Canadian eview V olume 39, No. 3 th 200 Anniversary of the Ontario Legislative Library p. 28 2 CANADIAN PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW/FALL 2016 Manitoba’s original Mace was carved out of the hub of a Red River cart wheel by a soldier with the Wolseley Expedition Force (sent out to deal with the Riel Rebellion in 1869). This Mace was used for a period of 13 years between March 15, 1871 and March 12, 1884. In December 1873, when a fire destroyed the first home of the Legislature, the Mace was the only object to survive the flames. It remains on display in the Speaker’s office to this day. Manitoba’s current gold-plated Mace debuted in 1884. Standing five feet tall and weighing 28 pounds, it repeats themes found on the original Mace. The head of the current Mace displays four emblems: the Rose, the Thistle, the Harp, and the Fleur-de-lis. These same emblems are found engraved on the staff of the Mace, with the exception of an Irish Shamrock replacing the Harp. On the top, a crown symbolizes the Monarch, while four beavers represent the province’s place as part of Canada. Finally, an orb and a cross represent the spiritual and religious aspects of Manitoba life. This Mace was made to celebrate the opening of the second Legislative building. The initials V.R., representing the reigning Monarch Queen Victoria, are engraved on its head. The Table Officers have a tradition of rubbing various symbols on the Mace with their robe sleeves while waiting for the Speaker’s Parade to start, in order to summon good luck for the sitting day. Andrea Signorelli Clerk2 CANADIAN Assistant PARLIAMENTARY / Clerk REVIEW/FALL of Committees, 2016 Legislative Assembly of Manitoba Ontario Legislative Library, c.1900s. Ontario Legislative Library, The Canadian Parliamentary Review was founded in 1978 to inform Canadian legislators about activities of the federal, provincial and territorial branches of the Canadian Region of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and to promote the study of and interest in Canadian parliamentary institutions. Contributions from legislators, former members, staff and all other persons interested in the objectives of the Review are welcome. The Review is published for the Canadian Region, CPA. Any opinions expressed are those of individual contributors and should not be attributed to any Branch of the Canadian Region. Editor Will Stos Layout Frank Piekielko Production Team Julie Anderson Kim Dean Kimberley Judd Albert Besteman Yasuko Enosawa Joanne McNair Cheryl Caballero Claudette Henry Wendy Reynolds Susanne Hynes Editorial Intern Liam MacDonald Editorial Board Back cover: Fragment of the Library’s Patricia Chaychuk (Chair) ironwork with the provincial crest. Charles Robert (Deputy Chair) Blair Armitage Deborah Deller Charles MacKay Francois Arsenault Kim Hammond Kate Ryan-Lloyd Civic engagement in a digital age Marc Bosc Danielle Labonté Doug Schauerte Chelsea Scherer ...................................................................2 Sonia L’Heureux Reconsidering Constructive Non-Confidence for Subscriptions Canada: Experiences from Six European Countries Four (4) issues in English or French Elsa Piersig ..........................................................................5 Canada $40.00 - International $75.00 Four (4) issues in English and French Current vs. Envisioned Parliamentary System in Canada $75.00 - International $125.00 Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Cheques should be made payable to: Rosette Gagnon-Bélanger .................................................16 Canadian Parliamentary Review Saskatchewan Teachers Observe Parliamentary Contact Process in Action Canadian Parliamentary Review Eric Neudorf ......................................................................22 c/o Ontario Legislative Library Queen’s Park Celebrating the 200th Anniversary of the Ontario Toronto, ON M7A 1A9 Legislative Library E-Mail: [email protected] Monica Cop .......................................................................28 Web: http://www.RevParl.ca CPA Activities: The Canadian Scene ...........................32 Editor: (416) 325-0231 Fax: (416) 325-3505 Parliamentary Bookshelf: Reviews .............................40 E-Mail: [email protected] New and Notable Titles ................................................43 Legal Deposit: National Library of Canada Legislative Reports ........................................................45 ISSN 0229-2548 Cette revue est aussi disponible en français Sketches of Parliament and Parliamentarians Past: Ontario’s Speaker’s Chair Susanne Hynes...................................................................68 CANADIAN PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW/AUTUMN 2016 1 Feature Civic Engagement in a Digital Age Political knowledge – there’s an app