Category: Feature

The 100th Anniversary of the “La Vergne Law

This entry is part 8 of 13 in the series Vol 33 No 3 (Autumn)

The 100th Anniversary of the “La Vergne Law

The year 2010 marks the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the first language legislation in Quebec’s parliament. The process began in the House of Commons before moving to the Quebec legislature. In both cases the driving force behind the bill was Armand La Vergne.

The old British North America Act (now the Constitution Act, 1867) states that either the English or the French language may be used by any person in the debates and business of the Houses of the Parliament of Canada and of the Houses of the Legislature of Quebec and in any pleading or process before the courts of Canada and Quebec.

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The State of Research on Canada’s Parliament

This entry is part 9 of 13 in the series Vol 33 No 3 (Autumn)

The State of Research on Canada’s Parliament

In 2009 the Library of Parliament commissioned the author to conduct a study about the state of academic research on the Parliament of Canada over the last decade. The 200 page report looked at publications on our representative institutions in books and refereed and other journals, papers presented to mainstream political science conferences, and grants to support research from the Social Sciences and Humanities Council, including the Canada Research Chairs program, and at the programs of the Canadian Federation of the Humanities and Social Sciences. The goal was to locate activity centred on Parliament, casting as wide a net as feasible. This article is a selective summary of that report.

Why study Parliament? Parliament is at the centre of Canadian democracy, whether its components function well or poorly. No matter how powerful the executive may appear to be, the House of Commons remains the public face of the government and the opposition, and the site of final decisions regarding how money will be spent both domestically and internationally.

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Benchmarking Our Legislatures

This entry is part 10 of 13 in the series Vol 33 No 3 (Autumn)

Benchmarking Our Legislatures

Benchmarking is a helpful tool often used by organizations to compare their business processes and practices with competitors or best in class, giving them something external against which to measure performance. As the Senate Administration continues to develop its performance measurement framework, directors are encouraged to include external benchmarks in their performance indicators to provide comparative measured. Benchmarks are categorized in multiple ways, which can be further characterized as qualitative or quantitative. This article will provide examples of qualitative and quantitative benchmarks in the parliamentary context.

To establish qualitative benchmarks for improvement purposes, one must first identify what the elements of success or effectiveness look like, i.e., a profile of best practices against which to compare. Quantitative benchmarking looks mainly at the numbers or ratios of an operation. To improve a process or operation, it is best to have measures that indicate where improvements can be made, so both types of benchmarks often prove useful.

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Legislative Drafting Program Provides Global Reach

This entry is part 11 of 13 in the series Vol 33 No 3 (Autumn)

Legislative Drafting Program Provides Global Reach

Due to the retirement of a large number of drafting experts both in Canada and around the world, as well as the limited number of educational opportunities in the field, a shortage of legislative drafting expertise appears to be looming in a wide range of jurisdictions. This article looks at a program designed to train future legislative drafters.

New initiatives come about because of a need. As society continues to rely on the rule of law as the foundation for order and civility, the creation of legislation is a critical element of the legislator’s role, whether in the form of laws, bylaws or policies.

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Yukon’s Self Governing First Nations

This entry is part 1 of 12 in the series Vol 33 No 2 (Summer)

Vol 33 No 2Yukon’s Self Governing First Nations

The federal government devolved responsibility formerly held by the Northern Affairs Program for public lands, water, forestry, mineral resources and environmental assessment to the Yukon Government on April 1, 2003 by way of the Devolution Transfer Agreement. Since then, self-government agreements have changed the face of governance in the Yukon and altered the relationship between the governments of First Nations, Yukon and Canada. Eleven of the fourteen First Nations in Yukon have settled their land claims. This article looks at recent developments in this area. Continue reading “Yukon’s Self Governing First Nations”

The Coalition Crisis and Competing Visions of Canadian Democracy

This entry is part 2 of 12 in the series Vol 33 No 2 (Summer)

