Michael Chong - Turning Parliament Inside Out: Practical Ideas for Reforming Canadas Democracy

Turning Parliament Inside Out: Practical Ideas for Reforming Canadas Democracy — read online for free the complete book (whole text) full work

Below is the text of the book, divided by pages. System saving the place of the last page read, allows you to conveniently read the book "Turning Parliament Inside Out: Practical Ideas for Reforming Canadas Democracy" online for free, without having to search again every time where you left off. Put a bookmark, and you can go to the page where you finished reading at any time.

Light

Font size:

↓

↑

Georgia Tahoma Arial Verdana

Reset

Interval:

↓

↑

Bookmark:

Make

1234567...45

Turning Parliament Inside Out

Turning Parliament Inside Out

Practical Ideas for Reforming Canadas Democracy

Edited by
Michael Chong,
Scott Simms
and Kennedy Stewart

Douglas & McIntyre

Copyright 2017 the authors

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior permission of the publisher or, in the case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from Access Copyright, .

Douglas and McIntyre ( 2013 ) Ltd.

P.O. Box , Madeira Park, BC , V0N 2H0

www.douglas-mcintyre.com

Edited by Silas White

Cover design by Anna Comfort OKeeffe

Text design by Mary White

Indexed by Kyla Shauer

Printed and bound in Canada

Printed on 100% recycled paper

Douglas and McIntyre ( 2013 ) Ltd. acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country. We also gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and from the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.

Cataloguing data available from Library and Archives Canada

ISBN 978-1-77162-137-3 (paper)

ISBN 978-1-77162-138-0 (ebook)

Foreword

Ed Broadbent

As I write, virtually all of the democratic world is in a state of anxiety about the newly elected president of the United States. This anxiety is warranted because Donald Trump has shown no respect for the truth, denies the legitimacy of international law, disrespects his countrys constitutional separation of powers and insults Muslims, women and those with disabilities. At the same time, however, he has promised to rectify economic injustices imposed on millions of American workers, shake up political and economic elites and disengage the country from military adventurism around the world. Trumps electoral strength was derived from a well-established Republican base but also from millions of citizens, from Appalachia to the Midwest and beyond, who had begun to feel like strangers in their own land (to quote the title of a recent book). His appeal to the large number of Americans thoroughly fed up with the traditional leadership of both the Republican and Democratic parties is now understood as a common-sense fact.

Equally commonplace is the view that versions of Trumps right-wing populism have been playing out for similar reasons in many European democracies. As happened in the s, severe social and economic disruption is resulting in major portions of the disaffected moving not to the democratic left but to the authoritarian right. This instability, only partially related to globalization, has led to a massive rejection of traditional leaders, their parties and economic elites. Large parts of the democratic world have become concerned about the durability of their values and institutions. Once thought to be rock-solid, American, British and French democracies are now seen as more fragile. As recently as two years ago, neither their ordinary citizens nor their elites saw this coming.

It is then reasonable, not alarmist, for Canadians to consider the soundness of our democracy. It is reasonable, and indeed desirable, to look at proposed parliamentary reforms and ask, will they strengthen Parliament and add to its legitimacy as a democratic institution? Or will they hobble the effectiveness of our federal government at a time in global history when democratic leadership is especially needed?

It would be a serious mistake to see Parliament, our leaders and our political parties as the only elements affecting our economic and social well-being. But we would be equally mistaken to undervalue their importance. National political institutions and their credibility matter. The views of the leaders of Britains largest political parties had lost the respect of major parts of the British population even before the Brexit vote. The same is true of parties and leaders in France and the us .

Americans confidence in their congressional leaders capacity to respond to the needs of anyone but the top percent of income earners is at an all-time low. In a democracy, parliaments and their operational institutionstheir leaders, mp s, parties and committees, Question Period, legislationmatter a great deal.

Is Canadas parliament responsible to its citizens, or do parties operate as leader-controlled oligarchies stifling mp s? Do women, indigenous peoples and visible minorities see themselves sufficiently in the House of Commons? Are selfies and public engagement being used as misleading substitutes for legislation that deals with entrenched and growing inequalities? Are the talents of individual mp s held in check or allowed to flourish during Question Period and committee work?

These questions and others are posed and answered in this book. The authors are mp s who have a deep commitment to democracy and to improving Parliament. They present a remarkable range of ideas about changes they believe will improve parliamentary democracy. I believe most of their ideas should find acceptance. And I therefore urge readers to take them seriously.

My principal point, however, is that democracy requires citizens to be actively engaged in civil society and in ongoing efforts to preserve and strengthen parliamentary institutions. Parliaments legitimacy must be earned and re-earned over time. This is especially true today, when significant inequality and instability are a growing global reality. We cannot remain complacent; reform must be ongoing. Read what these thoughtful MP s have to say. Changes to the rules and procedures of Parliament to make it more democratic for MP s are essential if Parliament and its leaders are to respond effectively to the changing needs and aspirations of ordinary Canadians. Lets get on with it.

Foreword

Preston Manning

The Parliament of Canada is the institutional embodiment and expression of the most fundamental principles of democratic governanceprinciples pertaining to:

1. Democratic representation: One of the basic responsibilities of elected members of Parliament is to faithfully and accurately represent the views and interests of those Canadians who elected them.
2. The rule of law: Our Constitution declares that Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law, and one of the primary tasks of Parliament is to make statute law.
3. Fiduciary responsibility and accountability: Parliament is responsible and accountable for the collection and expenditure of public monies.

One of the purposes of embodying principles in an institution such as Parliament is to give them solidity and permanenceto ensure that those principles remain respected and practised under a variety of conditions and changing circumstances. Why then talk of parliamentary reform, reform implying the need for change, changes to the institution of Parliament itself? Two reasons.

Next page

1234567...45

Light

Font size:

↓

↑

Georgia Tahoma Arial Verdana

Reset

Interval:

↓

↑

Bookmark:

Make

Similar books «Turning Parliament Inside Out: Practical Ideas for Reforming Canadas Democracy»

Look at similar books to Turning Parliament Inside Out: Practical Ideas for Reforming Canadas Democracy. We have selected literature similar in name and meaning in the hope of providing readers with more options to find new, interesting, not yet read works.

KF Chong

Lean Management: The Essence of Efficiency Road to Profitability Power of Sustainability

Mark Bourrie

Canadas Parliament Buildings

Xu Yi-chong

Powering China: Reforming the electric power industry in China

Tommy Chong

Cheech & Chong

Michael Goodhart

Democracy as Human Rights: Freedom and Equality in the Age of Globalization

Margaret Latus Nugent

Money, Elections, and Democracy: Reforming Congressional Campaign Finance

J. Patrick Boyer

Foreign Voices in the House: A Century of Addresses to Canadas Parliament by World Leaders

Harvey P. Weingarten

Nothing Less than Great: Reforming Canadas Universities

Subhash C Kashyap

Democracy and Good Governance: Some guidelines for todays parliamentarians

Kanada. Parliament. House of Commons.

On the House an inside look at the House of Commons

Maira

Redesigning the aeroplane while flying : reforming institutions

Alison Loat

Tragedy in the Commons: Former Members of Parliament Speak Out About Canadas Failing Democracy

Discussion, reviews of the book Turning Parliament Inside Out: Practical Ideas for Reforming Canadas Democracy and just readers' own opinions. Leave your comments, write what you think about the work, its meaning or the main characters. Specify what exactly you liked and what you didn't like, and why you think so.