The Conservative Party has “devalued” legislative opposition in Parliament, which has transformed Canadian politics, says Ryerson University visiting political science professor David Smith in a new book.
“The governing party (the Conservative Party of Canada) has devalued legislative opposition whose status was long derived by tradition from Parliament and the unwritten constitution, and has devalued it for that very reason—because it was not elected,” writes Prof. Smith in his book, Across the Aisle: Opposition in Canadian Politics, published by University of Toronto Press and recently released.
Prof. Smith notes in the book that governments are not elected in a Parliamentary system, either, a concept that’s “difficult to grasp” for many people, and thus perpetuates the idea that because opposition MPs are not the government, they have little value in legislative debate and policy proposal.
“The function of opposition in Parliament is doubly denied: ‘unelected,’ it is disqualified from replacing the government, nor may it legitimately delay or thwart the people’s mandate conferred at the election on the government. Consociational democracy, achieved through the conventions of federalism and the conduct of Parliament, declines; contested democracy, which posits the legitimacy of the people in contrast to that of Parliament, rises. While the subject of this book is Parliamentary opposition, the discussion that follows is about something more—the transformation of Canadian politics,” Prof. Smith writes. “It is an open question whether Parliament remains, as it once did, the indisputable centre of Canadian political life.”
Prof. Smith points to the various time limits and closures on debates in the House of Commons and the Conservative government quickly ushering bills through the legislative process using its majority to show how the role of an opposition in the House has changed. When opposition MPs complain, the government says there was sufficient debate because it has a “mandate” from the Canadian public, despite the fact that the country’s first past the post electoral system normally does not give a majority government the majority of votes, simply the majority of seats in the House of Commons. “When the Conservatives won a majority of seats in 2011, they saw themselves as possessing a mandate (sometimes the language of ‘legitimacy’) to carry through on their promise,” Prof. Smith writes in Across the Aisle.
Similarly, when the opposition threatened to vote down the Conservative minority government’s 2008 throne speech because it contained a reference to eliminating per-vote subsidies to political parties, Prime Minister Stephen Harper prorogued Parliament to prevent being defeated on a non-confidence vote.
The defeat, in Canadian Parliamentary tradition, would’ve meant then-Governor General Michaëlle Jean could have asked any one of the opposition leaders to attempt to form a government because Mr. Harper no longer had the confidence of the House of Commons. Mr. Harper justified shutting down Parliament weeks after returning from an election, saying that the opposition had no right to form a coalition government because Canadians did not elect them to do so. Governments, as Prof. Smith points out, are not elected under Canada’s constitution, rather the governor general effectively appoints a prime minister who can form a government that can hold the confidence of the majority of the House—usually this is the leader of the political party with the most seats in the Commons. This is another example of how the Conservatives have “devalued” the opposition function in Parliament.
“If governments are not made and unmade in the House of Commons—if in other words, the House is not an electoral college as well as a deliberative assembly—what does this mean for the status of Parliament? More particularly, what does it mean for the official opposition, which derives its status from Parliament?” asks Prof. Smith, who also wrote the award-winning The People’s House of Commons: Theories of Democracy in Contention. “It is too early ask but not unreasonable to wonder, perhaps, whether the public will accept, if not now then in the course of time, legislation that the opposition has had so little part in passing.”
Prof. Smith argues that the opposition’s role in a Parliamentary system is vital, and as it is changing, questions about where political legitimacy lies needs to be answered. “Is that source the people, or is it Parliament? The theory and practice of opposition depend upon the wholeness of the House of Commons: government belongs to Parliament and not to the people. This is the logic that explains the doctrine of ministerial responsibility, as well as the difficulties experienced when attempts have been made to broaden enforcement of that responsibility,” he writes. “The thesis that there is a constituent power external to Parliament offers no role for opposition. Yet opposition speaks for the people as faithfully as government does.”
Canadian Parliamentarians meet with U.S. legislators
Members of the Canada-U.S. Inter-Parliamentary Group met in Mobile, Ala., and Las Vegas, Nev., recently to dicuss issues of interest to both countries.
