A THESISSumo TO TM€ COUXoE OF GRADUATE DIES AH0 RE SE ARC^ THROWH IVE DEPARTMENT OC POLmCAL SCIENCEW PARTIAL CULFILMENT OF TM€ REQuIREMENTS FOR THE IkMEE Of Mml'ER ff ARTS AT Tm ~NN€~ÈQcT~(W HnNosoR National Library Bibliothèque nationale 1+1 of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wellïingtm OnawaON K1AM OitawaON K1AW canada canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive Licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sel1 reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microfonn, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de rnicrofiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial exîracts fkom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. ~thococningoi8newmillcnnnwn,manyresearchpa@cbwill endeavow to examine how œftain aspech d liwül change in orde to da@ Co new and exciling timer. This Projed has &bmpted to do just Iha by exrimining the relevanct, of tb Parliamen(8fy Legislatue in Canada from the point of viw of legislaton. In order to @n mmry ~BSOUT~Spaeining to (he question we suveyd and interviewed the Jegislaton themselves to oMain iMimt into the cunent state of legislalum. Chapter One details the me#hodokgy behîrd these sunfep md interviews. Many respondents ofleried Lheir personalised acmmb of time spent within îegisktww and thi8 WB cdMd to fonn the amdusions whid,appem~IhoîwtdWadoamnt Chapter (wo amtains the necessary examination of the litereture availabie on what othm had to say about the staie d lwislatures in Vie past. This information was gamred frm the myriad d academic writings on the subjed of legislatures in generd. to more detailed acmunts of reforming Vie funaions and structures of legislahnes as well as mmentaries on issÿes pertaining to ûehaviour of eleded Members. Chapter three examines whether a not simply reforming the ment system of parliarnentary legislatures in Canada wili render the institution relevant in a new millemim. Chapter four goes on to disaios the ExeaRive Dominance of legislatues as well as the tradition of party discipline and whether or not this tradition hinders the gr& and relevance of legislatures in the Mure. The fows then shifts !O Question Psnod and decan>rn in legislatures. The apparent increased breakdown in deaxum in legislatues would seem to contribute to a Minein the relevance of the institution as presently constituted. A kief discussion d how these issw relate to the Muni of legislatures in Canada, as portrayed by the respondents, concludes the body of the thesis. iii research team and its diredœ, Dr. C. Lloyd Brown-Joh. The support and dedication of ail team membem made it possible fkx this projed to see fniitiorr. To Brown-John; yarr guidance and support wefe ahivays appreciated and have helped me realise many goals. I thank yai. Secondly, I would like to thaak oie Department of Political Scienœ at the University d Winâsor and its mmy great faculty mmbers. Likdse, I am grateful to Barbara and VaMe in the Mœd political scieme for al1 of their help in answering questions and generally for 'taking care of hrsiness', but oveml fa meking my timesragnalr8~krsdresddl Thirdly, to Tarn and Scott*, Uuks fa Wng me in' and allowing me aie opportunity to camplete VW projed whole-heaftedly. I know you realise how important this accomplishment is and your support throogh to its completion will be appreciated and remernbered always! Finally, I muid like to than& Frank Giannetta. you supported me and encouraged me until the final draA was printed and al1 was said and do ne... and you didn't even say '1 told you so'. Theamey mwîts were aMined as pmt dapint Mort damsew& team undei the diredion of Dr.C.Lbyd Brown-John. The team consisted d Meny Herpa. Nicole liemecher, Ryan Flamqan. Andrew Crago and mysel(. AH memkws assisted in the meai-on and implernentation d the survey. Upon the initial retwn of the que~tion~res,it was realised that much valuab data had been acaimulated and it was then that the effort was made 10 incorporate this data into a fmlcontext. Thus the workings d this Paper. which waiid not have bem possible without the orrgoing assistance d al1 members af the researdi team and its diredm I wcwid like to thank the directior and the mernbers of Vie team for their dedicatiorr andhadworkingez(ing(hesuveysaltothemernbecai. lt~niywaratea, effort! Likewise, I would like to extend rny gratitude to Of. BtomçJohn and Vie mernbers of the team for allowing me to code and analyse the data obtained for the purpose of this Paper. The information obtanied from the interviews has also contributed greatly to this Paper. For mis I owe my gratitude to Andrew Crago and Ryan Flannagan in particular for their cornpaniwhip and dedication mile