Category Archives: Reform

From Leader to Laggard in Elective Upper Houses: Canada’s Elective Legislative Council, 1856-1867

Posted on 2011/10/11 by J.W.J. Bowden

Introduction Most Canadians are probably unaware that for a brief period in our history, the upper house in the United Province of Canada (called a Legislative Council) was making the transition from an appointive chamber to an elective one, between … Continue reading →

Posted in Responsible Government, Senate Reform, Separation of Powers | 4 Comments

British Question Time Better Supports Parliament’s Core Function Than Canadian Question Period

Posted on 2011/10/08 by J.W.J. Bowden

Introduction On September 21, 2010, I attended the Canadian Study of Parliament Group’s Fall Seminar on Question Period Reform. The event included two panels and Speaker Milliken, Michael Chong, and C.E.S. Franks as guest speakers. The Public Policy Forum held … Continue reading →

Posted in Question Period, Reform | 8 Comments

Cabinet Appointments and By-Elections: Canada’s Lost History of Populism, Part 1

Posted on 2011/09/30 by J.W.J. Bowden

Peter Russell mentioned in his summary of the King-Byng Affair of 1926 that the old custom that parliamentarians appointed to cabinet would resign their seats and run in a by-election complicated the 15th Parliament even more than the gubernatorial-prime ministerial … Continue reading →

Posted in Direct Democracy | 4 Comments

The New Democrats’ Anti-Constitutional Stance on Electoral Redistribution

Posted on 2011/09/20 by J.W.J. Bowden

Recent statements of Thomas Mulcair and Nycole Turmel on electoral redistribution are not only wrong, but contradict the Constitution Act, 1867. Yet so far, neither the Harper government itself nor the Parliamentary Press Gallery have called them out. In the … Continue reading →

Posted in Electoral Boundaries Readjustments, Reform | 3 Comments

Open Primaries in The Westminster System

Posted on 2011/08/31 by J.W.J. Bowden

In 2008, British Conservative MP Douglas Carswell and British Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan co-authored a veritable manifesto for direct democracy and wholescale renewal of the Conservative Party, called The Plan: Twelve Months to Renew Britain.  They represent what I would … Continue reading →

Posted in Direct Democracy | 6 Comments