Conservative MPs Rick Dykstra and John Carmichael and Liberal Senator Paul Massicotte attended the 67th annual meeting of the Council of State Government’s Southern Legilsative Conference in Alabama from July 27-31.
Mr. Dykstra said in a press release that the amount of travel and trade between Canada and the U.S. is an important aspect of the two countries’ bilateral relationship. He noted that more than 2.8 million jobs in 15 southern states depend on trade with Canada and 10.8 million Canadians traveled to those states over the last year spending more than $5.6-billion US while there.
Sen. Massicotte said it was his first time attending the SLC meeting and he was “struck” by indepth discussions. “Certainly, a great many topics of interest to both of our countries were examined, and I’m sure that I’ll be able to apply, in my legislative duties, what I learned at many of the sessions,” Sen. Massicotte said, noting that economic growth, infrastructure and supply chains were of interest.
For Mr. Carmichael, it was his second time at the SLC meeting and he said he was happy to see old friends and make new ones. He said while trade and tourism talks are important, building personal relationships is also important. “I believe that one of the key benefits of these meetings is the personal relationships that are formed and nurtured. As we share the North American space, it is helpful to meet and to talk about issues of joint interest to our countries, our residents and our businesses,” Mr. Carmichael said.
Mr. Dykstra attended a second meeting as part of the Canada-U.S. IPG with NDP MP Brian Masse, Conservative MP Andrew Saxton, Conservative Senator Jean-Guy Dagenais, Liberal MP Judy Sgro and Liberal Senator Jim Munson from July 30 to Aug. 2 in Las Vegas, where the 66th annual meeting of the Council of State Governments-West took place.
The theme for this meeting was “Bright Lights: Shining on the progress of the West.”
Mr. Dykstra said it was also the inaugural meeting of the group’s agricultural and rural affairs committee. “I was very pleased to be able to attend,” he said. “The North American Summit discussed a number of issues that will be important for us to consider as North American countries continue to cooperate with a view to global competitiveness, and the agriculture and rural affairs committee meeting provided me with an opportunity to present the Canadian view on the United States’ mandatory country-of-origin labelling requirements,” Mr. Dykstra said.
Mr. Masse also took the opportunity to speak out about the country-of-origin labeling rules and noted that the council’s executive committee passed a resolution stating that Canada and the U.S. have an integrated livestock industry. “It also notes the COOL requirement’s detrimental effects, including on the U.S. packing and feeding industries. In addition, many of the committee sessions that were held addressed important topics that are of interest to both Canada and the United States,” he said.
Conservative MP Tweed resigns
After almost a decade in federal politics, Conservative MP Merv Tweed will be leaving the House after announcing his intention to resign his Brandon-Souris, Man., seat last Monday.
First elected in 2004, Mr. Tweed’s resignation is effective Aug. 31, when he will join Omnitrax Canada as its new president.
“Merv brings a terrific combination of business experience and government regulation knowledge to Omnitrax Canada,” said Kevin Shuba, Omnitrax CEO. “Merv’s wealth of
knowledge will take our operations in Canada to a whole new level ensuring exciting growth of our business and enhancing Canadian communities.”
In a statement, Mr. Tweed said he was honoured to serve in federal politics. “My decision to leave politics was not made lightly. Politics has been a major part of my life for many years and I will certainly miss its responsibilities and challenges,” Mr. Tweed said.
During his time as an MP, Mr. Tweed chaired the Agriculture and Transport committees, and was previously an opposition critic for Western economic diversification. He sat on a number of other committees, including the legislative committee on Bill C-18, Eliminating the Wheat Board, and the Canadian Heritage and Citizenship and Immigration committees.
“I take away many fond memories of my career as a Member of Parliament and will forever cherish the special bonds formed with my colleagues in Parliament,” Mr. Tweed said, thanking his constituents and staff. “I am a firm believer that the effectiveness of a politician depends on the devoted, hard-working people he surrounds himself with. In this regard, I have been truly blessed,” he said.
