The resounding lament from the press and elsewhere is that Canada’s
Parliament is broken. The floor of the House of Commons more
often resembles a schoolyard than a chamber of public debate. Prime
Ministers’ Offices, and their unelected staff, wield much of the decision
making power. Polls indicate citizens feel poorly represented by their
elected officials, or have chosen to tune out altogether.
Commentators point to a variety of factors
behind these problems. They include weak
or outdated rules governing Question Period,
overly restrictive access to information, media
coverage that focuses too heavily on personality
and conflict, and an electoral system that doesn’t
properly represent Canadians.
Yet when we asked those on the front lines
of Canadian democracy—Members of Parliament—
they pointed their fingers in a different
direction. To them, it is often the way political
parties manage themselves, their members and
their work that really drives the contemporary
dysfunction facing Canadian politics.
This report is the third in a series sharing the
stories and advice of 65 former Parliamentarians
who recently left public life, each of whom dedicated
an average of nearly ten and a half years
to being the bridge between Canadians and their
government.
The first report, The Accidental Citizen?,
detailed the MPs’ backgrounds and paths to politics.
The second, Welcome to Parliament: A Job
With No Description, described the MPs’ initial
orientation to Ottawa and the varied ways in
which they described the essential role of an MP.
This report picks up where the last left off,
examining the MPs’ reflections on how they spent
their time in Ottawa.