Canadian Parliament Research Articles

Power and Positivity: Psycholinguistic Perspectives on Word Valence in Canadian Parliament

Politicians are skilled language users who deploy words strategically and pay close attention to the emotions that those words evoke. We examined the emotional characteristics of over 92 million words spoken by Canadian Members of Parliament between 2006 and 2021. The analysis brought together the Warriner, Kuperman, and Brysbaert (Behav. Res., 2013, 45, 1191–1207) database of valence (positivity) ratings for English and the Canadian Hansard, which contains a transcription of parliamentary speech. Results revealed that the positivity of words used by politicians in parliament was significantly related to both political and social variables. Politicians increased the positivity of their language after the onset of the COVID-19 crisis. Within the time of the crisis, word positivity was linked statistically to month-by-month case counts, indicating a very fine-grained sensitivity to social realities. Our analysis also revealed a fine-grained sensitivity of word valence to political realities. As expected, parties in power used more positive language than those in opposition. In addition, our analysis revealed that individual parties have characteristic levels of word positivity and that those levels change in accordance with political changes as specific as whether or not the party in power holds a majority of seats in parliament. These findings suggest that the emotional properties of words used by Members of Parliament are reliably indexed to sociopolitical dynamics. The findings also suggest that the methodology of linking individual word ratings to Hansard Documents (which are used to document Parliamentary activities in over 25 countries) can provide a key tool for the understanding of specific crises such as the COVID-19 global pandemic as well as more general social and political trends across countries and languages.

Parliamentary Debates in Canada (1901–2015)

AbstractThis article analyzes the effect of procedural rule change on the dynamics of parliamentary speeches in the Canadian House of Commons between 1901 and 2015. During this period, several new rules were introduced to reduce the opportunities for private members to speak during the debates so that the government could get its business done within an acceptable amount of time. Our analysis looks at the impact of these rule changes on the content and orientation of all individual speeches made by members of Parliament. The results indicate that parliamentary rules had an important effect on the topic and duration of debates. Our findings also confirm that procedural changes contributed to a heightening of partisan polarization in the Canadian Parliament over time and disproportionately reduced the influence of government backbenchers in the legislative process.

Lost on Division: Party Unity in the Canadian Parliament. By Jean-François Godbout. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2020. 312p. $71.25 cloth, $29.96 paper.

Lost on Division: Party Unity in the Canadian Parliament. By Jean-François Godbout. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2020. 312p. $71.25 cloth, $29.96 paper.

Can citizen pressure influence politicians' communication about climate change? Results from a field experiment.

Urgent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions depend on governments implementing and enforcing rigorous climate policy. Individuals in democracies seeking to persuade government officials to reduce greenhouse gas emissions can take steps such as voting, protesting, and contacting officials directly, but it is unclear how effective each of these actions is in changing the behavior of elected officials. Here we take advantage of the public nature of social media to evaluate the actual efficacy of climate campaign emails using an original, real-world experiment where 335 Members of Canadian Parliament were asked by constituents to post a pro-climate message to their Twitter account. Only one Member of Parliament posted the exact text suggested by the campaign. After scraping and coding 18,776 tweets, we first find no evidence that a public health messaging frame is more effective than a standard environmental frame in eliciting pro-climate posts. Furthermore, we find only a marginally significant relationship between volume of constituent contact and increased pro-climate tweeting from Members of Parliament. Follow-up interviews with political staffers suggest that analog alternatives may be more effective than campaign emails in some cases. Interview findings also reveal that some offices receive low levels of constituent communication on climate change, indicating that increased pressure from constituents could still be consequential.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10584-021-03215-9.

Using non-legislative tools when legislation is hard: a comparison of the Canadian, UK, and Israeli parliaments

Using non-legislative tools when legislation is hard: a comparison of the Canadian, UK, and Israeli parliaments

Sex work and biopolitics: a Foucauldian analysis of Bill C-36 discourse in the Parliament of Canada

ABSTRACT This paper is a study of the discourse in the Parliament of Canada during the passage of Bill C-36. Introduced in June 2014, Bill C-36 was the Canadian government’s response to a Supreme Court of Canada decision that struck down Criminal Code provisions that prohibited certain activities associated with sex work. The Supreme Court found that the provisions unconstitutionally violated sex workers’ right to security of the person by imposing dangerous conditions on the profession. With Bill C-36, the Canadian government embraced an abolitionist approach to sex work regulation that further criminalized the practice by, among many things, making the purchase of sexual services illegal. To structure the discourse analysis, this paper relies heavily on Michel Foucault’s first volume of The History of Sexuality. Foucault posited that states use specific discursive strategies to regulate citizen’s sexual interactions to achieve biopolitical goals. This paper reveals that the discursive strategies proposed by Foucault were present in parliamentary debate over Bill C-36, and their presence provides insight into the capitalist and settler colonial objectives of Bill C-36.