Original Article
Source: hilltimes.com/
Author: BEA VONGDOUANGCHANH
“The governing party (the Conservative Party of Canada) has devalued legislative opposition whose status was long derived by tradition from Parliament and the unwritten constitution, and has devalued it for that very reason—because it was not elected,” writes Prof. Smith in his book, Across the Aisle: Opposition in Canadian Politics, published by University of Toronto Press and recently released.
Prof. Smith notes in the book that governments are not elected in a Parliamentary system, either, a concept that’s “difficult to grasp” for many people, and thus perpetuates the idea that because opposition MPs are not the government, they have little value in legislative debate and policy proposal.
“The function of opposition in Parliament is doubly denied: ‘unelected,’ it is disqualified from replacing the government, nor may it legitimately delay or thwart the people’s mandate conferred at the election on the government. Consociational democracy, achieved through the conventions of federalism and the conduct of Parliament, declines; contested democracy, which posits the legitimacy of the people in contrast to that of Parliament, rises. While the subject of this book is Parliamentary opposition, the discussion that follows is about something more—the transformation of Canadian politics,” Prof. Smith writes. “It is an open question whether Parliament remains, as it once did, the indisputable centre of Canadian political life.”
Prof. Smith points to the various time limits and closures on debates in the House of Commons and the Conservative government quickly ushering bills through the legislative process using its majority to show how the role of an opposition in the House has changed. When opposition MPs complain, the government says there was sufficient debate because it has a “mandate” from the Canadian public, despite the fact that the country’s first past the post electoral system normally does not give a majority government the majority of votes, simply the majority of seats in the House of Commons. “When the Conservatives won a majority of seats in 2011, they saw themselves as possessing a mandate (sometimes the language of ‘legitimacy’) to carry through on their promise,” Prof. Smith writes in Across the Aisle.
Similarly, when the opposition threatened to vote down the Conservative minority government’s 2008 throne speech because it contained a reference to eliminating per-vote subsidies to political parties, Prime Minister Stephen Harper prorogued Parliament to prevent being defeated on a non-confidence vote.
The defeat, in Canadian Parliamentary tradition, would’ve meant then-Governor General Michaëlle Jean could have asked any one of the opposition leaders to attempt to form a government because Mr. Harper no longer had the confidence of the House of Commons. Mr. Harper justified shutting down Parliament weeks after returning from an election, saying that the opposition had no right to form a coalition government because Canadians did not elect them to do so. Governments, as Prof. Smith points out, are not elected under Canada’s constitution, rather the governor general effectively appoints a prime minister who can form a government that can hold the confidence of the majority of the House—usually this is the leader of the political party with the most seats in the Commons. This is another example of how the Conservatives have “devalued” the opposition function in Parliament.
“If governments are not made and unmade in the House of Commons—if in other words, the House is not an electoral college as well as a deliberative assembly—what does this mean for the status of Parliament? More particularly, what does it mean for the official opposition, which derives its status from Parliament?” asks Prof. Smith, who also wrote the award-winning The People’s House of Commons: Theories of Democracy in Contention. “It is too early ask but not unreasonable to wonder, perhaps, whether the public will accept, if not now then in the course of time, legislation that the opposition has had so little part in passing.”
Prof. Smith argues that the opposition’s role in a Parliamentary system is vital, and as it is changing, questions about where political legitimacy lies needs to be answered. “Is that source the people, or is it Parliament? The theory and practice of opposition depend upon the wholeness of the House of Commons: government belongs to Parliament and not to the people. This is the logic that explains the doctrine of ministerial responsibility, as well as the difficulties experienced when attempts have been made to broaden enforcement of that responsibility,” he writes. “The thesis that there is a constituent power external to Parliament offers no role for opposition. Yet opposition speaks for the people as faithfully as government does.”
Canadian Parliamentarians meet with U.S. legislators
Members of the Canada-U.S. Inter-Parliamentary Group met in Mobile, Ala., and Las Vegas, Nev., recently to dicuss issues of interest to both countries.
