Status of Women committee  No, no, there are questions of intersectionality. Sometimes it's a problem that we think of this dichotomously—man and woman—but absolutely not; there has to be outreach into ethnic communities, visible minority communities, lesbian and gay communities to make sure our parliament

Status of Women committee  I would actually defer to Professor Childs and Professor Campbell, who have done more work specifically on that. Professor Childs has written a fabulous report on making a more gender-friendly Parliament, which I think is part of it, seeing themselves in the role and thinking t

Status of Women committee  It's a difficult question around quotas. When we look internationally—there was talk about Ireland in the earlier panel—we have to keep in mind that they have a different system. They're electing three, four, or five members from each constituency. It's easier to impose a quota w

Status of Women committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. I have not had the privilege of previously meeting all of the members of the committee, so I'll briefly introduce myself. I'm a professor of political science at Carleton University, where I hold the Bell chair in Canadian parliamentary democracy. My rese

Electoral Reform committee  Again, I would point to the New Zealand experience. It had two referendums, so that the first time, New Zealanders were not making the definitive choice. I contrast that with the Ontario or P.E.I. experiences, or even the experience in British Columbia. Voters showing up in Ont

Electoral Reform committee  I think so. I think that is false. I'm sure every Prime Minister wishes that he or she had 100% of the power but can point to a lot of examples where that's not the case. I think you see that in the way your caucuses and your committees work. This is where I get a bit uncomfortab

Electoral Reform committee  Absolutely.

Electoral Reform committee  At this stage, the obvious answer is no. Most Canadians haven't thought through the issue. I'm not sure that my answer would be the same if we engaged in a year-long consultation, information, and education process with Canadians. In terms of that, I think the New Zealand examp

Electoral Reform committee  Yes, and it's not completely hypothetical. In New Brunswick when Frank McKenna won with 60% of the vote, Mr. Hatfield got 40% and no seats in the legislature. On the other hand, at the federal level and with the regionalization of our system, a party's not going to win 40% of t

Electoral Reform committee  When I look at our system, beyond gender representation, which I think is a huge issue, and perhaps the representation of other minority groups that are currently disadvantaged and under-represented in our Parliament, when I look over time, I think one of the most troubling thing

Electoral Reform committee  There's a lot there. I think what you're highlighting is that there are competing principles. You need to prioritize what it is you want to accomplish through an electoral system. No system is best, no system is perfect, and no system can accomplish all of these different legiti

Electoral Reform committee  Sure. I would take just 10 seconds at the beginning to touch on something from a previous conversation. In reading the testimony of some of my colleagues who have appeared before you, I can say, without exaggeration, that I've been shocked by the attitude of some of them that Can

Electoral Reform committee  Yes.

Electoral Reform committee  Sure. Look at the New Zealand example, for instance, where there was that kind of government-funded and initiated educational program. I think with a robust educational process Canadians would be able to understand the basics of what's required. They don't need to understand the

Electoral Reform committee  In the other countries they continue to be considered independent parties.