{"id":267991,"date":"2020-03-09T10:30:36","date_gmt":"2020-03-09T14:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/issues\/former-mps-express-worry-frustration-with-state-of-parliament\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T22:52:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T02:52:18","slug":"former-mps-express-worry-frustration-with-state-of-parliament","status":"publish","type":"issues","link":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/03\/former-mps-express-worry-frustration-with-state-of-parliament\/","title":{"rendered":"Former MPs express worry, frustration with state of Parliament"},"content":{"rendered":"

In his recent book, A Time to Build<\/em><\/a>, the American writer and thinker Yuval Levin observes that the crisis of American democracy results from the failure of institutions. Institutions have become derelict because the people inside them no longer bother with the upkeep, he argues. Instead, everyone is incentivized to behave like an outsider, and treat institutions as platforms for power and performance rather than collective action forums that bestow dignity and responsibility.<\/p>\n

This observation resonates in Canada, too, particularly in observing the pinnacle institution of our democracy \u2013 the House of Commons. In the Samara Centre for Democracy\u2019s recently released book, Real House Lives: Former Members of Parliament on How to Reclaim Democratic Leadership<\/em><\/a>, we document how MPs\u2019 jobs have changed, and how those changes are contributing to a diminished sense of shared stewardship of Parliament.<\/p>\n

The book is based on long-form, intimate exit interviews with more than 50 former parliamentarians who left after the 41st<\/sup> Parliament in 2015. They come from across the country and the political spectrum. The interviews reveal serious, publicly minded people who typically went into politics for the right reasons and are proud of their time there. But many also left frustrated, and worried that the institutions are not being cared for.<\/p>\n

In Parliament, ever-encroaching partisanship and centralization of power in the office of the Prime Minister and party leaders mean the role of the MP is diminished, and the tools for the job are becoming disused or misused. This is a very old story, but ex-MPs did describe concerning changes of the recent past. For example, committee work \u2014 traditionally an escape from empty posturing \u2014 is sometimes repurposed to litigate petty partisan differences rather than carefully scrutinize legislation. One MP described to us how they were told to vote down amendments from another party that would correct typos in a bill because \u201cwe don\u2019t want to give them the win.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Conservative leader Andrew Scheer embraces Sen. Denise Batters as he arrives to make an address at a caucus meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Dec. 4, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Justin Tang<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some MPs admitted to not knowing how best to use the limited agency they had, and having no chance to learn. Private Members\u2019 Bills and motions, the rare opportunity given to ordinary MPs to propose concrete solutions or set out a vision, are often rendered meaningless \u2014 used to fill our calendar with symbolic national days that, once created, are quickly forgotten. As one MP put it, \u201cto waste time on Tree Day\u2026 those are not the things my constituents sent me to Parliament for.\u201d<\/p>\n

MPs spend most of their year away from Parliament. In the constituency especially, there is a diminished sense of what the appropriate role of a parliamentarian should be. MPs and their staff have thrown themselves into casework: basic customer service provisions like helping constituents deal with problems with government programs, the kind of work that is rightly the responsibility of the government. The impulse to help constituents is honourable. But this obligation means MPs don\u2019t always have the capacity to commit to more effective or innovative forms of local democratic engagement.<\/p>\n

Constituency work also crowds out parliamentary work. One former MP described sending all of their staff to the constituency office to deal with the volume of casework, being left alone in Ottawa to do all their own research and analysis late into every night: \u201cIf the Confederation Building stunk of popcorn, it was my fault.\u201d<\/p>\n

Central to all aspects of the MP\u2019s life is the party \u2014 which MPs describe as providing support and community, but also as posing perhaps the greatest single obstacle to more effective and responsive representation. Suffocating party discipline is mostly the fault of leaders and their staff. But the interviews reveal other dimensions to this problem, too, such as self-policing by other caucus members. Step out of line too often, and your colleagues don\u2019t need to be told to stop inviting you to pizza and wings night. Toxic partisanship within and between parties is hurting the institution of Parliament, and corroding morale. As one MP put it: \u201cempty, nihilistic, repetitive partisanship tires everyone out. It\u2019s exhausting. It\u2019s frustrating. It\u2019s humiliating\u2026 for those taking part.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are procedural and mechanical changes that can help mitigate some of this behaviour. The book lays out a platform of reforms that could help reallocate power within Parliament. For example:<\/p>\n