Canadian Parliamentary Review articles from September 2008

Canadian Parliamentary Review archives from September 2008

Reflections on reforming parliament.
September 22, 2008... In April 2008 the Centre for the Study of Democracy at Queens University published Everything Old is New Again: Observations on Parliamentary Reform. On May 30, 2008 the author of the report, Tom Axworthy, discussed the report at a seminar...

Rethinking question period and debate in the House of Commons.
September 22, 2008... Many parliamentarians and students of Parliament agree that Question Period has become a caricature of what it is supposed to be. Yet for years there has been any no serious attempt to re-examine this fundamental and high profile part of the...

Reviving conference committees.
September 22, 2008... Canada is a bicameral Parliament that does not have an effective way of resolving disputes between the two Houses. Section 26 of the Constitution Act, 1867 provides for the appointment of a maximum of two additional senators for each of the...

An assembly for aboriginal peoples.
September 22, 2008... On May 7, 2008 a private member's bill was introduced in the Senate to establish an aboriginal assembly as a third chamber of Parliament along with the Senate and the House of Commons. The following is an abridged version of the speech by the...

Parliaments and sustainable development.
September 22, 2008... Sustainable development is a broad concept that touches on different facets of the daily life of individuals and organizations. This article looks at what is being done by the Quebec National Assembly and other legislatures to promote...

The case for supply management.
September 22, 2008... For nearly fifty years the price for certain agricultural products including milk, eggs and poultry have been regulated under a system known as supply management. This article describes the origins of supply management and argues that it...

Ontario throne speeches through the lens of mass media.
September 22, 2008... This paper presents highlights from a larger study that examines shifts in twentieth century coverage of the ceremonial Opening of the Ontario Legislature. The first section summarizes limitations of traditional approaches to parliamentary...

Parliament 2.0--harnessing participatory media to counter disengagement.
September 22, 2008... The study of Parliament is replete with sporting metaphors. Today, as voting rates decline in many countries, it might be described as a spectator sport suffering from massive slump in attendance. This article, focusing on the United Kingdom,...

The 2006 federal election and visible minority candidates: more of the same?(Report)
September 22, 2008... This article focuses on visible minority candidates who ran in the 2006 federal election. Its immediate purpose is to report on their numbers, both in absolute terms and as well relative to the growing visible minority population at large. A...

Forty Sixth Canadian Regional Conference, Nova Scotia.(Conference notes)
September 22, 2008... Fifty years ago the first meeting of Canadian members of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association took place in Halifax. From July 22-28, 2008 members again met in Nova Scotia which was marking its 250th anniversary of representative...

Meeting of Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians--Canadian Region.(CPA Activities: The Canadian Scene)(Brief article)(Conference notes)
September 22, 2008... On July 21 the Annual Meeting of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians was held in Halifax immediately before the Annual Canadian Regional Conference of CPA. In the morning the Steering Committee, chaired by Charlotte L'Ecuyer, MNA,...

New Chair of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians.(CPA Activities: The Canadian Scene)(Maria Minna)(Brief article)
September 22, 2008... The new Chair of the the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians--Canadian Region is Maria Minna. She replaces Mme L'Ecuyer from Quebec whose term expired. Ms Minna represents Beaches-East York in the House of Commons and was Minister of...

Saskatchewan.(Legislative Reports)
September 22, 2008... The first legislative session under the government of the Saskatchewan Party came to a close on May 15th. The session was shorter than is the norm under the Assembly's parliamentary sitting calendar as it was the first session of a new...

Prince Edward Island.(Legislative Reports)
September 22, 2008... On May 22, 2008, the Second Session of the Sixty-third General Assembly adjourned to the call of the Speaker after 28 sitting days. One bill, 20 government motions and 13 motions other than government remain on the order paper. To date during...

Senate.(Legislative Reports)
September 22, 2008... The final spring months were very lively in the Senate, which sat through May and a large part of June before adjourning for the summer on June 26, 2008. A number of items on the government's agenda were reviewed and resolved, and the Governor...

Yukon.(Legislative Reports)
September 22, 2008... The 2008 Spring Sitting of the First Session of the 32nd Legislative Assembly adjourned on May 15. The 32-day sitting had begun on March 20. The Sitting concluded with Assent being given in the Chamber by the Commissioner of Yukon, Geraldine...

House of Commons.(Legislative Reports)
September 22, 2008... The House was the scene of a historic apology on June 11, 2008. The Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, made a statement to offer, on behalf of the Government of Canada, an apology to former students of Indian residential schools. All three...

Quebec.(Legislative Reports)
September 22, 2008... The National Assembly adjourned its proceedings on June 20, 2008. The proceedings of the first session of the 38th legislature will resume on October 21, 2008. Forty-one bills were introduced during the spring, including 8 public bills...

Manitoba.(Legislative Reports)
September 22, 2008... The second session of the 39th Legislature recessed for the summer on Thursday, June 12, 2008 following an intense spring sitting. Many Bills made their way through the legislative process this spring, while the following Bills await...

British Columbia.(Legislative Reports)
September 22, 2008... The Legislative Assembly adjourned its busy spring session on May 29 with 40 public bills receiving the approval of the House and Royal Assent. Just before the close of the session, a time allocation motion adopted earlier that month, was used...

Ontario.(Legislative Reports)
September 22, 2008... Through the course of the spring sitting, the Ontario Legislature operated under new Standing Orders that were adopted on a provisional basis effective May 5, 2008. The most significant change was the elimination of evening sittings of the...

New Brunswick.(Legislative Reports)(Report)
September 22, 2008... The Second Session of the 56th Legislative Assembly opened on November 27, 2007 and adjourned on Wednesday, June 18, 2008, after sitting a total of 63 days. The Second Session sat fewer days than the previous session, due in part to the...