Are E-petitions a Viable Tool for Increasing Citizen Participation in Our Parliamentary Institutions?

This entry is part 1 of 9 in the series Vol 37 No 4 (Winter)

Are E-petitions a Viable Tool for Increasing Citizen Participation in Our Parliamentary Institutions?

Although some experts have suggested legislatures should be cautious about moving to internet voting until challenges with secrecy and security, voter verification, auditability and cost-effectiveness are addressed, the author suggests that electronic petitions may offer an incremental step toward broader engagement with voters online. This article reviews current e-petitions systems, the difference between qualitative and quantitative systems, technical challenges and the potential benefit of encouraging voter participation. The author concludes by listing the best practices to consider when developing an e-petitions system.

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Online Political Activity in Canada: The Hype and the Facts

This entry is part 2 of 9 in the series Vol 37 No 4 (Winter)

Online Political Activity in Canada: The Hype and the Facts

How do Canadians engage with the political content provided by governments, political parties and parliamentarians in Canada? Employing data from the 2014 Canadian Online Citizenship Survey, this article explores how Canadians use digital communications to become informed about, discuss and/or participate in politics. The results suggest that less than half of respondents use the Internet to engage in Canadian politics and while governments, politicians and parties have made extensive forays into cyberspace, politics is a minor online activity for Canadians.

Over the last two decades, there has been a revolution in communication technology with the widespread adoption of computer networks and digital technologies. There are very few areas of society, economics and culture that have remained untouched by these technologies. Not surprisingly, digital technologies have also infiltrated the world of Canadian politics. They have changed how representative institutions communicate and respond to citizens. In the mid-1990s, government departments, political parties and parliamentarians across Canada began creating websites in order to inform and, potentially, engage citizens. More recently, social media, including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, have become mainstays of political communication in Canada. Indeed, as of October 2014, 80 per cent of federal Members of Parliament were using Twitter. One can also follow tweets of the Senate of Canada and the Library of Parliament. While we know much about the online presences of governments, political parties and parliamentarians in Canada,¹ less is known about the extent to which Canadians engage with the political content provided by these different actors.²

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The Implications of Social Media for Parliamentary Privilege and Procedure

This entry is part 3 of 9 in the series Vol 37 No 4 (Winter)

The Implications of Social Media for Parliamentary Privilege and Procedure

Does social media present a substantive challenge to parliamentary procedure? And, if so, can existing parliamentary conventions and practice adequately respond to the challenges of the digital age? In this article, the author explores incidents where social media was used to violate or circumvent a standing order or parliamentary convention, or to challenge parliamentary privilege in order to answer these questions. She concludes that while social media is simply another form of communication which can conflict with and challenge parliamentary conventions and rules in the same way as more traditional forms of communication, parliamentarians should be aware that its “instantness” can set it apart and expand their audience.

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Is Now the Time for Internet Voting?: BC’s Independent Panel on Internet Voting

This entry is part 4 of 9 in the series Vol 37 No 4 (Winter)

Is Now the Time for Internet Voting?: BC’s Independent Panel on Internet Voting

British Columbia’s Independent Panel on Internet Voting examined research exploring the merits and drawbacks of Internet voting. The author, who chaired of the panel, reports on its terms of reference, key evidence and its conclusions and recommendations. He notes that at the present time, the benefits of Internet voting are limited while the challenges of successfully implementing Internet voting are many and complex. The panel has recommended against universal Internet voting at the present time and suggested that if it is implemented it should be limited to people with specific accessibility challenges, co-ordinated province-wide, employ independent technical experts and be measured against the key principles established by the committee.

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The National Assembly of Québec in the Digital Era

This entry is part 5 of 9 in the series Vol 37 No 4 (Winter)

The National Assembly of Québec in the Digital Era

Since the launch of its website in 1995, the National Assembly of Québec has been a leader in using online technology to reach out to citizens. In this article, the authors decribe efforts to launch and accept online petitions, online comments and citizen consultation of proposed legislation, and the more recent growth of social media networking. They conclude by noting the special attention paid towards responsible social media use and how this new technology can bring about effective communication between the people and their government.

To better inform citizens and increase their participation in the workings of their Parliament, the National Assembly of Québec launched its website in 1995. In 2010, the site was overhauled to enable Quebecers to participate more directly in the democratic process; in 2012 we went one step further when we chose to be present on social media. For years now, the National Assembly’s use of technology has facilitated both parliamentary business and citizen involvement through online petitions, comments and consultations, not to mention our official Facebook page and Twitter account.

