” she remarked. “We really really need a lot of things to happen in Dominica that would bring about a change, not only in society but make it better for the people living in there.”

She added, “I am really hoping and I am really hopeful. I haven’t seen anything to tell me specifically that the Hurricane Maria has put people on notice that they must be and behave differently but I guess I am taking it in my stride and I am saying that people are still in shock but I am really hoping to see a difference in the attitude of people.”

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62 Comments

  1. thethingswesay
    January 5, 2018

    a new beginning would be a new speaker. Old speakers with old habits is not a good way to start a new beginning

    • Johnnie Boy
      January 7, 2018

      I fully endorse that comment

  2. All Saints!
    January 5, 2018

    Hear the WORST Speaker of the House of Assembly/Parliament talk!

  3. Fright
    January 5, 2018

    Lady the new beginning is for u to get out!!! U therr to damn long

  4. Dowad
    January 4, 2018

    Stop begging and be gainfully employed.
    ” Lay ban more fen”.

  5. Dowad
    January 4, 2018

    This man bites dog guy,are you a puppet,a parasite or just there to suck? It seems when we remove Skerit you will hang yourself.Moron!

    • Man bite dogs
      January 5, 2018

      @ Dowad, Pull my strings and i will sing you a song i am a puppet! :lol:

  6. Faceup
    January 4, 2018

    Dont know why she is aint going away 8-O

    • Neville
      January 6, 2018

      Money for nothing…

  7. viewsexpressed
    January 4, 2018

    LOL,,,,LOL…”…………House Speaker wants new beginning in Parliament in 2018…” Madam Speaker is this really you spewing out this no-nonsense. Madam Speake Satan cannot forgive sins. the corruption is open, the bias is open and incompetence is open for all to see. Please give a break, we had enough of Maria…Your comment has no value to us, we do not trust you.

    • Hey
      January 4, 2018

      A leopard can’t change it skin. Views Expressed %, YOU cannot fool us! Now that the cat loose your tongue, tell us about the bankruptcy court issue. Look HOW much articles you have written blasting and insulting people. No you don’t have the character to be a leader.

      • viewsexpressed
        January 5, 2018

        LOL,,lol..lol…what happen Skerrit and his rotten cabal sent you. Well, my friend, I am who am I and you sure don`t know me, not of me and all of me.
        Focus n the issue and not the person. Let me raise you to that level. YOU really wanna know who am I that you distract the public and your illiterate self from the truth* . Well that is the strategy of your inept Boss, that failed PM and his corrupt Labour government.
        So Mr or Mrs or Madam “Hey” and Mr Mrs or Madam Happy, be happy , don’t worry, I know you shed the tears for your corrupt leaders, but have no fear, we have a most decent Leader in the person f Hon Lennox Linton and His team Dominica UWP waiting to get into government to clean up the mess and bobol, and corruption your so called failed Leader has created. You are assured that you will see and feel the difference. Skerrit Must Go, Skerrit will Go. He is a failure, he has failed us the people of Dominica.
        Enjoy the reading……..I’m happy, are you?

    • Happy
      January 4, 2018

      A leopard can’t change it skin. Views Expressed %, YOU cannot fool us! Now that the cat loose your tongue, tell us about the bankruptcy court issue. Look HOW much articles you have written blasting and insulting people. No you don’t have the character to be a leader.

  8. Ikr
    January 4, 2018

    New beginning? Sure. Then the OLD SPEAKER has to go!!!

    • January 7, 2018

      if Dominicans cannot come together and rebuild post Maria, people will forget you when the next disaster strikes because there shouldn’t be that much bickering and discord with so much to do to rebuild Dominica.

  9. Jonathan Y St Jean
    January 4, 2018

    Haha,thank you Alix Boyd Knight for letting us hear what you were saying to your ego.I guess you were asleep whilst uttering these words, so I’ll consider them empty and hollow.Remove the beam in your eye Alix,before telling others that you expect them to change.Go ahead Alix,and show you are a changed speaker of parliament by your behavior and actions and those you are wishing would change will have no choice but to follow suit, because they will see the change in your behavior.Go ahead Alix,and show us the change you wished for in your dream.We are watching you Alix and need to see by your actions

    • Happy
      January 4, 2018

      St. Jean you have drink so much HATERAID, that your senses are clouded.

