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Senator Dan Hays SPEAKER’S REPORT Spring 2003 Inside This Edition ... Page 1 International Psychoso- cial Oncology Congress Personal Message Page 2 Origins and Evolution of Second Chambers Page 3 Joint Parliamentary Dele- gation visits India Psychosocial Oncology Congress In Banff Dr. Barry Bultz, President of the Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology at the Page 4 Tom Baker Cancer Centre, with Ted Kennedy, Jr., keynote speaker and cancer survivor, and Speaker Hays at the Sixth World Congress of Psychosocial Oncology held at the Banff Speaker Hays Attends In- Centre in April. The congress brought together practitioners who take a multidisciplinary auguration of Ecuadorian approach offering counselling and emotional care to cancer patients and their families. Par- President ticipants at the meeting discussed approaches to understanding and dealing with the various psychological, social, emotional, economic, spiritual and functional aspects of cancer. Page 5 Senate Delegation travels Dear Reader, to Poland This Report touches on the three important roles that I fulfill. One is Page 6 my regional role as a representative of Alberta. Another is my legislative role as both Speaker of the Senate and senator. The final is my role in international re- And on to Russia lations with other parliaments and countries. This newsletter highlights my activities with respect to all three roles. Page 7 This edition of the Speaker’s Report contains an article on the history of bicam- eral institutions, and the first in an intended series of articles on senates visited The Round-up during my term as Speaker. It also includes descriptions of official visits to In- dia, Russia and Poland (see my website for full reports), as well as an overview Alberta Caucus Tour of my participation as Canada’s representative at the inauguration of the new Page 8 President of Ecuador. I welcome any comments or questions you may have. Please feel free Private Members’ Bills to contact me at 1-800-267-7362. Diplomatic Corner Sincerely, Dan Hays Page 2 Speaker’s Report Summer 2003 Origins and Evolution of Second Chambers To better understand the Canadian By the third century BC, Rome’s po- and property qualifications, to create “a Senate, and second chambers generally, it litical structure rested on a balance of proper forum for ‘sober second thought’ in is useful to look at their origins in history power, which was clearly expressed by the best traditions of Britain and France.”6 and their evolution over time. the state’s motto, Senatus populus que As well, each of the 3 original divisions – Though bicameral legislatures have romanus (the people and the Senate). This Quebec, Ontario and the combined prov- their origins in the thirteenth-century Eng- equilibrium manifested itself in the mu- inces of Nova Scotia and New Bruns- lish Parliament, their roots go all the way tual control which the different political wick – was to be represented by 24 sena- back to ancient Greece and Rome. organs – the assemblies, the magistrature tors, providing another example of a fed- According to Meg Russell1, some and the Senate – exercised over each eral upper chamber. Here again, the upper government systems of antiquity featured other. But, as Roman institutions evolved, chamber operates opposite a House of councils of elders, who generally repre- note Tsebelis and Money, “multiple rep- Commons whose members are elected by sented the wealthy and powerful classes, resentational structures developed, often the population. operating alongside assemblies that repre- with different deliberative responsibili- Since their earliest manifestations in sented the citizens. “The purpose of such ties, so that the parallel to modern-day antiquity, the purpose of second chambers multi-chamber arrangements,” adds Rus- bicameral legislatures diminished over has been to provide balance and stability sell, “was to represent different interests time.”4 through mixed government. Originally de- and classes, binding society together and Although the roots of bicameralism signed to represent wise elders or aristo- creating more stable government.” can be traced back to antiquity, two- crats, second chambers exist today for two Moreover, ancient Greek philoso- chamber legislatures as such emerged main reasons, both of which ensure equi- phers, including Aristotle, advocated the from the Magnum Concilium, or Great librium: 1) in federations, to reflect the idea of mixed government over that of Council, of English kings, beginning in dualist nature of the state; 2) in unitary sys- simple government, thereby anticipating the thirteenth century. Before the emer- tems, to provide a mechanism for checking the system we know as checks and bal- gence of Parliament, the king would draw the hasty decisions sometimes made by the ances today. Mixed government included on the advice of two councils for making lower house, or to maintain balance be- representatives