Débat thématique : les mécanismes de traitement des droits ... - ASGP

constitutional & Parliamentary
Information

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56th year, No. 192
Geneva, October 16th - 18th, 2006

CONTENTS

Organising Parliamentary Reform
Marc Bosc (House of Commons, Canada) 3

Managing Relations Between The Two Chambers Of Parliament
Brendan Keith (House of Lords, United Kingdom) 25

Parliamentary Relations With The Media
Xavier Roques (National Assembly, France) 43

Promoting Interaction Between Parliament And Civil Society
Sérgio S. Contreiras de Almeida (Chamber of Deputies, Brazil)
Georgeta Ionescu (Chamber of Deputies, Romania) 75

The Right To Information Act
Shri P.D.T. Achary (Lok Sabha, India) 85

The Expulsion Of Members Of The House
Yogendra Narain (Rajya Sabha, India) 97

The Search For Pluralism In The Internal Management Of The French
Parliamentary Assemblies: The Specific Role Of The Quaestors
Hélène Ponceau (Senate, France) 101

Restructuring The Ecowas Parliament
Halima Ahmed (ECOWAS Parliament) 111


Organising Parliamentary Reform

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General debate moderated by Mr Marc Bosc
Deputy Clerk of the House of Commons (Canada)

Mr Marc Bosc (Canada) presented the following contribution:

STRUCTURAL REFORM

ELECTORAL SYSTEM

. Proportional Representation
. Perennial issue in Canada every time the first-past-the-post system
returns a lopsided or distorted result.
. An increase in the number of parties (particularly regional parties)
renewed this discussion in the 1990s.
. Seen as a way of "making every vote count", rewarding smaller parties
. Studied at the federal level recently (Procedure and House Affairs
Committee) but does not appear to be much enthusiasm
. Focus of much discussion in some provinces (narrowly rejected in a
British Columbia referendum in 2005; being considered in Prince
Edward Island, New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec)
. Fixed election dates
. In our parliamentary system, elections are held at a time determined
by the Prime Minister (by convention, every 4 years)
. Seen as giving the governing party an unfair advantage, since it can
time the election to maximize its own chances
. Provinces have led the way (already law in British Columbia, Ontario,
Newfoundland and Labrador; being considered elsewhere)
. Bill C-16 proposed by the new federal government would establish a
fixed date in Canada
. All these laws preserve the parliamentary tradition that an election
can be called at any time should the government lose the confidence
of the House
. Seen as a way to increase transparency and predictability, though
some fear will lead to lengthier periods of campaigning
. Changes to election financing
. 2003 reforms established limits on individual, corporate and union
contributions to registered parties and candidates
. In return, a quarterly allowance is paid to registered parties from
the federal treasury, based on their number of votes
. New Accountability Act would ban all corporate and union
contributions and reduce even further the limit on individual
contributions ($5400 to $1000)


The Senate

. Reform
. Senators in Canada are appointed essentially by the Prime Minister
and serve until the age of 75
. For many years, there have been proposals to have Senators elected
(most recently in the 1992 Charlottetown Accord for Constitutional
reform)
. Alberta has organized elections for "Senators in waiting". One was
appointed in 1990, though resistance to the idea since then
. The new federal government has promised to appoint only elected
Senators, leaving it to the provinces to determine the method of
election. In the interim, proposed Bill S-4 to limit Senate terms to
8 years.
. There are also proposals to change the number of Senators per
province to better reflect demographic changes, though this would
require a constitutional amendment. The idea of an equal Senate is no
longer as popular with growing Western provinces.
. Any discussion on Senate reform necessarily involves discussion of
the Senate's powers, as it should complement the House of Commons
without duplicating it or blocking its will
. Abolition
. Some political parties and provincial premiers advocate the abolition
of the Senate altogether, as it has not historically played its role
as a protector of regional interests
. Fear that a unicameral federal parliament would lose some "checks and
balances"


The Judiciary

. Parliamentary participation in selection of Supreme Court judges
. Supreme Court judges are appointed essentially by the Prime Minister
following consultations by the Justice Minister with the legal
community
. With the adoption of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982,
accusations of "judicial activism" on important social issues
. While rejecting American-style confirmation hearings, the Justice
Committee recommended that parliamentarians be involved in preparing
a short list of candidates for Minister's consideration
. In August 2004, Justice Minister appeared before an ad hoc committee
of parliamentarians and members of the legal community to explain the
qualifications of 2 nominees for the Supreme Court
. In February 2006, new government asked that its nominee for the
Supreme Court appear before an ad hoc committee to answer questions
before his appointment
. In all cases, the committee was satisfied with the candidates, though
continue to insist on earlier participation in the selection process


Citizen Participation

. Direct Democracy
. In the 1990s, the Reform Party advocated empowering citizens to make
decisions directly rather than through their representatives
. Proposals included holding referenda on important issues (including
citizen-initiated referenda) and the power to recall Members
. Recall has been enacted in British Columbia since 1995. While there
have been several attempts, no Member has ever been recalled
. At the federal level, there appears to be little enthusiasm for such
proposals, for fear that they would be used for divisive social
issues. The Conservative Party (a merger of the successor to the
Reform Party and the Progressive Conservative Party) dropped such
proposals from its platform.
. Citizen Assemblies
. British Columbia and Ontario have created citizen assemblies to
consider democratic reforms. Composed of randomly-selected citizens,
they are seen as a non-partisan forum for considering changes.
. The BC assembly recommended a new electoral system that was narrowly-
rejected in a referendum.


PROCEDURAL REFORM

ROLE OF THE PRIVATE MEMBER

. Private Members' Business
. Many recent reforms have focused on enhancing the role of Members as
legislators. Members do not wish merely to vote on government
proposals, but also want to have votes on their own bills and
motions.
. 2003 reform made all private Members' items votable after 2 hours of
debate (instead of having an all-party subcommittee select a limited
number of items for a vote)
. Same reform provided that each private Member gets one opportunity to
present an item per Parliament (rather than having a series of random
draws). A draw is still held to determine the order of Members'
names.
. Some frustration due to constitutional limits on financial matters
(only the government can introduce taxation measures, the government
must approve any spending measure)
. Party Discipline
. Some observers feel that party discipline is extremely rigid in
Canada
. For the past several years, votes on Private Members' Business have
been considered free votes. To underscore this, votes are taken row-
by-row instead of by party and voting begins in the last row.
. In 2003, the new government instituted a "three-line whip" for its
caucus, indicating which items were free votes, which had a strong
government recommendation and which were considered confidence votes
. The new government elected in 2006 has indicated that only votes on
the Budget and the Estimates will be considered confidence votes

Powers of Committees

. Review government appointments
. Since 1986, the government must table all non-judicial appointments,
which are referred to committee for review. The review is non-binding
and occurs following the appointment.
. In some cases, the government may ask a committee to review a
candidate before their appointment, but it is not required to do so
and the committee's recommendation is not binding.
. Since 2001, nominations for officers of Parliament, the Clerk and the
Parliamentary Librarian are reviewed by a committee and subject to
ratification by a vote in the House.
. In its Action Plan for Democratic Reform, the previous government
asked committees to identify which appointments should be subject to
prior review.
. The new government has proposed the creation of a Public Appointments
Commission to oversee and report on selection process (though has
indicated it won't proceed as its nominee for Chair was rejected by a
parliamentary committee)
. Referral before second reading
. Since 1994