Canadian Parliamentary Review articles from June 2008

Canadian Parliamentary Review archives from June 2008

How to be an effective speaker.
June 22, 2008... In this article the author, drawing upon twenty-seven years experience as an MLA and five years as presiding officer, offers some thoughts on the qualities required to preside over Assembly proceedings, direct legislative services and represent...

Accommodation as a Canadian tradition.
June 22, 2008... A debate over "reasonable accommodation" necessary to integrate recent immigrants into society has been taking place in Quebec and in other parts of Canada. This article argues that Canadian history is replete with examples of pragmatic...

Celebrating 250 years of representative government in Nova Scotia.
June 22, 2008... Democracy 250 is a non-profit, non-partisan body created by an Act of the Nova Scotia Legislature with the unanimous support of all parties to plan celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of the first representative government in Nova Scotia...

On the cusp of change? The Nova Scotia House of Assembly.
June 22, 2008... Since 1989 there have been five general elections in Nova Scotia and only two majority governments. In 1998, 2003 and 2006, the voters returned minority governments, including the current PC government under Premier Rodney MacDonald. The...

Fairness in committees.(administration of justice in the House of Commons)
June 22, 2008... On April 10, 2008 the House of Commons found Barbara George, Deputy Commissioner of Human Resources for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, to have made misleading or false statements in testimony to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts...

The Committee on Public Administration: ten years of continuity and progress.
June 22, 2008... The Quebec Committee on Public Administration was created on April 10, 1997, on an experimental basis, and received permanent status five months later following amendments to the Standing Orders. Henceforth, this new Committee would hear the...

Fiduciary duty and members of parliament.
June 22, 2008... There is no job description for a member of parliament. Political scientists, civil servants and politicians themselves have long struggled to define the complex combination of moral and ethical obligations that make up the relationship between...

A Parliamentary Budget Officer for Canada.(Kevin Page )
June 22, 2008... On March 14, 2008 the Government House Leader announced the appointment of Kevin Page as Canada's first Parliamentary Budget Officer. The Office is intended to strengthen the capacity of Parliament to better hold government to account by...

In search of speaker Thomas Bennett.(Biography)
June 22, 2008... Most legislative chambers have complete collections of paintings or photographs of individuals who have held the office of Speaker. In 2004 the author learned that the collection of Speakers' portraits which encircle the floor of the House of...

Two Cheers for Minority Government.(Book review)
June 22, 2008... Two Cheers for Minority Government by Peter H. Russell, Emond Montgomery Publications Limited, Toronto, 2008. Peter Russell is an eminent Canadian political scientist whose research has centered mainly on the Supreme Court and on Aboriginal...

Saskatchewan.(Legislative Reports)(Report)
June 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Assembly returned for a shortened spring session on March 10th. Members first paused to reflect on the passing of nine former Members over the previous year and to adopt motions of condolence for each. Subsequent...

Quebec.(Report)
June 22, 2008... Parliamentary proceedings the first session of the 38th legislature, which were adjourned on December 19, 2007, resumed for the spring sessional period on March 11, 2008. Spring marks the beginning of the budgetary process at the National...

House of Commons.
June 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When the House of Commons reconvened after the Christmas adjournment, election fever rose, as repeated tests of confidence in the Government punctuated the proceedings. The Government was not defeated on any of these...

Alberta.(Report)
June 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] On February 4, 2008, Premier Ed Stelmach announced in the Legislature that he had sought the dissolution of the 26th Legislature and that a provincial general election would be held on March 3, 2008. The main...

Manitoba.(Legislative Reports)(Report)
June 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In accordance with a sessional order passed in June 2007, the second session of the 39th Manitoba Legislature resumed on April 9, 2008 to consider a new budget and legislative agenda. The session began with Finance...

British Columbia.(Legislative Reports)(Report)
June 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Lieutenant Governor Stephen Point delivered his first Speech from the Throne to open the 4th Session of the 38th Parliament on February 12, 2008. The Speech contained a number of initiatives to further the...

Ontario.(Legislative Reports)(Report)
June 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] on March 17, the House resumed sitting after the winter adjournment, and resumed its debate on the Speech from the Throne. The Throne Speech was delivered on November 29, 2007 by David C. Onley, Lieutenant Governor...

New Brunswick.(Legislative Reports)(Report)
June 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Second Session of the Fifty-sixth Legislature was recalled February 13, 2008 to consider back-to-work legislation for striking CUPE workers. The House subsequently adjourned until March 11 following Human...

Prince Edward Island.(Legislative Reports)(Report)
June 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Second Session of the Sixty-third General Assembly opened on April 4, 2008, with the Speech from the Throne delivered by Barbara A. Hagerman, Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island. The speech, with its...

Senate.(Legislative Reports)(Report)
June 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Fifteen bills received royal assent from February to April of this year. Of that number, two deserve special attention as a result of the unusual practices surrounding their adoption. Bill C-3, among others, was...

CPA activties: the Canadian scene.(Commonwealth Parliamentary Association)
June 22, 2008... Twentieth Commonwealth Parliamentary Seminar A Commonwealth Parliamentary Seminar was held in Ottawa from June 8-14, 2008. It was co-sponsored by the federal branch of CPA and by the International Headquarters. Among the topics on the...

Canadian Region Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.(Directory)
June 22, 2008... Alberta Office of the Clerk Legislative Building 801 Legislature Annex Edmonton, AB T5K 1E4 780 427-2478 (tel) 780 427-5688 (fax) david.mcneil@assembly.ab.ca British Columbia Office of the Clerk ...