“Tremendous Assets”: Co-op students at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario

This entry is part 5 of 10 in the series Vol 37 No 3 (Autumn)

“Tremendous Assets”: Co-op students at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario

Canadian legislatures provide paid employment for students in a variety of programs that benefit both students and legislatures. Hired as pages, interns, tour guides, summer staff, and in co-op programs, students assist regular staff in providing services to Members, other legislative staff, and the public. Through these programs young people earn money to help finance their education while learning first-hand about the institution at the heart of democratic government in their jurisdiction. This paper looks briefly at co-op programs in selected jurisdictions across the country and explores the Legislative Learner program in Ontario in some depth.¹

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Same But Different: The 2013 Liberal Intra-Party Transition in Ontario

This entry is part 6 of 10 in the series Vol 37 No 3 (Autumn)

Same But Different: The 2013 Liberal Intra-Party Transition in Ontario

Kathleen Wynne’s ascension to the head of the Ontario Liberal party in January, 2013 automatically made her the province’s newest premier. Although the Liberals’ status as governing party remained unchanged, her victory necessitated the planning and execution of a transfer of power from old party leadership to new. Scholarly studies of transition in Canada and Ontario have generally focused on instances where one party takes power from another. This paper examines the Wynne transition and traces how its intra-party characteristics shaped its features and evolution. It is based on research conducted between February and May 2013 and primarily reflects 15 not-for‐attribution interviews with public servants and political figures.

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Observations on Youth Engagement in Parliamentary Politics

This entry is part 7 of 10 in the series Vol 37 No 3 (Autumn)

Observations on Youth Engagement in Parliamentary Politics

Low levels of youth voter turnout in recent elections have caused public concern about the disengagement of young people’s interest in parliamentary politics. In this article, the authors argue that legislative internship programmes and the presence of young legislators are both counter-examples to the trend of youth disengagement and evidence that some young people are actively involved in parliamentary politics. Drawing upon their experience as legislative interns in British Columbia, they offer a few strategies for youth engagement.

In recent years, parliamentarians and the public alike have decried the decline of youth engagement in parliamentary politics. This disengagement is most clearly evident in low youth voter turnout for provincial and federal elections.¹ For example, in the 2011 federal election 38.8 per cent of eligible voters aged 18-24 years cast a ballot.² In the 2009 British Columbia provincial election, only 26.9 per cent of eligible voters aged 18-24 years voted and 33.69 per cent of eligible voters aged 25-34 voted.³ Many young people are not voting which threatens the representative nature of our democratic institutions.

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Changing Partisan Representatives While Maintaining Office Staff

This entry is part 2 of 14 in the series Vol 37 No 2 (Summer)

Changing Partisan Representatives While Maintaining Office Staff

Upon replacing long-time Liberal Herb Epp as MPP for the riding of Waterloo North in 1990, Progressive Conservative Elizabeth Witmer hired two of her predeccessor’s constituency office staff. In this interview, Witmer notes that although such arrangements are uncommon between politicians with different partisan affiliations, adopting a firmly non-partisan approach to hiring staff for constituency work served her and her community well.

CPR: Can you tell us how you became involved in politics and the path that took you to your election as an MPP?

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No Independent Office Space: the PEI Experience

This entry is part 3 of 14 in the series Vol 37 No 2 (Summer)

No Independent Office Space: the PEI Experience

Members of the Legislative Assembly in Canada’s smallest province are not provided with a budget to establish their own constituency offices. Instead, as Deputy Speaker Paula Biggar explains, backbench MLAs must do constituency work and hold meetings in a variety of locations including their offices in the capital buildings, local government-run information access centres, libraries, coffee shops or even in their own homes. Biggar notes that while PEI MLAs are the lowest paid in the country, they tend to be, and are expected to be, the most accessible to constituents.

CPR: Constituency offices seem to have developed haphazardly across Canada over the past 40 to 50 years and are now well-established in many jurisdictions. Why do you think Prince Edward Island has not adopted them for provincial politics?

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Under one roof: Federal and Provincial Parliamentarians Share Constituency Office Space

This entry is part 4 of 14 in the series Vol 37 No 2 (Summer)

Under one roof: Federal and Provincial Parliamentarians Share Constituency Office Space

MPP Gilles Bisson represents a large Northern Ontario riding. To maximize his access to constituents in geographically dispersed communities he began sharing office space with two of his federal colleagues. In this interview, Bisson describes the many benefits of this arrangement for his constituents and how staff members in each office manage their casework flow.

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A Constituency of Millions: “Elected” Senators Discuss Alternatives to Operating a Province-wide Constituency Office

This entry is part 5 of 14 in the series Vol 37 No 2 (Summer)

A Constituency of Millions: “Elected” Senators Discuss Alternatives to Operating a Province-wide Constituency Office

Unlike Members of Parliament who are elected to well-defined constituencies, it’s unusual for Canadian Senators to operate constituency offices in their efforts to represent their home provinces/regions. Former Senator Bert Brown of Alberta, who was appointed to the Senate after a province-sponsored election process, ran an office in Calgary as a part of his efforts to be an active representative to the people of his province; but in separate interviews with the Canadian Parliamentary Review, two current “elected” Senators from the province, Senators Doug Black and Betty Unger, suggest they prefer to employ alternatives to a stationary physical space in their outreach and consultations.

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“The People’s Office”: Constituency Offices in the Far North

This entry is part 6 of 14 in the series Vol 37 No 2 (Summer)

“The People’s Office”: Constituency Offices in the Far North

In this roundtable discussion, three MLAs from rural/northern parts of the Northwest Territories reflect on the unique challenges parliamentarians face when doing constituency work in remote communities. They explain that offices often tailor themselves to the needs of the community. For MLAs, an office helps to create work/life balance, offers a source of much-needed local employment, and provides an additional connection to the seat of government. They are also the office of last appeal for constituents frustrated by bureaucratic decisions.

CPR: When you represent a geographically vast district, how do you decide where to set up your constituency office(s)? How do you balance where you spend your time?

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British Columbia Reaches a New Benchmark for Women’s Representation

This entry is part 7 of 14 in the series Vol 37 No 2 (Summer)

British Columbia Reaches a New Benchmark for Women’s Representation

With 36 per cent of its MLAs now women, British Columbia currently has the highest proportion of women parliamentarians in Canada. Moreover, women hold key decision-making positions in the province as Lieutenant Governor, Premier and Speaker. While celebrating these milestones, in this article, B.C. Speaker Linda Reid warns against complacency and urges parliamentarians across Canada and the Commonwealth to continue implementing changes designed to facilitate a level playing field for women interested in political life. She provides several examples of innovations which have contributed to the province’s success at bolstering the number of women representatives and improving the quality of their work life in politics.

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Experiential Learning in the Constituency Office: Educational Innovation at Ryerson University

This entry is part 8 of 14 in the series Vol 37 No 2 (Summer)

Experiential Learning in the Constituency Office: Educational Innovation at Ryerson University

In 2013, some senior undergraduate students in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at Ryerson University were given the opportunity to be the first class to enroll in an innovative course called the Constituency Office Project. Pairing each student with a Member of Parliament or Member of Provincial Parliament in the Greater Toronto Area, the course allowed students to experience the practical application of political theories they had learned in the classroom. In this article Patrice Dutil outlines the steps taken to set up the course, lists some of its scholastic resources, and shares the feedback he received from the first participants.

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