Author: revparlc

Who Speaks for Parliament?: Hansard, the Courts and Legislative Intent

Article 4 / 11 , Vol 40 No. 1 (Spring)

Who Speaks for Parliament?: Hansard, the Courts and Legislative Intent

Two significant Supreme Court rulings from the 1990s have opened the door to using Hansard Debates to divine a parliament’s intent in court cases which challenge understandings of laws. Although the Supreme Court rulings stressed that use of Hansard as a source in legal proceedings should be strictly limited, subsequent lower courts have not always observed these limits. In this article, the author outlines these developments and explains how the more liberal use of Hansard in courts can be problematic. He concludes by cautioning parliamentarians to be mindful of how the words they use during debate may be used by the courts in the future, and urges the courts to consider how some parliamentarians might begin using their speeches in parliament to win in court what they could not in a legislature.

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The 2015 Federal Election: More Visible Minority Candidates and MPs

Article 5 / 11 , Vol 40 No. 1 (Spring)

The 2015 Federal Election: More Visible Minority Candidates and MPs

The federal election of October 19, 2015 established a high water mark in the representation of racial diversity in Parliament with the election of 45 MPs with visible minority origins. Their relative presence jumped over four percentage points compared to the 2011 general election and their larger number markedly narrowed the population-based gap in representation. As an account of this improvement in the representation of visible minority MPs, the focus here is on aspects of the candidate nomination process, with an approach informed by the supposition that heightened competition among the three largest parties engendered a greater degree of vote-seeking among immigrant and minority communities.

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Religion, Faith and Spirituality in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

Article 6 / 11 , Vol 40 No. 1 (Spring)

Religion, Faith and Spirituality in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

This article aims to further a conversation about the role of religion, faith, and spirituality in public institutions in Canada by examining the practice of prayer in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The authors provide a background of prayer in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, an overview of the differing customs in provincial and territorial legislative assemblies in Canada, and also public controversies and court cases which have arisen in response to these conventions. Following an analysis of prayers delivered at the opening of legislative sessions of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1992 to 2016, the article concludes by comparing the content of prayers delivered to self-reported rates of religiosity, spirituality, and faith amongst the general British Columbia population.

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Recent Seminars on Parliamentary Practise and Procedure

Article 7 / 11 , Vol 40 No. 1 (Spring)

Recent Seminars on Parliamentary Practise and Procedure

Running out the Clock: The Strategic Use of Parliamentary Time

From the moment that a new parliament is elected and a new government is formed, the clock is ticking until the next election. While governments try to move their agenda forward and pass their legislation as quickly as possible, opposition parties often use parliamentary tools to delay the process to scrutinize, oppose, and/or secure changes to government initiatives. On January 20, 2017, the Canadian Study of Parliament Group (CSPG) held a seminar to explore the strategic use of parliamentary time by the government and the opposition and how it has evolved in recent decades, as well as proposals for reform.

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CPA Activities Vol 40 No 1

Article 8 / 11 , Vol 40 No. 1 (Spring)

CPA Activities

New Yukon Speaker

On January 12, 2017, the 34th Yukon Legislative Assembly convened for the first time since the November 7, 2016 general election. The first order of business on the one-day Special Sitting was the election of a Speaker. On motion of Premier Sandy Silver, seconded by Leader of the Official Opposition Stacey Hassard and Third Party House Leader Kate White, the Assembly elected Nils Clarke, the Member for Riverdale North, as its Speaker. Mr. Clarke was the sole nominee for the role.

The Premier had announced his intention to nominate Mr. Clarke on December 3, 2016 at the swearing-in ceremony for Cabinet.

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Sketches of Parliament and Parliamentarians Past: The Unusual Case of the Nunavut Carving Vol 40 No 1

Article 11 / 11 , Vol 40 No. 1 (Spring)

Sketches of Parliament and Parliamentarians Past: The Unusual Case of the Nunavut Carving

To honour Canada’s development and prevent rewriting of history, by tradition stone carvings or sculptures are never removed from the country’s Parliament buildings once placed there. There is a single known exception – a Canadian coat of arms was removed to make room for representation of the country’s newest territory.

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Know Your Mace: Ontario Vol 39 No 4

Article 1 / 13 , Vol 39 No 4 (Winter)

Vol 39 No 4Know Your Mace: Ontario

Made of copper and gold-plated, Ontario’s Mace was crafted in Ottawa in 1867. It is the third Mace to be used in the province’s history since the establishment of the Legislature during colonial times in 1792. The province’s first Mace was captured by American soldiers during the War of 1812 and later returned, and the second – dating from around 1845 – ended up in the federal parliament following Confederation in 1867 and was subsequently destroyed during a 1916 fire.

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Letter from the Editor: Focus on Electoral Reform

Article 2 / 13 , Vol 39 No 4 (Winter)

Letter from the Editor: Focus on Electoral Reform

On June 7, 2016, the House of Commons created a Special Committee on Electoral Reform “to identify and conduct a study of viable alternate voting systems to replace the first-past-the-post system, as well as to examine mandatory voting and online voting.” This committee’s work contributes to discussions about electoral reform that have been occurring with some frequency across the country since the turn of the millennium. It has resulted in citizen committees and assemblies, commissions, and plebiscites or referenda in provinces such as New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec.

Drawing inspiration from a Canadian Study of Parliament Group conference on electoral reform held in spring 2016, in this theme issue we explore some aspects of this ongoing discussion in greater detail.

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