    • Tickle me Y ,Skerro Now Alix
      January 6, 2018

      what the Y stands for? youryour? youryour in the misty woods of PA LMO L Real loud

  10. Enough is enough
    January 4, 2018

    A new beginning in Parliament ???? If you really want then resign!!!

  11. Man bite dogs
    January 4, 2018

    Happy new year Mrs Alix Boyd-knights, I have seen you a number of times on TV and Internet and i like the way and technical ways of controlling the opposition party in the House of Parliament, you doing a great job let them know like it or not you are the boss in the house. ?

    • Johnnie Boy
      January 7, 2018

      Senseless comment , go back to school .

  12. winston warrington
    January 4, 2018

    “Well, I doh know what to say ner! She is a terrible Speaker. Terrible, terrible.

  13. indira Ghandi
    January 3, 2018

    Until the heart of man is transformed,man remains the same.
    Hurricanes do not change hearts
    New year does not change heart.
    Storms do not change hearts.
    When God touches the heart,then man changes.
    Fear God.

    • Indian in DA
      January 6, 2018

      Or the heart is surgically altered Indira

  14. Vernon
    January 3, 2018

    The new beginning the house of parliament needs in 2018 is a new speaker of the house.

  15. Ave Maria
    January 3, 2018

    I said it before and I will say it again . As long as Skerrit’ remains PM, Savarin remains President, Carbon remains commissioner and this lady called Alix Boyd Knight remains speaker, Dominica Will continue to sink and will continue to get knocked out. They will talk and try to mislead but their labor will perish. God’s wrath is upon the nation because of their evil works

    • January 3, 2018

      @Ave Maria

      You and the many others like you, need to write the things of your mind not what someone else planted on its grounds.

      Who or what do think is Dominica, if not you, yourself, and yours. It is the mentally of people like you, who has nothing productive in your mind but is simply eating the futile fruits that others placed there, which could cause Dominica to go down.

      Too bad it is you and your counterparts who are on your way down into that dark pit that you have dug for yourselves. I am with the majority, and we ain’t going with you people. For our path is the Light from God, the Lord

      • viewsexpressed
        January 5, 2018

        Elizabeth, becareful, the last I heard is that what have written was penned and drafted for you, that is how you are able to communicate with us patriots. You see Elizabeth, the more you write the more you sink and the more you expose yourself, just like your Inept PM and corrupt Labour government day by day the find themselves n the road to political oblivion.
        Skerrit has failed and he has, or will answer one day for the Bin Bool and the Fertilizer Bobol and all our passport money. He will be subjected to questioning , you and your blind loyalists better have the answers for him…or else…………!!!!!! work it out, fill in the blanks.
        …………………………………………………

      • January 7, 2018

        You must be sucking a big bone for giving such a reply. In case you have sucked through the marrow; just remember that many people cannot make ends meet to have three meals per day.

    • indira Ghandi
      January 3, 2018

      Let there be peace and fairness in the House and in Dominica and let it begin with you,Madam speaker.
      we are all getting older and so are you,madam speaker.
      Now is the time to make your peace with God, with the House and with the country.
      Be fair. Respect the opposition.
      Let right be right and wrong be wrong.

      i quess you could be skerrits mother,
      correct him when he is wrong and do nkt condone what is wrong.
      Remember there is a greater judge.
      A word to the wise is enough

    • Dominican Passports
      January 4, 2018

      I doh even believe in curses eno but D/ca curse fahreal when I see the amount of people that die from 2008 to now I have to say awah, so much ting that happen… Infastructure damage, scandal, first time I see that. It wild

  16. January 3, 2018

    I listen to this lady in one of her Parliament session and oh my I couldn’t believe it was an educated woman who was speaking so disrespectful . She sound like one of the road side girls. I had to turn of the radio bc I didn’t want my friends to hear the mess that was going on in my country. I will not be listening bc this woman is to one sided.

    • Ibo France
      January 3, 2018

      Peaches, I experienced the exact thing. This lady chastised members of the parliamentary opposition so often and so uncouthly that I thought that she was severely inebriated. She lacks civility. She interrupted so frequently to chide the opposition parliamentarians about the rules of the House, one knew it was a deliberate ploy to frustrate them and impede them from making their presentations. I, like you, switched the broadcast, too disgusted to listen.