conducting the interviews. Further, to those who allamû us to interview them, each of whom shared their perronal experienœs and opinions of the various Canadian Legislatues, are greatly appreciated and w-ll be remembered ahys. I would also like to ackndedge the contribution of tiNo key people in the completion of this projed; Dr. Gordon Olafson of the Faculty of Human Kinetics and Professor Robert Krause. I thank you for coming on board early in the propct and for your cornmitment in its final stages. As I embark upon an lnternship at the Ontario Legislature, I will take al1 that I have leamed from this experience and use it to broaden my perspective as I get a fint hand opportunity to experience the Canadian Parliamentary Tradition in action. Brandy Millet CHAPTERFOUR EXECUTIVEDOMINANCE AND PARTYDISCIPLINE FIGURE4-1 Chapter Five QUESTIONPERIOD AND DECORUM Oage 44 Oage 49 APPENDIX A page 52 page 53 APPENDIX C page 54 APPENDIX D page 57 APPENDIX E page 58 page 59 APPENOIX A - COVWLûtter The Fuhrn of Legisbbrms(?):A Müemîum Researdi Pw APPENOlX B - Survey Questions Page One - Questions 1-5 Page fwo - Questioris 6.9 Page Three - Question 10 APPENOlX C - Schedule of Suvey Adivity APPENOlX O - Press Release APPENDIX E - Interview Questions vii ENTERINGA NEW MILLENNIUM: OOES THE PARUAMENTARYLEGISLATURE IN CANADACONTINUE 10 HAVE RELEVANCE? CHAPTERONE Entering a new millennium, does the Parliamentary legislature in Canada matter anymore? It is a boiâ question. Indeed, how can one question the relevanœ of an institution that has existed within Canada with relatively little dissension for over a Century? The Canadian Political Science Association's Annual Meeting in Ottawa in June of 1998 did. The question - uAre Legislatures still relevant?' came up in general discussions at this meeting and has since been the motivation for this Paper. In the past, researchers have addressed such issues as the professionalisation of the legislature (fleming 1997; White 1989; Mezey 1979; Olsen 1983); the evolution of the functions of legislatures (Fleming 1997; White 1989; Docherty 1998; Atkinson and Jackson 1980; Schaffer 1998); and the premise of the "decline of parliament" (Schaffer 1998; Olsen 1983; Sundquist 1981). More recently, questions about the publics' confidence in politicians. govemments. and even democracy have been raised (Mancuso et al.. 1998; Putnam et al.. 2000; The Eax~omkt Ju!~17,1999). There ceitainly is not a lack of research on legislatures and the focuses range from bmad themes of govemance (Atkinson and Jackson 1980: Fox and White 1991; Franks 1985; Lembruch 1979), to details of the functions of iegisiatures (White 1391; Wheare 1963; Fleming 1997; Franks 1985; Atkinson and Jackson 1980), and to the cornpetence of provincial Cabinets (White.1998). Despite the myriad of questions posed about legislatures, few have endeavoured to question the continued relevance of the institution wlhin Canada. The reason for this, simply put, may be because there has never been a need to raise the question until now. There has never been a 'crisis" situation which provoked any type of mass protest against the institution of legislatures in general within Canada. so why question its relevance? To Say Why not?" may not suffice for the particular purpose of this Paper. Likewise, it should be noted that by questioning the relevance of Parliamentary Legislatures within Canada. does not imply an assurnption that they Aib&meW~lhatir~IheWsol~'legirl~~~ hypothesir. ir wt#her or no( an institution al Govemment aeated in ün!~le Centwyanddevdoped inthe 19ttiCeritwy. mllymatfemin~2lrtCaihxi) This Papw will not an- to Mer an abmativb. or 'bette& systm or inr(itritionsl stnraure of govemnent for Caneda a ib prwinœs. Nor will it etlempt to snelyrs the history of rs(omi that hes transpired in resped to variou8 legirlahires thrwghout Canada It will address the continued relevanoe d the Parliammtary tradition d tb Legidature within Canada by &Wng upai the opnions d Legislators from aaoss aie country, as l~co~dedin responbes to a airvey supplemented by personal interviews'. Several Mernbers of the Provincial Legislaüve ~ssernblid(MU'S) end a sampte d Federal Memben of ~ar(iamen?(MP's) were mailed qUBSfimires- Several fmer and inarmbent membeir of the Ontario Legislalure and Federal Parliament were on the same theme,'do legislatues Wefl.Valuable insights were gained from the personal experieces and perspectives of the interviewees. Thir information proved invaluable to the disassion end will be incorporated latw into the Paper. Likewise, a Merature search was coriduded, in wder to assess bath the validity d pasing thir question and if, in fact, similaf re+eardihad been dcme previousfy.