Conservative MPs Rick Dykstra and John Carmichael and Liberal Senator Paul Massicotte attended the 67th annual meeting of the Council of State Government’s Southern Legilsative Conference in Alabama from July 27-31.
Mr. Dykstra said in a press release that the amount of travel and trade between Canada and the U.S. is an important aspect of the two countries’ bilateral relationship. He noted that more than 2.8 million jobs in 15 southern states depend on trade with Canada and 10.8 million Canadians traveled to those states over the last year spending more than $5.6-billion US while there.
Sen. Massicotte said it was his first time attending the SLC meeting and he was “struck” by indepth discussions. “Certainly, a great many topics of interest to both of our countries were examined, and I’m sure that I’ll be able to apply, in my legislative duties, what I learned at many of the sessions,” Sen. Massicotte said, noting that economic growth, infrastructure and supply chains were of interest.
For Mr. Carmichael, it was his second time at the SLC meeting and he said he was happy to see old friends and make new ones. He said while trade and tourism talks are important, building personal relationships is also important. “I believe that one of the key benefits of these meetings is the personal relationships that are formed and nurtured. As we share the North American space, it is helpful to meet and to talk about issues of joint interest to our countries, our residents and our businesses,” Mr. Carmichael said.
Mr. Dykstra attended a second meeting as part of the Canada-U.S. IPG with NDP MP Brian Masse, Conservative MP Andrew Saxton, Conservative Senator Jean-Guy Dagenais, Liberal MP Judy Sgro and Liberal Senator Jim Munson from July 30 to Aug. 2 in Las Vegas, where the 66th annual meeting of the Council of State Governments-West took place.
The theme for this meeting was “Bright Lights: Shining on the progress of the West.”
Mr. Dykstra said it was also the inaugural meeting of the group’s agricultural and rural affairs committee. “I was very pleased to be able to attend,” he said. “The North American Summit discussed a number of issues that will be important for us to consider as North American countries continue to cooperate with a view to global competitiveness, and the agriculture and rural affairs committee meeting provided me with an opportunity to present the Canadian view on the United States’ mandatory country-of-origin labelling requirements,” Mr. Dykstra said.
Mr. Masse also took the opportunity to speak out about the country-of-origin labeling rules and noted that the council’s executive committee passed a resolution stating that Canada and the U.S. have an integrated livestock industry. “It also notes the COOL requirement’s detrimental effects, including on the U.S. packing and feeding industries. In addition, many of the committee sessions that were held addressed important topics that are of interest to both Canada and the United States,” he said.
Conservative MP Tweed resigns
After almost a decade in federal politics, Conservative MP Merv Tweed will be leaving the House after announcing his intention to resign his Brandon-Souris, Man., seat last Monday.
First elected in 2004, Mr. Tweed’s resignation is effective Aug. 31, when he will join Omnitrax Canada as its new president.
“Merv brings a terrific combination of business experience and government regulation knowledge to Omnitrax Canada,” said Kevin Shuba, Omnitrax CEO. “Merv’s wealth of
knowledge will take our operations in Canada to a whole new level ensuring exciting growth of our business and enhancing Canadian communities.”
In a statement, Mr. Tweed said he was honoured to serve in federal politics. “My decision to leave politics was not made lightly. Politics has been a major part of my life for many years and I will certainly miss its responsibilities and challenges,” Mr. Tweed said.
During his time as an MP, Mr. Tweed chaired the Agriculture and Transport committees, and was previously an opposition critic for Western economic diversification. He sat on a number of other committees, including the legislative committee on Bill C-18, Eliminating the Wheat Board, and the Canadian Heritage and Citizenship and Immigration committees.
“I take away many fond memories of my career as a Member of Parliament and will forever cherish the special bonds formed with my colleagues in Parliament,” Mr. Tweed said, thanking his constituents and staff. “I am a firm believer that the effectiveness of a politician depends on the devoted, hard-working people he surrounds himself with. In this regard, I have been truly blessed,” he said.
Original Article
Source: hilltimes.com/
Author: BEA VONGDOUANGCHANH
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