Canadian Parliamentary Review articles from September 2003

Canadian Parliamentary Review archives from September 2003

Parliament and democracy in the 21st Century: parliamentarians and the international trade agenda.(Guest Editorial)
September 22, 2003... Parliamentarians are an essential link between citizens and their government and play a special role in bridging domestic and international concerns through information exchange. This role requires MPs to be in constant contact with their...

Committees as agents of public policy: the Standing Committee on Health.
September 22, 2003... Long before phrases such as "democratic deficit" and "empowerment of MPs' became fashionable the 1985 Report of the Special Committee on Reform of the House of Commons (McGrath Report) called for a strengthened role for standing committees of...

The case for an elected Speaker of the Senate.
September 22, 2003... On March 20, 2003 Senator Donald Oliver tabled Bill S-16 whose purpose is to change the method of selection of the Speaker of the Senate. At present, the Speaker as mandated by Section 34 of the Constitution Act, 1867, is appointed by the...

The World Trade Organisation and parliamentarians.
September 22, 2003... In its Final Declaration, at the Parliamentary Conference on the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in February 2003, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) stated, it was determined to push for an inter-parliamentary process with the WTO which would...

Making the Inter-Parliamentary Forum of the Americas matter.
September 22, 2003... At a time when civil society groups are forcing their way on to the international stage through massive demonstrations such as Seattle and Quebec City or through parallel, unofficial "people's summits", how can the legitimate interests of...

The changing role of the private member in British Columbia.
September 22, 2003... This article challenges the prevailing notion that backbenchers are "nobodies" whose primary role is to serve as rubber stamps for executive decisions. ********** The concept of the mindless backbencher goes back at least to Victorian...

The Chief Electoral Officer of Canada.
September 22, 2003... Among the senior officers appointed by Parliament, the Chief Electoral Officer stands out as the second-oldest position of that nature, having been created by the Dominion Elections Act of 1920. The Chief Electoral Officer is expected to...

Parliamentarians in uniform.
September 22, 2003... The Canadian Forces Parliamentary Program is a way for Members of Parliament and Senators to improve their understanding of life in the Army, the Navy or the Air Force. The goal is to reach out to parliamentarians and show them what the...

Just Trust Us: the Erosion of Accountability in Canada.
September 22, 2003... by J. Patrick Boyer, Breakout Educational Network in Association with Dundurn Press, Toronto, 2003. Former Members of Parliament have a unique perspective on the study of parliamentary government. Their experience is have hands on, rather...

Other books received.(Parliamentary Book Shelf)
September 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, 371p. The Canadian Senate in Bicameral Perspective,...

CPA activities: the Canadian scene.
September 22, 2003... CPA Conference in Victoria The 42nd Conference of the Canadian Region of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association was held in Victoria, British Columbia from July 12-18, 2003. The Speaker of the BC Legislature, Claude Richmond, welcomed...

Nunavut.(Legislative Reports)
September 22, 2003... This year has continued to be a busy one for Members of the First Legislative Assembly. In February, three independent officers of the Legislative Assembly appeared before Standing Committees to present their annual reports. On February...

British Columbia.(Legislative Reports)
September 22, 2003... After forty-six sitting days British Columbia's MLAs received a well-deserved break to return to their constituencies. A total of sixty-eight Government Bills, five Private Members' Bills and three Private Bills were tabled in the House during...

Assemblee Nationale: Quebec.(Legislative Reports)
September 22, 2003... The 37th Legislature opened on June 4, 2003, with the election of the President and the vice-presidents of the Assembly. The previous day, the election of the President by secret ballot, a procedure provided for in the temporary Standing Orders...

Prince Edward Island.(Legislative Reports)
September 22, 2003... On Friday, May 23, 2003, the Fourth Session of the Sixty-first General Assembly adjourned to the call of the Speaker. Adjournment, rather than prorogation, is unusual for the Prince Edward Island Legislative Assembly, occurring only twice in...

Yukon.(Legislative Reports)
September 22, 2003... On June 12, 2003 the Legislative Assembly held a special sitting in Mayo to commemorate that village's centenary. This sitting marked the first time that the Assembly had convened in a Yukon community other than Whitehorse or Dawson City, which...

Manitoba.(Legislative Reports)
September 22, 2003... Legislative activity has been sparse in recent months with the political landscape dominated instead by the Province's 38th General Election held on Tuesday, June 3, 2003. Premier Gary Doer (Concordia) and the NDP received a second mandate...

Nova Scotia.(Legislative Reports)
September 22, 2003... The Second Session of the 58th General Assembly reconvened for its Fall sitting on November 1, 2002. The most prominent piece of legislation passed during that sitting was a bill making very substantial changes to the boundaries of several...

House of Commons.(Legislative Reports)
September 22, 2003... Set against a backdrop of mounting tensions in Liberal ranks in the run-up to the leadership convention later this fall, the government pushed through several contentious bills prior to adjourning the House for the summer on Friday, June 13th,...

New Brunswick.(Legislative Reports)
September 22, 2003... The Fifth session of the Fifty-fourth Legislative Assembly adjourned on April 11, 2003. The House, which opened on November 19, 2002, sat for a total of sixty-eight days. The House was dissolved on May 10, 2003, and a provincial election...

Letters to the editor.(Letter to the Editor)
September 22, 2003... Sir: It is satisfying to learn that articles written for this publication can prompt a response from a former colleague whose interest in Parliament has continued even after years away from the Hill. In the summer 2003 issue of the...