The Coalition Crisis and Competing Visions of Canadian Democracy

In November 2008, barely six weeks after a federal general election returned another Conservative minority Parliament, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty gave a fall fiscal update. It contained contentious provisions to curtail government spending, such as the suspension of federal servants’ right to strike until 2011 and the elimination of the $1.95 per vote subsidy to support political parties. Despite the global economic recession the update did not include a stimulus package which the opposition parties thought was essential to minimize the effects of the global downturn. The result was a non confidence motion, the drafting of an opposition coalition agreement to replace the government and the prorogation of Parliament by the Governor General until January 2009. This paper examines these events and argues that while the attempted coalition was compatible with Canadian parliamentary democracy, it failed largely because of a competing vision of democracy held by many Canadians. Continue reading “The Coalition Crisis and Competing Visions of Canadian Democracy”

Minority Government and Constitutional Convention

This entry is part 3 of 12 in the series Vol 33 No 2 (Summer)

Minority Government and Constitutional Convention

Four years of minority government have introduced serious strains on Canada’s parliamentary institutions. This article suggests what needs to be done to strengthen parliamentary institutions whether the electorate returns a minority or a majority parliament.

In January 2010 the United Kingdom’s Institute for Government issued a report entitled, Making Minority Government Work. The report aims at preparing the United Kingdom for a minority government that may well result from an election due later this year. The research team who wrote the report visited Westminster parliamentary jurisdictions that have had experience with minority government in recent years: namely Canada, New Zealand and Scotland. Its chapter on Canada is headed “Canada’s Dysfunctional Minority Parliament.” Its message to British parliamentarians is that if you want to learn how not to operate a minority parliament take a good look at Canada.1

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Limiting the Government’s Power to Prorogue Parliament

This entry is part 4 of 12 in the series Vol 33 No 2 (Summer)

Limiting the Government’s Power to Prorogue Parliament

Many people feel that Prime Minister Harper’s second minority government abused its power to prorogue Parliament in order to shut down embarrassing activities. The prorogation of December 4, 2008 circumvented a vote of censure scheduled for the following week that might have led to a coalition government taking power. The prorogation of December 30, 2009 dissolved the parliamentary committees. One of these committees was hounding the government about the fate of Afghans taken prisoner by the Canadian military. After the second prorogation, the opposition parties in the Commons suggested limiting the government’s powers of prorogation to prevent future abuses. This article explores how the power to prorogue Parliament could be circumscribed—it would still exist, but with limits on its frequency and the circumstances surrounding its use.

British and Canadian Experience with the Royal Prerogative

This entry is part 5 of 12 in the series Vol 33 No 2 (Summer)

British and Canadian Experience with the Royal Prerogative

This article looks at the Royal prerogative to prorogue Parliament. It, first, looks at the British experience and places the personal prerogatives that govern Parliament in their historical context and, within that context, identifies the legislative precedents for Parliament placing limits on these prerogatives. Second, it looks at the Canadian experience, where prime ministers have deviated from their British colleagues in being adversarial with the head of state over the use of these powers. It suggests that the difference in political behaviour is the result of a combination of temporal, cultural and political factors, which have also resulted in the Canadian Parliament being disinclined to legislate remedies in the manner the British Parliament did when these powers were abused by the Crown centuries years ago.

The 40th Parliament of Canada was summoned by Governor General Michaëlle Jean for November 18, 2008. Just two weeks after she opened the first session, facing imminent defeat on a motion of non-confidence, the Prime Minister asked that she prorogue Parliament. This request was granted and defeat on a motion of non-confidence was avoided.

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A Dialogue on Youth and Democracy

This entry is part 6 of 12 in the series Vol 33 No 2 (Summer)

A Dialogue on Youth and Democracy

Voter turnout among the general population in Canadian federal elections has declined over the past twenty years. This problem is particularly acute among young people. Recognizing the need to more effectively address this issue at the federal level, several federal entities responsible for youth programmes including the Department of Canadian Heritage, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the Department of Justice, Elections Canada, the Governor General’s Office, the Library of Parliament, and the National Capital Commission, began discussing opportunities for greater collaboration on the topic of youth civic and democratic engagement. On September 25, 2009 the Library of Parliament invited leading figures from these federal entities, and from the private and nongovernmental sectors to participate in a day-long session on the topic of youth civic and democratic participation. This article looks at some of the themes that emerged from the workshop as well as the recommendations.

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