Status of Women committee  I think we've answered it.

Status of Women committee  In our exit interviews we try to show the voices of MPs, so this is me reading into what we've heard in the past. One big point we find in our surveys generally is that for MPs, the career ladder at Parliament is very strict. There are not many options, other than trying to get

Status of Women committee  Well, this was the second time Samara surveyed MPs. We surveyed them in the 41st Parliament and now in the 42nd. I think there was a change in the sense of awareness of this problem. There seems to be a cultural change around how heckling is perceived, from a moment when it was

Status of Women committee  That's a suggestion we think we should try, because I think anonymity is certainly letting people off the hook when they do heckle.

Status of Women committee  I'll jump in, but my panellists may have something more to add. You're right. In our experience, speaking to former MPs—and these are the people who won in the nomination process—they often called it a “black box” in terms of what goes on behind the scenes. There are a lot of wa

Status of Women committee  Good afternoon, Madam Chair and members. Thank you for this opportunity to speak to you about the barriers facing women in politics. I am the executive director of the Samara Centre for Democracy. Samara is a non-partisan charity dedicated to strengthening Canada's democracy

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Well, at this early point—and maybe I'll revise my comments after we hear from more witnesses on this study—I think the answer is probably have some guidelines for the commission so that they have something to also point back to and say, “This is my job, and I'm doing my job here

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I have a similar note on the research point. We have very little in Canada, as I'm sure you may be encountering. On the role for parties and broadcasters, I think there's still a significant one, because they are such critical players that they need to feel a sense of ownership

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'm very sympathetic to that point of view. Samara Canada obviously does exit interviews with departing members because we believe that individual members matter. I think we know for a fact that national debates among party leaders are already a feature, and we think they're a va

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, the Chief Electoral Officer recognizes that Elections Canada must serve all registered parties, but I think we also recognize the fact that not all parties are, in practice, equal. I go back to the broadcast piece: not all parties get the same amount of broadcast time. We ha

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I wouldn't consider myself fully conversant in artificial intelligence, but I know it's a debate that's coming to legislators. Truck driving is often brought up as the example that's most immediate, but I think it's going to change everything. It's coming to politics, and we have

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Ditto. I think Canadians would find it eminently reasonable that they're guaranteed at least one debate, and setting a floor for that, I think, is not too burdensome on parties or broadcasters.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I would just largely echo Mr. Fox's comments. Again the broadcasting arbitrator is interesting, because the criteria are in law but there's discretion. He's been able to, over time, sort of modulate that formula in terms of allocating broadcast time. Again, let's say these are t

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I think we ask our Chief Electoral Officer to do a lot, so I would be hesitant to go beyond making sure that the post is filled with a competent person who can help manage the process. In particular, I think our election system is served by being above the fray, and political deb

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes. I don't think what we're asking our broadcasters to do is too onerous, given it's three hours in one debate every four years, to make it a common licence for everyone.