Canadian Parliamentary Review articles from December 2003

Canadian Parliamentary Review archives from December 2003

Parliament and democracy in the 21st century: Parliament as the pinnacle of accountability.(Guest Editorial)
December 22, 2003... We have all heard Abraham Lincoln's definition of democratic government "government of the people, by the people, for the people": but on what basis can people be governed by themselves for the benefit of their own society? Over the last...

Parliamentarians are not puppets.(Another Perspective on Parliament and International Trade)
December 22, 2003... Only a handful of legislators were present in Seattle and just under a hundred in Doha, but there were several hundred parliamentarians from the world in Cancun, Mexico, from September 10 to 14, for the 5th WTO Ministerial Conference. This...

Some thoughts on consensus government in Nunavut.
December 22, 2003... Nunavut is one of two jurisdictions in Canada (the other being the Northwest Territories) where there are no political parties in the legislature. This article argues that consensus government is a northern variation of the standard Westminster...

Reform of democratic institutions: a three-pronged project.
December 22, 2003... This article looks at previous attempts to reform the Quebec electoral system and the plans of the new government elected in 2003. ********** The debate on changes to the electoral system is not new. In the 1966 election, the now...

The casting vote.
December 22, 2003... Normally the Speaker of the House of Commons does not vote; however, in the event of a tie the Speaker votes to break the tie. Although it is rare, such an event occurred in September 2003 when Speaker Peter Milliken cast the deciding vote on...

Round table on Parliament's role in the appointment of judges.
December 22, 2003... On May 6, 2003, Richard Marceau introduced a Private Members' Business motion to authorize the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights to study the process by which judges are appointed to Courts of Appeal and to the Supreme Court of...

Reflections on the state of Canadian media.
December 22, 2003... Concern about the state of the news media has been a recurring theme in Canadian public life over the past few decades since control of the media has become concentrated in a few large corporations. The primary fear is that this concentrated...

The British Columbia legislative internship program.(Profile of a Unique Educational Experience)
December 22, 2003... Canadian legislative intern programmes trace their roots back to March 10, 1969, when Alfred Hales, the Member for Parliament for Wellington, presented a motion to the House of Commons proposing an internship program be established to promote a...

Protecting Canadian Democracy: the Senate You Never Knew by Senator Serge Joyal.
December 22, 2003... Protecting Canadian Democracy: The Senate You Never Knew by Senator Serge Joyal, Canadian Centre for Management Development, McGill-Queen's University Press, Montreal and Kingston, 2003, 371 p. The Canadian Senate in Bicameral Perspective,...

Twenty-sixth regional seminar.(CPA activities: the Canadian scene)
December 22, 2003... The Canadian Region of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association held it first activity in Nunavut from October 16-18, 2003. The Speaker of the Nunavut Legislative Assembly, Kevin O'Brien, hosted about thirty delegates and observers from...

New speakers.(CPA activities: the Canadian scene)
December 22, 2003... Several new Speakers have been elected as a result of provincial elections held recently in Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island and Ontario. Newfoundland and Labrador On November 12, 2003 Harvey Hodder was elected Speaker...

New Clerk in the NWT.(CPA activities: the Canadian scene)
December 22, 2003... Tim Mercer was named Clerk designate of the Legislative Assembly in June 2003, and took office in October 2003, replacing David Hamilton who retired. Mr. Hamilton will continue his duties as Chief Electoral Officer for the Northwest...

Assemblee Nationale: Quebec.(Legislative Reports)
December 22, 2003... The Members of the National Assembly met for an extraordinary sitting, at the request of the Premier, on Wednesday, July 16, 2003, to complete consideration and adoption of the estimates of expenditure for the 2003-2004 fiscal year, to...

British Columbia.(Legislative Reports)
December 22, 2003... Described as a "clean-up session" by the Minister of Finance and Government House Leader, Gary Collins (Vancouver-Fairview), Members of the Legislative Assembly returned to Victoria on October 2 to continue debate on numerous exposure bills...

Nova Scotia.(Legislative Reports)
December 22, 2003... The new House of Assembly, which was elected on August 5, 2003, met on September 4, 2003. The only business transacted at that sitting was the election of a Speaker. Murray Scott was re-elected as Presiding Officer. The House then took a break...

Newfoundland and Labrador.(Legislative Reports)
December 22, 2003... When the Fifth Session of the Forty-Fourth General Assembly adjourned on May 15th Members expected it would be the last sitting of the current parliament. Premier Roger Grimes put an end to speculation about the date of the general...

Manitoba.(Legislative Reports)
December 22, 2003... Manitoba MLAs gathered for their first extended sitting of the 38th Legislature on September 8, 2003. This session, which concluded on October 1, 2003, focussed almost entirely on the conclusion of the budget cycle from the previous...

Prince Edward Island.(Legislative Reports)
December 22, 2003... The Sixty-first General Assembly was dissolved on September 2, 2003. A Provincial General Election was held on Monday, September 29, 2003. Voter turnout, at just over 83%, was down only slightly (1.6%) from the General Election in 2000, a...

Yukon.(Legislative Reports)
December 22, 2003... The 2003 Fall Sitting of the Yukon Legislative Assembly began on October 30. As the 2003 Spring Sitting had lasted 36 sitting days this one will not last longer than 24 sitting days. This is because Standing Order 75(1) limits the Assembly to...

Saskatchewan.(Legislative Reports)
December 22, 2003... The fourth and final session of the 24th Legislature opened on March 18th, 2003 and continued to sit for 68 sitting days, before adjourning on June 27th. The session saw the passage of a spring budget and a smaller than average number of bills....

Senate.(Legislative Reports)
December 22, 2003... The Senate completed an impressive amount of legislative work since returning from the summer adjournment on September 16, 2003. This was accomplished despite the usual procedural wrangling that often arises when rumours of an imminent end to...

House of Commons.(Legislative Reports)
December 22, 2003... Prime Minister Jean Chretien's recent announcement that he will step down effective December 12, 2003 marked the end of his forty-years in the House of Commons. While signs indicated he was intending to leave prior to his announced date of...