    • indira Ghandi
      January 3, 2018

      She is very biased

  17. jihan
    January 3, 2018

    Lady you are the worst and only in Dominica this will continue to happen,the Almighty have not thought you and corrupt regime a lesson,but more is to come after Maria to get rid of all the corruption in our once peacefull and caring island,2018 will be greater Madam Speaker.

  18. Ibo France
    January 3, 2018

    The Constitution needs to be revisited. There is a burning necessity for constitutional reform. The present constitution gives the prime minister (whoever man or woman) much too much power. The prime minister has some sort of authority in the appointments of some of the most critical positions in the entire system of governance ( appointments of the President, Election Supervisor, Speaker of Parliament) etcetera. These people are not selected because of their unquestionable integrity but for their watertight political party loyalty to the ruling regime. So much power is bestowed on any newly elected prime minister, that he/she can easily become an autocrat if they have dictatorial tendencies. Constitutional reforms are inevitable if we are to keep any prime minister, who has an insatiable penchant for power, in check.

    • Man bite dogs
      January 4, 2018

      Ebola France, We are an independent country if you don’t like the way we run things in Dominica you know exactly what to do. :twisted:

      • Jonathan Y St Jean
        January 4, 2018

        How damn stupid to try to suggest what he/she should do if they say they don’t like what is going on in their own country.How asinine.You sound like ignorant white people in America telling blacks or others to leave the USA if they complain that they don’t like something which is dear to them.The constitution gives the right to disagree without fear and fear of being told to go do anything.Why instead don’t you put forward arguments and reasons why you think differently

      • PP Agent
        January 4, 2018

        You my friend are not independent. You are clearly dependent on your PM. Beneficiary of the red clinic perhaps. Sad little person!

    • UKDominican
      January 4, 2018

      There is noting wrong with our constitution but everything with those who disrespect and prostitute it.

      • Ibo France
        January 4, 2018

        UK-Dominican, have you ever perused the constitution? The PM has so much power that it is scary thinking about it. We need impartial people in specific positions for good governance to take hold ( President, Supervisor of Elections, Speaker of Parliament, Commissioner of Police). A constitution is not set in stone, aspects of it need to be revised and amended from time to time to keep up with modernity.

      • UKDominican
        January 6, 2018

        Valid question Ibo and the answer is yes, I have read our constitution several times and still consult it regularly. It is not excessively long and written in plain language, to make it easy to understand. I have always felt that we should make it part of every school curriculum. The only issue I have is with the immunity of out President. Natural justice should hold everybody to account, regardless of status.
        As for other amendments, one can legislate as much as one wants but if people disregard the law with impunity there is little sense in doing so.

  19. Real!!!!
    January 3, 2018

    Our history will remember you well for the most Bias Speaker of the House.

    That will be your LEGACY…….Shameful!!!!!!

  20. Shameless
    January 3, 2018

    “Rules are interwoven, so you just don’t look at one rule and conclude that’s it,” she noted. “There is probably another rule telling you to do something as well.”..Alix if there are conflicting rules then put together a task group of equal representation (Oppositions and ruling party) and fix them. STOP playing hide and seek with Dcans :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

    “I am really hoping and I am really hopeful. I haven’t seen anything to tell me specifically that the Hurricane Maria has put people on notice that they must be and behave differently but I guess I am taking it in my stride and I am saying that people are still in shock but I am really hoping to see a difference in the attitude of people.”…Helloooo; Have you seen Roosevelt Skerrit lately? Pleaseeee, souplay get a hold of him and pass that message on pronto. HYPOCRITEEEEE!! :twisted:

    Assertive like Hurricane Maria! :twisted: :twisted:

    • Malgraysa
      January 3, 2018

      What the lady is saying in essence is that the rules are not fixed but may be subject to other rules, which she alone is at liberty to interpret. And, if all else fails her word is final anyway. That, of course is totally absurd and makes a mockery of parliamentary procedure, and I dare say protocol.
      It is like soccer game, whose outcome is predetermined by the referee. Regardless, which party one supports this can not be termed fair play, and that is putting it mildly. I do not know if there is a legal recourse to remedy this but it is a nonsense to have parliamentary sessions under such circumstances and may explain why the head of government is loath to convene them when he abhors being held to accounting the first place. It makes a mockery of democracy.

