Canadian Parliament

IX

Influences on the Legislative Process

Bills rarely change substantively between when they are introduced in Parliament and when they are passed into law. Before the government introduces a bill in Commons, it often considers the concerns of opposition parties, provincial governments, and various pressure groups. The government consults widely with MPs of all parties before introducing bills, to prevent substantive criticism. (After bills are presented, majority governments are often able to resist demands for major amendments because such amendments would generally be defeated in a vote in Commons.) The prime minister and Cabinet also consult with provincial governments in advance since Parliament and provincial governments share responsibility for many fields of public policy.

Political parties have historically been a primary source of policy ideas. Canadian parties hold conventions at which members debate policies to be presented in elections and in Parliament. Parties adhere less to a consistent ideological position than they once did, pursuing or promoting courses of action that at times might seem at odds with historical party stances. Fewer people are involved with parties than in the past, and left-right ideological debates no longer seem as relevant. Instead, parties use polling and focus groups to shape and broaden their political messages and to maximize their appeal to loosely attached voters.

Thousands of pressure groups, such as the Business Council on National Issues, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, and the Assembly of First Nations, lobby the government on a daily basis to protect and promote the interests of their members. Cabinet ministers, senior administrators of government agencies and departments, and members of Parliament meet with such groups to gather information about necessary policy changes and to gain support from the groups most directly affected by legislation. In addition, a growing number of research institutes, or think tanks issue reports on different public policies from a variety of ideological perspectives. They also promote the adoption of their ideas.

The mass media, which is more adversarial than it used to be, plays a growing role in setting the agenda of government by telling voters what the most important issues are. Canadians’ concept of what kind of democracy they want is changing. Better educated than earlier generations and less deferential toward elites, Canadians are showing less faith in traditional institutions of representative democracy—general elections, parties, legislatures, etc. Instead, they are insisting on more direct forms of democracy, such as referenda (elections in which people vote directly on an issue or question) and recall mechanisms (which allow the electorate to have someone removed from office).

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Finally, Canadian governments are constrained in their legislative actions by global economic forces and trade agreements with other countries, both of which limit their freedom of action. For example, the Liberal government led by Jean Chrétien could not introduce substantive laws changing trade with the United States and Mexico because of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that took effect in 1994.

In short, the Canadian prime minister and Cabinet formulate legislation, guide its passage into law, and then implement it. In doing all of these things they are obliged to consider opposition parties in Parliament, provincial governments, pressure groups, and voters. They also have to respond to changing economic, social, and political circumstances outside of Canada.

X

History of Parliament

In 1791 Britain established elected assemblies in the colonies of Upper and Lower Canada. However, Britain also assigned officials who represented the crown to all of its North American colonies. These officials appointed legislative and executive councils in each of the colonies to advise them. The councils, whose members were drawn from the colonial elite, dominated government in the colonies of British North America.

Upper and Lower Canada united in 1841, but the new province still lacked representative government through its new combined assembly. In 1848, after much unrest, the Canadian assembly finally gained power. The British crown ordered Governor-General Lord Elgin to appoint a government supported by the majority party in the assembly and to approve its policies whether or not he liked them. Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine, who had resigned from the assembly in 1843 when the governor-general disregarded his wishes, formed the colony’s first responsible government. By 1855 all of the colonies that would form Canada had responsible governments.

In 1864 delegates from the legislatures of the British colonies of Canada (now the provinces of Ontario and Québec), New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia discussed uniting as an independent nation. At conventions, those delegates (now known in Canada as the Fathers of Confederation) consciously rejected the presidential-congressional form of government, which had been adopted in the United States. The Constitution Act of 1867 declared that Canada would have a government similar to that of Britain: a cabinet-parliamentary system in which the executive and legislative branches were combined. Canada would also have a federal Parliament based on responsible government.

Although the Cabinet was supposed to be accountable to Parliament, in Canada’s early years it still often took its direction from the governor-general. Canada’s modern cabinet-parliamentary system evolved in the 20th century, as Parliament gradually extended the right to vote to more people; originally it had been restricted to people who held property. As more people became voters, Parliament became a vehicle for holding governments accountable to the voters, rather than to the crown. In addition, organized national parties emerged, and they sought to broaden their appeal to new segments of the population and regions of a growing country.

During the 20th century, the Canadian Parliament took on more responsibilities, greatly expanding social services, and grew more complex. As Parliament’s responsibilities increased, there were two major consequences. First, the government bureaucracy, primarily the staffs that supported each department, grew and became more important as a source of expert knowledge and specialized information. MPs found it increasingly difficult to challenge government initiatives without access to complete department information and knowledge. They began to rely on each department to provide information, and the departments grew to accommodate the additional job. Second, prime ministers and Cabinets insisted on taking tighter control over parliamentary proceedings so they could complete the Parliament’s growing volume of business efficiently.

Governments insisted on party unity and enforced the rules of Parliament. MPs who were members of the governing party were discouraged from voting against or even questioning government policies and actions. If the Cabinet disagreed, the prime minister dictated government policy and the ministers had to support it. Only the presence of third and fourth parties in Commons prevented power from becoming even more centralized in the hands of the prime minister and Cabinet. These additional parties have divided the vote, periodically leading to minority governments. The minority governments in turn have had to modify their policies to win the support necessary to stay in power.

The Canadian Parliament has changed over time. Through a number of constitutional changes, Canada and its Parliament gradually gained independence from the British government. Since the 1930s, Canada has conducted its own foreign policy. In the early 1950s the first native-born Canadian governor-general was appointed; previous appointees were all British citizens. This gradual process culminated in the patriation of the Canadian constitution in 1982, when the Canadian government gained total authority over its own constitution. The prime minister has grown more powerful, and the government adopted a constitutional bill of rights. Still, Parliament retains the legal framework of a parliamentary democracy, operating according to the principle of responsible government.