A Focus On Inclusive Parliaments

This entry is part 2 of 11 in the series Vol 48 No. 4 (Winter)

A Focus On Inclusive Parliaments

Parliamentarians represent people. But are parliaments reflective of the people they represent?

It’s impossible to look at the composition of people in photos from past parliaments without seeing noticeable changes in the parliamentarians depicted. But the growing diversity evident in recent decades is also a stark reminder of both explicit exclusionary practices, and implicit barriers to actively participating in parliamentary politics – some of which continue to exist.

Continue reading “A Focus On Inclusive Parliaments”

The Canadian Scene

This entry is part 4 of 7 in the series Vol. 48 No. 3 (Autumn)

The Canadian Scene

61st Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Canadian Regional Conference

More than 80 delegates took part in the 2025 CPA Canadian Regional Conference hosted by the Assemblée nationale du Québec. The week-long event, which included the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians’ (CWP) Canadian Regional Conference, brought together attendees from all federal, provincial, and territorial parliaments, in addition to special guests from CPA Headquarters, and parliamentarians from Scotland and Wales. Continue reading “The Canadian Scene”

Parliamentary Relatives: The Kramp Family

This entry is part 1 of 13 in the series Vol 48 No. 2 (Summer)

Parliamentary Relatives: The Kramp Family

Numerous children have been elected to serve in the same riding as a parent in Canadian parliaments; but Daryl Kramp and his daughter Shelby Kramp-

Neuman hold a unique distinction. Kramp-Neuman was elected to serve as Member of Parliament for Hastings— Lennox and Addington – a riding once held federally by her father – at the same time as the elder Kramp was serving as Member of Provincial

Continue reading “Parliamentary Relatives: The Kramp Family”

A Focus on Parliamentary Language(s)

This entry is part 2 of 13 in the series Vol 48 No. 2 (Summer)

A Focus on Parliamentary Language(s)

It’s been said that language is the roadmap of a culture, revealing both where a people has come from and where they are headed. As we explore “parliamentary language(s),” we can see how our democratic institutions communicate Canada’s history and anticipate our path forward.

As an officially bilingual country, Canada’s federal parliamentarians have the right to use either English of French in debates or proceedings (with simultaneous interpretation to facilitate communication). Other jurisdictions in the country have granted official status to Indigenous languages as well. In Nunavut, Inuktut (Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun) is treated equally with English and French in government services and institutions, while the Northwest Territories recognizes 11 official languages: Dene Kǝdǝ́, Dëne Sųłıné, Dene Zhatıé, Dinjii Zhuʼ Ginjik, English, French, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, nēhiyawēwin, and Tłı̨chǫ.

Continue reading “A Focus on Parliamentary Language(s)”

Consistent Constituency Offices: The Case For Minimum Standards Of Records Management and Maintenance

This entry is part 5 of 11 in the series Vol. 47 No. 4 (Winter)

Consistent Constituency Offices: The Case For Minimum Standards Of Records Management and Maintenance

When a parliamentarian is defeated, retires, or otherwise creates a vacancy, what happens to their constituent case files? Are they shredded? Transferred to the next parliamentarian? Returned to the constituent? Stored someplace for an indeterminate period? Who gets to decide where these documents and this information goes? Parliamentarians who may experience partisan control while in their legislatures tend to have greater independence and freedom to manage constituency matters that come through their office. But this freedom can create havoc for constituents and tie up limited resources if their successor must rebuild the file from scratch. Establishing minimum requirements for constituent records management and maintenance can provide a sense of stability, continuity, and institutional memory when there is turnover of elected officials. In this article, the author explains why the current independent business model of constituency offices ought to be replaced by a regulated professional model that better serves the interests of constituents while still protecting a parliamentarian’s independence and ability to innovate or customise service delivery.

Continue reading “Consistent Constituency Offices: The Case For Minimum Standards Of Records Management and Maintenance”

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.

Continue reading “A Focus On Constituency Offices “

The Canadian Scene

This entry is part 2 of 8 in the series Vol. 47 No. 3 (Autumn)

The Canadian Scene

Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians

A Focus on Electoral Boundaries Redistribution

This entry is part 2 of 11 in the series Vol. 47 No. 1 (Spring)

A Focus on Electoral Boundaries Redistribution

Canada’s population is growing, but not uniformly. Some provinces and territories have had a faster pace of growth than others,

and while certain communities or regions within these jurisdictions are growing, others are shrinking (in real terms, or as a proportion of the total population in a province or territory).

Continue reading “A Focus on Electoral Boundaries Redistribution”

A Focus on Parliamentary Support Services

This entry is part 1 of 12 in the series Vol 46 No. 3 (Autumn)

A Focus on Parliamentary Support Services

If you ask a member of the public to picture a federal parliament or a provincial or territorial assembly, the two images that spring to mind most often would be the buildings themselves, and the various MPs, senators, MHAs, MLAs, MNAs, and MPPs who sit in the chambers within them.

But spare a moment to think about the people who maintain these buildings, who work to support parliamentarians as they fulfill their constitutional roles, and who enable these democratic institutions to welcome tens of thousands of visitors each year in person and speak to countless others through an online presence.

Continue reading “A Focus on Parliamentary Support Services”

Parliamentary Relatives: The Langs of Yukon, Alberta and Ontario

This entry is part 1 of 9 in the series Vol 46 No. 1 (Spring)

Parliamentary Relatives: The Langs of Yukon, Alberta and Ontario

Twin brothers Archibald Donald Lang and Hector Daniel Lang, known as Archie and Dan, were well-known fixtures of Yukon territorial politics for decades. And, when Dan made the switch to federal politics upon his appointment to the Senate in 2009, he was not the first member of his family to serve in the Upper Chamber. In fact, he wasn’t even the first member of his family who bore the name Daniel Lang to serve as a senator. The twins, their grandfather, their great uncle, and their first cousin once removed, were part of a family with a long history of public service. As Dan notes, “Public affairs was always the first topic discussed at the dinner table.”