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Open Data’s Potential for Political History

This entry is part 6 of 9 in the series Vol 37 No 4 (Winter)

Open Data’s Potential for Political History

The recent trend of “open government” initiatives has provided an exciting new source of material for digital humanities researchers. Large datasets allow these scholars to engage in “distant reading” exercises to provide context in ways previously not possible. In this article, the author provides examples of the tools researchers can use to expand their understanding of the country’s political history and of the changing nature of parliamentary institutions and debates. He concludes with suggestions for ways to gain the maximum benefit from these data releases.

What could we learn if we read every word of the federal Hansard and explored how the frequency of various ‘topics’ rose and fell over time? Or, what types of trends might we see if we were able to know the occupation of every candidate for office since 1867? What kind of heretofore unknown value can be discovered in these sorts of extremely large datasets? The answers to all of these questions are promising.

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The Importance of Debating Major Social Issues in Parliament: The Example of Québec’s Act respecting end-of-life care

This entry is part 1 of 10 in the series Vol 37 No 3 (Autumn)

The Importance of Debating Major Social Issues in Parliament: The Example of Québec’s Act respecting end-of-life care

In an age when parliaments are often criticized for being too partisan in nature, it is still possible for legislatures to serve as exceptional forums to conduct in-depth examination of major social issues and foster broad-based consensus. Using the process employed when considering Quebec’s recent Act respecting end-of-life care as an example, the author shows how important and contentious social matters can be debated and examined in a constructive way by legislators, along with extensive participation from civil society. He concludes by proposing that Canadian parliaments may want to investigate whether to follow the examples of Finland and France by creating special committees to review such issues.

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Women Parliamentarians in the Post-2015 Development Era Agenda

This entry is part 2 of 10 in the series Vol 37 No 3 (Autumn)

Women Parliamentarians in the Post-2015 Development Era Agenda

The Chair of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) – Canada Region reports on the activities of a CWP Pan-Commonwealth Conference in London, England. The conference, which addressed “Women in the Post Millennium Development Goal Era,” explored how women parliamentarians could use their positions to help the fight against global poverty in its many forms, including how it manifests in gender inequality.

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) emanated from United Nations’ Summits and Conferences in the 1990s. The MDGs represent the world’s commitment to deal with global poverty in its many dimensions. This commitment is supported by a global partnership, which calls for country-led strategies and support from developed countries in the areas of trade, official development assistance, debt sustainability and access to medicine and technologies.

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Is There a Confidence Convention in Consensus Government?

This entry is part 3 of 10 in the series Vol 37 No 3 (Autumn)

Is There a Confidence Convention in Consensus Government?

In the Northwest Territories’ consensus system, as in the party system, a government is appointed by the formal executive and members of the executive council are accountable to the House. However, the selection of executive council members in the two systems differs significantly and perhaps consequentially for the confidence convention in responsible government. In this article, born out of a debate between the authors sponsored by the Northwest Territories Regional Group of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada, David M. Brock and Alan Cash explore some of the factors to consider if and when the convention is put to the test in a consensus system. They conclude by noting that with recent changes to the Northwest Territories Act as well as emerging conventions regarding the removal of members of the Executive Council, one may now safely argue that the confidence convention could be applied in the Northwest Territories in a manner similar to the application found in party systems. However, the prerogative of the House, emphasized and codified in consensus government, limits the discretion of the first minister and mitigates the power of the executive.

Consensus government in the Northwest Territories is to be executed “in accordance with the principles of responsible government and executive accountability.”¹ This does not necessarily mean that all elements of responsible government are applied in the same manner as may be in the case in a party system. One area of potential uncertainty is the confidence convention. This convention holds that if the executive no longer has the support of the majority of members of the legislature, the government must either resign or request dissolution and a general election. But, how might this work in the northern system of consensus government?

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Executive Decision-Making: Challenges, Strategies, and Resources

This entry is part 4 of 10 in the series Vol 37 No 3 (Autumn)

Executive Decision-Making: Challenges, Strategies, and Resources

Executive branches of government are exercising increased control over decision-making, using a wide range of strategies to develop policy preferences and oversee their implementation. Canada, for instance, has seen a steady presidentialization of its parliamentary system, characterized by a heightened centralization of decision-making in the Prime Minister’s Office. The first part of this paper identifies a number of the cognitive biases that impede sound decision-making by the executive and examines two demanding, yet effective, strategies – multiple advocacy and the use of honest brokers – for mitigating subsequent distortions. The second part of the paper discusses challenges to effective policy implementation in light of the systematic disconnections between the executive and the public service. Finally, the merits of political patronage appointments as a means of mitigating these challenges are discussed.

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