Pediatric cannabis intoxication trends in the pre and post-legalization era

Introduction On April 13, 2017, a bill to legalize cannabis was introduced to the Canadian Parliament and presented to the public. On October 17, 2018, Canada legalized recreational cannabis use. We assessed intoxication severity, reflected by ICU admission rates, risk factors and other characteristics in children who presented to the emergency department (ED) with cannabis intoxication, before and after legalization. Methods A retrospective cohort study of children 0–18 years who presented to a pediatric ED between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2019 with cannabis intoxication. The pre-legalization period was defined from January 1, 2008 to April 12, 2017 and the peri-post legalization period from April 13, 2017 to December 31, 2019. Results We identified 298 patients; 232 (77.8%) presented in the pre legalization period and 66 (22.1%) in the peri-post legalization period; median age: 15.9 years (range: 11 months–17.99 years). A higher proportion of children were admitted to the ICU in the peri–post legalization period (13.6% vs. 4.7%, respectively; p = .02). While the median monthly number of cannabis-related presentations did not differ between the time periods (2.1 [IQR:1.9–2.5] in the pre legalization period vs. 1.7 [IQR:1.0–3.0] in the peri-post legalization period; p = .69), the clinical severity did. The proportions of children with respiratory involvement (65.9% vs. 50.9%; p = .05) and altered mental status (28.8% vs. 14.2%; p < .01) were higher in the peri-post legalization period. The peri-post legalization period was characterized by more children younger than 12 years (12.1% vs. 3.0%; p = .04), unintentional exposures (14.4% vs, 2.8%; p = .002) and edibles ingestion (19.7% vs. 7.8%; p = .01). Edible ingestion was an independent predictor of ICU admission (adjusted OR: 4.1, 95%CI: 1.2–13.7, p = .02). Conclusions The recreational cannabis legalization in Canada is associated with increased rates of severe intoxications in children. Edible ingestion is a strong predictor of ICU admission in the pediatric population.

Tooth for a Tooth: Does Fighting Serve as a Deterrent to Greater Violence in the Modern NHL

Fighting has been part of the fabric of the NHL for nearly a century. Recent sharp declines in the frequency of fighting and increased understanding of the long-term consequences of traumatic brain injuries have led many to question whether fighting still has a place in the modern NHL. League commissioner Gary Bettman as recently as 2019 testified before Canadian Parliament that fighting has a deterrent effect, reducing the overall level of violent and dangerous plays within the game. This study empirically examines this claim and tests whether fighting indeed serves as a deterrent to undesirable behaviors in the NHL. I examine data on all regular season penalties from 2010-2019 to determine whether fighting and the threat of fighting is empirically related the level of violence in NHL games. Using a mix of descriptive and quasi-experimental approaches, I find no quantifiable evidence that fighting serves as a deterrent to undesirable violent behaviors in the NHL. To the contrary, I find that teams and players who fight are responsible for a disproportionate amount of the violent penalties that happen across the league. These results have implications for player safety in the many professional—and especially junior—hockey leagues around the world that sanction in-game fighting.

Review of "Deaf Politician: The Gary Malkowski Story" by Richard Medugno (2020)

&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; Deaf Politician: The Gary Malkowski Story is a self-published biography by Richard Medugno, who is also the author of Deaf Daughter, Hearing Father (Medugno, 2005), a published memoir about being the parent of a deaf child. It was this lived experience that led Medugno to first encounter Malkowski in 1993, midway through the latter’s term as the first and only signing deaf Member of Provincial Parliament in Canada.&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D;

Resuscitating Alberta's Senatorial Elections

In 2019, the provincial government of Alberta enacted legislation that resuscitated senatorial elections. Before previous legislation had lapsed in 2015, four were held. This article argues that the resuscitation of constitutionally dubious and costly elections ignores the fact that the prime minister, who advises the governor general on senate appointments, can disregard electoral results and appoint, as long as they meet the requirements set out in the Constitution Act, 1867, whomever he wants. Resuscitation ignores the fact that in 2014 the Supreme Court of Canada described an unelected senate is a fundamental feature of the Canadian parliament and held that substantive changes to it would require, under Part V of the Constitution Act, 1982, political consensus among the federal government and a majority of the provinces. Resuscitation ignores the fact that in three of the four senatorial elections previously held, voter turnout was below 50 per cent.