from 2 or 3 of the con- decisions affecting the realm. The first, tween the legislature and the executive.7 stituent interests that were the monarchy, the Concilium, consisted of semiprofes- Today, there is a growing trend among aristocracy or democracy. Its advantage sional advisers and administrators, while countries towards adopting legislative sys- was that it would prevent tyranny and the second, the Magnum Concilium, com- tems that include a second chamber. In- provide stability by ensuring a balance of prised feudal magnates, i.e., the king’s deed, from only 45 nations having a senate power through the representation of vari- chief tenants, who were the prelates of the in 1970, that number has grown to 67 in ous classes.2 church and the barons. The evolution of 2003. Moreover, several countries are now In Greece, bicameral-like institutions the Magnum Concilium into two cham- in the process of either creating an upper existed in a variety of city-states, includ- bers occurred in three separate stages, house, or are seriously considering doing ing Athens. There, the council of wise over a period of two centuries: so. This trend is no doubt attributable to elders operated alongside a council of 50 “[It] began with the Great Council’s the “need for a democratic instrument that representatives from each of the ten retention of power over taxes; this was ensures the balanced functioning of the tribes, as well as an assembly representing followed by the expansion of representa- apparatus of state and an optimal function- all citizens. “The council and the assem- tion in the Great Council; the final stage ing of the legislative process while rein- bly deliberated the same issues, providing was the division of these various estates forcing the scrutiny on government ac- a parallel to the dual deliberation found in into two distinct chambers.”5 tion.”8 modern bicameral legislatures.”3 The history of bicameralism provides The governments of ancient Rome also other noteworthy examples, such as the Footnotes th 1. Russell, Meg, Reforming the House of Lords, Ox- relied on bicameral legislatures. In fact, French Estates General in the 14 cen- ford University Press, New York, 2000, p. 19. the name we ascribe to many second tury, where the clergy, the nobility and 2. Tsebelis, George, and Money, Jeannette, Bicam- chambers today – senate – comes from the remainder of the political class met in eralism, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, the council of elders which early Roman separate chambers. As well, the American 1997, p. 19. kings appointed to advise them. The as- Revolution brought about a federal upper 3. Ibid., p. 18. 4. Ibid. sembly that operated alongside the Ro- house designed to protect and give equal 5. Ibid., p. 19. man Senate under the monarchy was representation to each of the member 6. Ibid., p. 53. known as the comitia curiate. Organizing states. With two senators from every 7. Inter-Parliamentary Union, Parliaments of the the three tribes of Rome into 10 curiae state, this body was designed to function World: A Comparative Reference Compendium, Vol- ume 1, Second Edition, New York, Oxford, 1986, p. each, the function of this assembly was to opposite a House of Representatives 14. endorse the Senate’s selection of a new whose membership was based on popula- 8. Senate of France, Forum of the World’s Senates, king, following the death of his predeces- tion. March 14, 2000, www.senat.fr/senatsdumonde/ sor, and to sanction the king’s authority Canada’s upper house, for its part, english/english.html over the army. From an advisory council, adopted characteristics from the British the Senate gradually acquired great pow- and American models. Its appointed **To read this article in its entirety, ers and became a key government body in members were to be subjected to age please visit www.parl.gc.ca/dhays the last two centuries of the republic. Page 3 Speaker’s Report Summer 2003 Joint Parliamentary Delegation Visits India Speaker Hays led a parliamentary delegation to India from November 18 to 24, 2002. The delegation consisted of members from both chambers and included the Leader of the Official Opposition in the Senate, Senator John Lynch-Staunton, Senator Mobina Jaffer, Mr. Deepak Ob- hrai, M.P., and the Clerk of the Senate and Parliaments, Mr. Paul Bélisle. India is one of the world’s oldest civilizations and throughout history has remained a virtually self- contained political and cultural society. Since India’s be- ginnings, it has been a highly sophisticated culture. To- Speaker Hays and delegates lay a wreath at the Gandhi memorial in day, India can also boast of a strong infrastructure, a Rajghat, on the site where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated. sound agricultural and industrial base, as well as the third largest scientific and engineering community in the world. The Canadian delegation was graciously received by the Parliament of India with a full agenda and held high-level meetings.