  21. Dominican Passports
    January 3, 2018

    Uwp need to come out there and leave skerrit house and country alone. Let them man destroy themselves

  22. January 3, 2018

    You are a very biased speaker; it’s time to retire; you are too political; too one sided. Please retire Alix Boyd Knight; you are a disgrace.

    • Yampen
      January 3, 2018

      Yes madam …….., you need to retire and make room for those who are more qualified. You are a disgrace, indeed.

    • indira Ghandi
      January 3, 2018

      I remember Neva Edwards.
      i cannot recall so much negative vibes being spoken about her.
      She was a highly respected woman.

  23. Ibo France
    January 3, 2018

    I really hope that the Speaker would adhere to her own admonitions. She needs to be genuinely impartial. The acrimony, insults and frivolous accusations in parliament only serve to create mayhem in this super charged, hyper-partisan atmosphere. I’ll be listening and watching closely to see whether or not the Speaker presides over parliament in an unbiased manner. I’m disappointed that parliament is yet to be convened after Maria.

  24. Truth Be Told
    January 3, 2018

    Yes mam! If only we could start the New Year with a new Speaker!

    • Tickle me Skerro Now Alix
      January 3, 2018

      Let it begin with you Alix just as the contradicition of the so called P.M message last week you people never let us down with your BS.

    • Paul Rossnof
      January 3, 2018

      That would solve one problem.

  25. Erasmus B. Black
    January 3, 2018

    Interestingly the topic of the sermon I attended on Old Year’s night was entitled “New Beginnings”. To hear the Reverend tell it, the teaching of the Lord is clear and points the way to new beginnings. Jesus said in the gospel of Mark that you cannot put new wine into old wine skins or else the skin will burst and both wine skin and wine will be lost. To put fresh wine into an old wine skin is therefore asking for trouble. The wine skin has already assumed a definite shape and set of behaviors and is no longer pliable. You can’t put new ideas into old mind sets and you cannot get new results with old behaviors. Thus for a new beginning the old wine skin should be abandoned.

  26. January 3, 2018

    You should also change your attitude towards the opposition when they speak. You are very often preventing the opposition from delivering their messages because they oppose to your views and the opinion of the leading party.I support what is right to say to make a change and not in who I believe in.If Skerrit is sensible in his speech that is fine and so should be the opposition members. You make the house and the public thinks that you are the one who is the head of the country when you are not.I personally think that you should resign because enough is enough.As far as the members of the house are concerned; they are all adults and should know and respect the rules but if you decide to shut up one party for disrespecting the rules, the same should be done to the other.Issues that we face in the country are almost never discussed in the house but the most common speeches are insults, misleading agenda to get more illiterates ballots, minding each other business and criticizing.

  27. U A
    January 3, 2018

    Mama I love you. It’s time to hang your robe. Your contribution to this island is beyond the call of Duty. Your have served your island with pride, dignity and honesty, but you deserve a long-term rest. Your legacy has been completed and we’ll respected now move on Mama.

    • Me
      January 4, 2018

      Strange sense of dignity and honesty some people have.

  28. Dominican
    January 3, 2018

    Why are we paying an expensive Speaker of the House when there are no sittings of parliament. As I see it M.P.s have more liberty to express themselves outside Parliament than inside. Maybe opposition parties should have parallel public sessions where they are not stifled by constant rebuke and accusation of impugning improper motives. Sadly our Parliament has become an institution of repression and belittling of anyone who dares to challenge the sitting government, presided over by a Speaker who makes the rules as she goes along and sees fit as demonstrated by this interview. Democracy is being suffocated in my beloved Dominicans appears.

    • Man bite dogs
      January 3, 2018

      @ Dominican, The same could be said for Linton, and his looneys or lunatic when there are no sittings of parliament, you guys should always think before dishing out crap, having said that empty barrels cannot think is there?????

      • viewsexpressed
        January 4, 2018

        Man, that dog you own, seems to biting you too much…please cleanse yourself from the corrupt political Labour environment, it is dangerous.

  29. David
    January 3, 2018

    Is it for one side or is it a two sided issue

  30. Roy Williams
    January 3, 2018

    The new beginning, please resign and allow someone else to occupy the chair.

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