Party Unity and Discipline in Canadian Politics

Anyone with a passing understanding of Canadian politics is aware of the stubborn presence of party discipline in the parliamentary system. It is not a phenomenon that has been left to the stuffy corners of the ivory tower. Political actors and the media have complained about party discipline for decades. Reforms have been proposed; party leaders have promised new ways forward. As a central trait of Canadian Parliament, party discipline has driven away voters—it has even inspired the development of new political parties. What role can Canadian political science play in understanding party discipline 75 years after these familiar sentiments appeared in the predecessor to this journal: “How could this control [party discipline] be destroyed, and the individual member be made an independent critic of government and of legislation, and a responsible servant of the people” (Morton, 1946: 136)? It turns out Canadian political science has much to offer. With the publication of J. F. Godbout'sLost on Division: Party Unity in the Canadian Parliamentand Alex Marland'sWhipped: Party Discipline in Canada, 2020 has been a monumental year for the study of Canadian Parliament and political parties.

Canadian Science Meets Parliament: Building relationships between scientists and policymakers

Abstract The first Science Meets Parliament event in Canada was held in November 2018 in Ottawa, where twenty-eight Tier II Canada Research Chairs (a specific class of Canadian university professor acknowledged by their peers as having the potential to lead in their field) from diverse disciplines met with forty-three Members of Canadian Parliament and Senators. The main goal of this event was to facilitate communication between these two key pillars of the society, to promote mutual understanding of the nature of their respective work, roles, and responsibilities, and to build long-term relationships. Here, we, representatives of the first cohort of scientists to participate in the program, summarize our experiences and lessons learned from this event, as well as our assessment of the benefits of attending this event for scientists, policy decision-makers, and institutions. Furthermore, we provide suggestions for similar future events in Canada and elsewhere.

Материальное обеспечение членов семей канадских добровольцев в годы Первой мировой войны

The article analyzes the Canadian government policy of social protection and support for soldiers’ dependents during World War I. The description of events begins when Canada entered the war (August 4, 1914) and ends when the North American Dominion switched to the system of compulsory military service (conscription) (August 29, 1917). The reconstruction of the details of the material support for soldiers’ dependents during the war helps reveal the details of the functioning of the Canadian government’s social policy in the early 20th century. The article is based on the legislative acts of the Dominion Government, official records of the debates in the Canadian parliament, and the Provincial press publications. It examines the institutional foundations of providing financial assistance to soldiers’ dependents using the example of the creation and activities of special state and non-state institutions (the Canadian Patriotic Fund, the Board of Pension Commissioners, and the Separation Allowance Board). It studies the process of forming the legislative base of social security for dependents of soldiers serving in the Canadian Expeditionary Forces and the Canadian Navy. The author traces the assignment and payment of social benefits to wives, children, parents and other dependents. The Canadian laws enacted during the war provided social assistance to military dependents in the form of state maintenance benefits and survivor’s pensions. The low rate of government benefits was offset by donations raised by charities. The process of creating special state bodies was very slow, and their activities were not always effective. Against this background, the work of the Canadian Patriotic Fund looked more fruitful.

Legislations in Parliament of Canada and Pakistan: A Comparative Study of House of Commons and National Assembly

Parliament is an exclusive and unique representative institution and performs key functions such as law-making, representation of constituents, amending laws, highlighting and aspirations their issues and through resolutions prescribe solutions to such key challenges faced by the polity. Parliament established on the behalf of people to represent their voice and provide them opportunities for more participatory and open governance. This research focused upon the performance of both lower Houses of Canada and Pakistan in 21st Century. The performance of the parliamentarian will also examine in this study. This comparative study will extend the boundaries of comparative politics and system analysis theory. This research discussed the role of parliament and basically the legislation process in parliament. Legislation in parliaments of new democracies and comparative study is useful research topic in Political Science and will provide a guideline to parliamentarians to work better.

ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯ ВИДІВ ВПЛИВУ УКРАЇНСЬКОЇ ДІАСПОРИ, ОЦІНКА КОНКРЕТНИХ ПРИКЛАДІВ ТА ЇХ ХАРАКТЕРИСТИКА В АСПЕКТІ СУЧАСНИХ ПОТРЕБ УКРАЇНИ

This article analyzes the impact of the Ukrainian diaspora on Ukraine using an extensive survey of more than sixty opinion leaders, scholars, representatives of Ukrainian organizations in the diaspora, as well as data shared by these organizations and relevant scientific literature. The article attempts to identify the main types of influences by areas and nature of the activity of the diaspora. One type of influence of the diaspora is informational or propaganda influence. Through the Ukrainian media, literature, art, scientific works, petitions, actions, and protests, the Ukrainian diaspora promotes information about Ukraine, contributing to the creation of a positive international image for the country. During the massacres and imprisonment of Ukrainian dissidents worldwide, student and human rights organizations set up committees to defend political prisoners under the leadership of Ukrainian diaspora representatives. The struggle for the release of Ukrainian political prisoners was also waged by the Ukrainian media that published self-published works (samvydav), research, memoirs, and documents of many Ukrainian political prisoners, documents and bulletins of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group, as well as many other materials about Soviet arbitrariness in Ukraine. Today, all Ukrainian diaspora organizations, to a greater or lesser extent, are fighting against Russian propaganda. Another type of influence of the diaspora is political influence, i.e., the ability of the diaspora to facilitate the adoption of political decisions beneficial to Ukraine by their host countries. Ukrainian diasporas are actively lobbying for Ukraine’s interests, which resulted in the proclamation of Captive Nations Week in the USA, recognition of the Holodomor as genocide of the Ukrainian people in 17 countries, the introduction of the Defending American Security from Kremlin Aggression Act and other bills to the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, establishment of support groups for Ukraine in the US and Canadian Parliaments, adoption of numerous laws and political documents worldwide that condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, impose sanctions on the Russian Federation, and create a legal basis for providing financial, humanitarian, and military assistance to Ukraine. The economic or financial influence of the Ukrainian diaspora on the homeland is represented by remittances sent by representatives of the diaspora to their relatives who still live in Ukraine and by financial aid provided to Ukraine by diaspora organizations and patrons to achieve specific goals. Thanks to the diaspora efforts, millions of dollars in assistance were provided to Ukraine during the years of its independence. Significant results have been achieved in the field of cultural and educational impact. The most notable examples of educational and cultural influence are the return of Ukrainian folklore and traditions to Ukraine taken away by the Soviet oppression; the establishment or restoration of organizations such as Plast, the Shevchenko Scientific Society, the Ukrainian Youth Association; organization of internship programs for Ukrainian students and young specialists; creation of advisory programs for the Government of Ukraine with the participation of highly-qualified Western specialists; transfer of know-how; and creation of training programs for Ukrainian police and army. Specific examples given in the article can demonstrate the extraordinary efforts made by the diaspora to support and assist Ukraine.

Practice of Preserving Collections in the Library and Archives Canada

The Library and Archives of Canada (LAC) is Federal department of Canada established by the Parliament of Canada in 2004 to integrate services and functions of the National library and the National Archives of Canada; and currently it is the fourth-largest library in the world. The article discusses the experience of the Library and Archives Canada in creating modern centres for preserving documentary heritage, organizing the work of collections management, their conservation and restoration, ensuring openness and accessibility of collections. The main sources were materials published on the LAC website, primarily planning, reporting and financial documentation of the institution, as well as publications in the Canadian periodical press. Special attention is paid to the buildings and premises of the LAC storage facilities. The author describes the concept of the project of the Gatineau Preservation Centre, GPC. The complex, opened in 1997, is one of the top architectural objects constructed in Canada in the 20th century and one of the most secure library storage facilities in the world. The article considers organization of collections storage in the GPC and the work of restoration laboratories located in it. The author shows that GPC provides the most favourable storage conditions for the most valuable and vulnerable LAC collections. The paper gives information about the storage facility in the main LAC building in Ottawa on Wellington Street (built in 1967; modernized in the early 2000s), as well as storage facilities in Gatineau, Renfrew and Winnipeg.The author characterizes the new version of the LAC Collections Preservation Program (2018) which defines the strategic objectives of the institution in this area, both for the nearest future and for the long term. The paper presents results of a large-scale study of the state of the collections storage in LAC (2016—2018) and outlines the most acute problems identified in this study. There is emphasized the importance of the construction of the new Gatineau-2 complex, launched in 2019 (Project cost is 330 million Canadian dollars). According to experts, Gatineau-2 will become one of the largest, technologically equipped and environmental centres for the conservation and restoration of library collections in the world, as well as the first zero-energy storage facility in North America. In Canada, special attention is paid to the construction of modern centres for the preservation of documentary heritage, which create all the necessary conditions for long-term security of collections, conservation and restoration work. Implementation of such projects is impossible without government support, without understanding by authorities of the leading role of libraries and archives in the preservation and promotion of the national cultural heritage. The experience of LAC may be of interest to Russia, taking into account the tasks set in the document “The main directions of development of activities to preserve library collections in the Russian Federation for 2011—2020” and elaboration of long-term programs in this area.

