Samara contacted Members of Parliament who left public office during
or after the 38th and 39th Parliaments (2004 to 2008). We chose to
speak to former, rather than current, Members of Parliament because
we felt they would be less constrained by the demands of office and, having
stepped away, would have had time to reflect on their years in public life.
We chose to focus on those who left during or
after the 38th and 39th Parliaments for several
reasons. The first is because they would have
more recent experience with the current realities
of Parliament, which includes two political
parties that are relatively new: the Bloc Québécois
and the Conservative Party of Canada.
The second is because there was a change of
government in that time, which enabled a larger
number of MPs to serve in different legislative
capacities. The third is because these were both
minority parliaments. Many observers believe
Canada will be governed by minority Parliaments
more frequently in years to come, and we
believed that MPs’ first-hand experience would
yield interesting insights.
There are 139 living former MPs in this group
and we interviewed 65. These individuals come
from all the major national political parties and
from all regions of the country. The Canadian
Association of Former Parliamentarians (CAFP)
were our partners in this project, and provided
the initial letter of introduction and invitation to
the former MPs on our behalf.
Samara also consulted extensively with other
key groups of experts in the development of this
project, including academics at several Canadian
universities. While the report is not intended as
academic research, professors from the University
of British Columbia, Carleton University,
Memorial University, the University of Ottawa,
Queen’s University, the University of Toronto
and Wilfrid Laurier University all provided
input into the interview process to ensure it was
built on existing literature, and many helped
review early drafts of our findings. Samara also
consulted political journalists, current and
former Parliamentarians and several senior
public servants.