Twelfth Canadian Regional
Seminar
Delegates from the Senate, House of
Commons, nine provinces and both territories met in Toronto from November 23 to
25 for the annual CPA regional seminar. Legislators from the various
jurisdictions discussed four subjects of mutual interest.
The first panel considered the
question of "Coping With Large Majorities," a frequent occurrence in
Canadian assemblies. The session was chaired by Hugh Edighoffer, Speaker of the
Ontario Legislature. Panelist included Lloyd Crouse, from the House of Commons,
Frank Branch Speaker designate of New Brunswick, Charles Beer of the Ontario
Legislative Assembly and Professor Desmond Morton of the University of Toronto.
Much of the discussion dealt with
whether private members on the government side can and should speak out in
opposition to government policies. Several speakers noted that size was not
necessarily a problem for the opposition and some very effective opposition
parties consisted of no more than a handful of members. The idea of
proportional representation was also discussed as a means of avoiding large
majorities but it did not obtain much support. Most speakers felt it would
replace one problem with other potentially more dangerous ones.
The second panel was called
"Full-time House, Part-time Member?" The panel was chaired by Speaker
Patrick McNicholas of Newfoundland and included Don Cousens of the Ontario
Legislative Assembly, Terry Huberts of British Columbia and Donald C. Macdonald
former member of the Ontario Assembly. Aside from obvious differences related
to the size of the legislature and the number of days sitting a number of
similarities emerged from the discussion. For one thing it was agreed that
regardless of whether a member holds another job or not constituents expect
their member to be full time. The issue is also related to the rate of
remuneration. While some members thought legislators were underpaid for the
number of hours they put in, others thought the financial rewards were generous
enough.
Another panel considered the
question of "Television in Legislatures" and whether it serves a
persuader or an educator. The panel was chaired by Jean Poirier of Ontario and
included Arnold Tusa, Speaker of the Saskatchewan Legislature, Mike Breaugh of
Ontario, Professor Michael Nolan of the University of Western Ontario and
Jean-Pierre Jolivet of Quebec. There was general agreement
that television had changed the way
legislatures operate but less agreement as to whether these changes are
cosmetic or fundamental in nature.
The last panel considered the Meech
Lake Accord and particularly the role of legislators under the proposed new
constitution. Panelists included Professor Deborah Coyne, of the University of
Toronto, Stan Darling of the House of Commons, Jean Pierre Belisle of the
Quebec National Assembly, William Remnant, Clerk of the Manitoba Legislative
Assembly and Tony Penikett, Government Leader in the Yukon.
Many arguments for and against the
Meech Lake Accord were raised by panelist but most of the discussion centred
around conditions for the admission of new provinces and whether the Accord
should be reopened to give a voice to northeners in future constitutional
amendments. Several delegates called for a special CPA conference of
parliamentarians to give further consideration to the Accord.
New Speaker in NWT
The new Speaker of the Northwest
Territories is Red Pedersen. Born in Denmark in 1935, Mr. Pedersen moved
to the Canadian Arctic in 1953 when he joined the Hudson Bay Company. In 1963,
he joined the Federal government and served as area administrator in
Coppermine, Pangnirtung and Fort Rae, NWT. He returned to Coppermine in 1969
and helped to organise the first settlement council.
First elected to the Assembly in
1983 he served as Minister of Culture and Communications from 1985 to 1986 and
subsequently served as Minister of Renewable Resources, Personnel and Status of
Women during the last assembly.
He resides in Coppermine where he
was active on the settlement council and other community organisations for many
years.
William Reid 1913 to 1987
The Clerk of the Prince Edward Legislative
Assembly died recently. For over thirty years Bill Reid worked for the
provincial government in several capacities including Deputy Minister of
Welfare and Labour. He retired in 1976 but two years later was persuaded to
return to public life as Clerk of the Assembly. Active in many community and
sports associations Mr. Reid was known and respected by Islanders in all walks
of life.