English Posts

A Focus On Constituency Offices 

This entry is part 2 of 11 in the series Vol. 47 No. 4 (Winter)

A Focus On Constituency Offices 

It’s been a decade since the Canadian Parliamentary Review’s first produced a theme issue on constituency offices (Vol. 37, No. 2, Summer 2014).  We return to the subject matter in depth again for several reasons.

This topic continues to be of great interest to parliamentarians and their staff; yet, strangely, it has not been as well explored by researchers as other aspects of parliamentary democracy. Moreover, in the years since our first theme issue, security issues surrounding parliamentarians, their offices, and their staff have come to the fore. Within this larger theme issue, we feature three articles which specifically examine the impact of security threats on parliamentarians in this sphere.

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Parliamentary Relatives: Legislative Relativity: PEI Political Legacies

This entry is part 1 of 11 in the series Vol. 47 No. 4 (Winter)

Parliamentary Relatives: Legislative Relativity: PEI Political Legacies

“Who’s your father?” That’s a favorite question in small but densely populated Prince Edward Island, where family connections abound. For instance, multiple current Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) have family ties to past Assembly members.

Natalie Jameson (PC MLA 2019-present) is a cousin of Thomas Curran (1904-1997), a Conservative who represented 3rd Kings (1959-1970). Similarly, Zack Bell (PC MLA 2020-present) is said to be a distant relative of Reginald Bell (1901-1980), a Conservative who represented 2nd Queens (1943-1960).

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Judicial and Legislative Cooperation at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario: The Legislative Process of Estate Bills

This entry is part 7 of 8 in the series Vol. 47 No. 3 (Autumn)

Judicial and Legislative Cooperation at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario: The Legislative Process of Estate Bills

Separation of powers between the branches of government is a well-known principle of our democratic system. However, there is a unique parliamentary procedure in Ontario whereby the judiciary plays a role in the scrutiny of proposed legislation. In this article, the authors explain how an Estate Bill is one of the last remnants of the Assembly’s judicial role, describe the legislative process of such bills, and offer a case study of this process in action. They conclude with a call for discussion about whether there is merit in judicial review of other types of legislation provided it would be a worthwhile use of judicial resources and be conducted in a way that did not infringe on the principle of separation of power.

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Mapping Canadian Leaders’ Use of YouTube

This entry is part 6 of 8 in the series Vol. 47 No. 3 (Autumn)

Mapping Canadian Leaders’ Use of YouTube

Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial party leaders have an established and active presence on several of the most popular social media platforms, including Facebook, X/Twitter, and Instagram. Party leaders tend to be much less active on the video-sharing platform YouTube. With news media taking note of the success federal Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre has found on this platform, the authors of this article sought to learn if it portends a shift in the extent it is used. They conclude that, to date, YouTube has still not joined the ranks of other popular social media platforms, likely due to the cost of production, the time it takes to create a YouTube video, and the disproportionate levels of engagement compared to content posted elsewhere. However, the authors hypothesize that with two other federal leaders, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of the Liberal Party and Jagmeet Singh of the New Democratic Party, increasingly producing Direct to Viewer content in advance of the next general election, Canadian politicians may at some point in the future make use of this technology as much as their American counterparts.

Andrew J.A. Mattan, Aidan Harris, and Tamara A. Small

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Indigenous Peoples’ Place in Québec Parliamentarianism

This entry is part 5 of 8 in the series Vol. 47 No. 3 (Autumn)

Indigenous Peoples’ Place in Québec Parliamentarianism

The historically difficult relationships between Indigenous nations and government institutions resulting from the European colonization have led many Indigenous people to mistrust and feel alienated from the provincial political system. Even today, their voter turnout is lower than that of the general population. For some Indigenous people, engaging in Québec’s political system is tantamount to legitimizing a regime they do not acknowledge as their own, which could compromise the affirmation of Indigenous nations as distinct polities. In this article, the author looks to New Zealand to show how certain structural measures, such as the creation of reserved electoral divisions and the adoption of a mixed-member proportional voting system, can promote Indigenous Peoples’ participation in the democratic system while still affirming their specificity. The author notes that a reform of the voting system, as was considered in Québec during the 42nd Legislature, could provide an opportunity to adopt measures aimed at promoting the political representation of Indigenous people in the Assemblée nationale. *This article is a revised version of an essay completed as part of the Assemblée nationale’s 2022–2023 program for student pages. It represents the author’s views and does not reflect those of the Assemblée nationale du Québec or its employees.

Marianne McNicoll

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Liberatory Intimacies: Constellations of Co-Resistance in Parliament

This entry is part 4 of 8 in the series Vol. 47 No. 3 (Autumn)

Liberatory Intimacies: Constellations of Co-Resistance in Parliament

Liberatory intimacies are the everyday relationships between Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) folks in which they seek to affirm and relate to one another counter to the matrix of domination. It is the foundational, every day advocacy and resistance necessary for transformative change. Equally, it is these affirming relationships which allow new knowledge to be expressed and shared to tangibly further strategies and solutions for transformative action. All the while, liberatory intimacies are the invisible, emotional labour to care for the well-being of BIPOC organizers to continue this work every day. Ultimately, this research seeks to understand if racialized MPs on the Hill exhibit liberatory intimacies in ways that affirm their sense of belonging and well-being on the Hill and supports their political work for social justice. It argues that BIPOC MPs on the Hill do demonstrate liberatory intimacies within and across party lines as aligned with their varying party conceptions of space and social justice. Their understanding of these intimacies as well as nature and extent to which they exhibit and invest in them is framed differently across party lines.

Rayna Charanjit Sutherland

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New and Notable Titles

This entry is part 3 of 8 in the series Vol. 47 No. 3 (Autumn)

New and Notable Titles

A selection of recent publications relating to parliamentary studies prepared with the assistance of the Library of Parliament (May 2024 – July 2024).

Brock, David M., and J.W.J. Bowden. “Beyond the writ: the expansion of the Caretaker Convention in the twenty-first century.” Saskatchewan Law Review 87 (1): 1-50, 2024. Continue reading “New and Notable Titles”

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