for that. In fact, there are many. But are they a truly effective way of engaging prospective voters? In this article, the author explores the trend towards creating digital applications designed to raise interest and understanding of our democratic systems. Commentators suggest that these applications will be most effective when widely promoted, and are only one part of broader engagement strategies which will focus on open data initiatives and fostering two-way communication between politicians, governments and the public. Chelsea Scherer growing number of digital developers are “We would like to get youth engaged in political using their skills to create applications to process in a format that they would recognize,” Afoster greater engagement in politics among says Brunjes, who left her full-time job in April 2015 Canadians, and particularly among youth. Yet, to pursue the app’s development. The main idea while citizen engagement advocates agree that social behind Electr is to make political statements easy to media and emerging digital technologies can play an understand and access because, as she puts it, “there’s important role in reversing a decades-long decline in a lack of easily accessible information out there.” (See Canadians’ interest and involvement the country’s the side bar for a list of other apps that want to promote formal political institutions, it hasn’t happened yet and civic engagement). may not happen for quite some time. Political scientist Tamara Small disagrees; she says This hasn’t deterred aspiring application inventors that political information is ubiquitous on the Web but such as Allendria Brunjes, the co-founder of the Electr people within the 18 to 24 age bracket lack interest in app, pitched as the “Tinder app of government quotes.” it. According to Small, there are two significant issues (Tinder is primarily used as a dating app where people political apps face. First, some app creators assume within close geographic proximity are connected in that just because they put information out there in a conversation if they both express mutual interest in familiar and usable interface, younger people will each other’s profile). Electr allows for users to agree notice it and gravitate towards it. Second, she suggests or disagree with a quote unattributed but uttered by a a younger generation will ultimately choose activities federal, provincial or municipal politician; in this way like watching cat videos over playing around on a they can achieve a better understanding of what their political app. Brunjes responds saying that there’s still political stance is. After agreeing or disagreeing with potential for this younger age bracket to be interested the quote, users will have the option to see who said in politics regardless of what they choose to entertain the quote and view when and where it was recorded. themselves with recreationally. To her, the main issue The app will also give users the ability to read the full this 18 to 24 age bracket faces is that people segregate speech or view the full interview from where the quote this group from the main voting demographic. “When was taken to get more context. people are talking about young people, they often say ‘they’ instead of [referring to] them as ‘us,’” she says. “By including them we can engage them.” Small and other experts contend these types of apps, while well-intentioned, often miss the mark. Unless they have access to advertising on a major platform they tend to get lost and even if they can be found, the people who search them out would likely already have a genuine appetite for the content and not be Chelsea Scherer is the Social Media Manager at AsapSCIENCE, an educational science YouTube channel in Toronto. She was completely disengaged from formal politics. the editorial intern for the Canadian Parliamentary Review for Summer 2015. 2 CANADIAN PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW/AUTUMN 2016 One interface that did find a wide degree of success was CBC’s Vote Compass app for the 2011 federal election. In collaboration with Vox Pop Labs, Vote Compass was a useful tool for comparing party platforms at a basic level. Jane Hilderman, Samara Democracy Canada’s Executive Director, cautions that the people who were taking the time to fill out the Vote Compass questionnaire were, on average, more engaged than Apps the general population; however, she argues that a national media organization like CBC was a great platform for such a comparison tool because its main TABS website drew in tens of thousands of visitors for a http://tabstoronto.com/ variety of reasons. It found a large and ready potential audience — something smaller political apps struggle A volunteer-run civic engagement tool made to find. from the Toronto Public Space Initiative. TABS stands for Transparent