Parliamentary Debate as a Driver of Military Justice Reform in Canada

AbstractIn June 2019, the Supreme Court of Canada pronounced judgment in the case of R v Stillman, upholding the military justice system’s ability to try serious civil offences. The Stillman decision highlighted one key mechanism of military justice reform: court judgments. This article argues, however, that military legal experts have overlooked Parliamentary debate as a key driver of military reform. By drawing on analysis of Hansard from past decades, this article argues that the Canadian Parliament has historically pushed for radical reform to the military justice system. This reformist consensus continues to shape Parliamentary discussions on military justice in the twenty-first century.

Submission to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, Parliament of Canada: Amendment to Bill C-7: An Act to Amend the Criminal Code (Medical Assistance in Dying)

This submission includes an amendment to Bill C-7 that would add a section to the general provisions of the Criminal Code concerning homicide and suicide (Appendix “A”). It uses the language of the criminal law: inflicting death, homicide, suicide and the well-established and well-understood criminal concept of to acts. The proposed amendment would establish that, as a matter of law and national public policy, no one can be compelled to become a party to homicide or suicide, or punished or disadvantaged for refusing to do so. The amendment would not prevent the provision of euthanasia or assisted suicide by willing practitioners, nor rational arguments aimed at persuading practitioners to participate, nor the offer of incentives to encourage participation. It is an addition that does not otherwise change the text of Bill C-7. Nor does it touch the eligibility criteria proposed by the Supreme Court and subsequent cases. However, the amendment would prevent state institutions or anyone else from attempting to force unwilling citizens to be parties to killing someone or aiding in suicide. It would prevent those in positions of power and influence from harassing, punishing or disadvantaging anyone who refuses to be a party to inflicting death on others.

Unnecessary and Redundant? Evaluating Canada’s Genetic Non-Discrimination Act, 2017

In 2017, Canada’s Genetic Non-Discrimination Act (GNDA) came into force. The GNDA’s enactment was prompted by concerns about genetic discrimination given the growing amount of genetic data being collected and stored by medical practitioners, but also by for-profit genetic testing companies. Critics have questioned whether discrimination of this kind even exists, and have suggested that the Act, and the changes that it required to the Canada Labour Code (CLC) and Canada Human Rights Act (CHRA), are redundant. In this paper, I explore the merits of these critiques by evaluating studies, anecdotal evidence, and case law on genetic discrimination. I argue that there is a small but growing body of evidence that genetic discrimination is occurring in Canada. The Act’s amendments to the CLC and CHRA may be somewhat redundant. However, given the growing trend of people thinking of diseases and conditions based on their genetic properties, the privacy concerns raised by genetic data, and the deterrent and symbolic potentials of the Act, I argue that it is an important new tool for preventing and prohibiting what could become a growing basis for discrimination. If the Act, which has been challenged for being ultra vires the Parliament of Canada’s jurisdiction over criminal law, is invalidated, its enactment, and this assessment of it, nonetheless provide insight into what desirable intra vires legislation might look like at the federal and provincial levels to deal with genetic discrimination.

The Gross Indecency of Criminalizing HIV Non-Disclosure

This article complicates the narrative that the Canadian carceral system no longer targets queer people. It does so by reading two moments beside each other. One is 1969, when the Parliament of Canada, following the Supreme Court of Canada’s gross indecency decision in Klippert v the Queen, reformed parts of the Criminal Code in an ostensible liberalization. The other is 2017, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued an apology to queer people against the backdrop of the ongoing criminalization of people who have sex while living with HIV. By reading these two moments beside each other, the article aims to track the criminal law’s regulation of queerness, examining the push and pull between the appearance of seemingly new carceral dynamics and the persistence of tropes of promiscuity, deviance, and pathology from earlier periods.