The Parliamentarian 2013 Issue One - Overcoming challenges in democracy

TheParliamentarian Journal of the Parliaments of the Commonwealth

2013 | Issue One XCIV | Price £13

KIRIBATI:

Overcoming challenges in democracy since independence PAGE 26

PLUS Living with terrorism: An account of a nation’s pain PAGE 14

Water resource management: Problems and prospects

The Crown in Canada: Adapting to the future

Engaging young people PAGE 34

PAGE 22

PAGE 18

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Calendar of Events 2013 April 14-20

International Executive Programme for Parliamentary Staff, Montreal, Canada

24

CPA/CTO UNCTAD Parliamentary Workshop on Cyber Security, Yaounde, Cameroon

May 7-9

CPA/NDI Study Group on Parliament and PMOs, London, United Kingdom

22-3

CWP Southern Africa Regional Gender Workshop, Gaborone, Botswana

27-1 June

Commonwealth Parliamentary Seminar, Singapore

July 14-20

51st CPA Canadian Regional Conference, Edmonton, Alberta

21-27

44th CPA African Regional Conference, Windhoek, Namibia

August 28-6 September

Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, Johannesburg, South Africa

The publication of a Calendar of CPA events is a service intended to foster the exchange of views between Branches and the encouragement of new ideas. Further information may be obtained from the Branches concerned or the Secretariat. Branch Secretaries are requested to send updates of this material to the Information Officer (pirc@cpahq.org) to ensure the Calendar is full and accurate.

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Available to Members and Officials of the CPA for purchase from the CPA Secretariat, Suite 700, Westminster House, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA, U.K. Tel.: (+44-20) 7799-1460 Fax: (+44-20) 7222-6073 E-mail: hq.sec@cpahq.org Also available to members of the public from booksellers.

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CONTENTS

2013: ISSUE ONE 26

18 Journal of the Parliaments of the Commonwealth Vol. XCIV 2013: Issue One ISSN 0031-2282 Issued by the Secretariat of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Suite 700, Westminster House, 7 Millbank, London SWIP 3JA, United Kingdom Tel: (+44-20) 7799-1460 Fax: (+44-20) 7222-6073 Email: hq.sec@cpahq.org www.cpahq.org Publisher: Dr William F. Shija Secretary-General Editor: Andrew Imlach Director of Communications and Research Designer and Assistant Editor: Lisa Leaño

COMMENT

MAIN ARTICLES

Inside Issues

Living with terrorism: An account of a nation’s pain

Terrorism, water supply, ignorance and other threats to democracy Page 4

View from the Chair Opportunities through enterprise: Securing an economic future for all Page 6

View from the CWP The Role and authority of the Chair Page 8

View from the Secretary-General Media images Page 10

Front cover Kiribatian men in traditional costume. © Susanne Gervay Printed in: England by Warners Midlands, PLC; New Delhi by Jainco Art India, and Singapore by Times Printers Private Limited

Dr Nafisa Shah, MNA Page 14

Water resource management: Problems and prospects Hon. Meira Kumar, MP Page 18

The Crown in Canada: Adapting to the future Sen. the Hon. Raynell Andreychuk Page 22

Democracy in Kiribati since independence Hon. Taomati Iuta, MP Page 26

The role of the Opposition – A duty to the people of the Cook Islands Hon. Wilkie Rasmussen, MP

Engaging young people

Rt Hon. Baroness D’Souza, Mr Mason Nkabinde and Ms Claire Coulton Page 34

Global seminar on the role of Parliaments and extractive industries Page 38

The international health care time bomb: Time for action

Prof. Tim Briggs and Mr Jonathan Perera Page 40

Reviewing the Commonwealth Latimer House Principles: The A.C.T experience Mr David Skinner and Mr Tom Duncan Page 46

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52

PROFILE: CAYMAN ISLANDS

More than idle chatter: A multimedia approach to committee participation Dr Philip Massolin and Dr David McNeil Page 52

A unique parliamentary tradition: Referring Bills for double committee scrutiny in India’s upper House

NEWS

PROFILE

Parliamentary news:

Cayman Islands: Parliament and politics in the Host Branch of the 2013 CPA Executive Committee MidYear Meeting

Kenya, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, India, and British Columbia.

Page 67

Annual subscription (four issues) UK: £38 post free Worldwide: £40 surface post £46 airmail Price per issue UK: £13 Worldwide: £14 surface post £15 airmail Opinions and comments expressed in articles and reviews published in The Parliamentarian are those of the individual contributors and should not be attributed to the Secretariat of the Association.

Shri Satya Narayana Sahu Page 58

Five centuries of MPs: The History of Parliament Project Dr Paul Seaward Page 62

Promoting sustainable forest management

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INSIDE ISSUES

TERRORISM, WATER SUPPLY, IGNORANCE AND OTHER CHALLENGES TO DEMOCRACY The Editor’s note

For most Commonwealth citizens, terrorism is a distant threat that presents as a resented added security cost, or an annoying nuisance at airports. For the people of Pakistan, it is a treacherous fact of daily life, striking political targets from party Leader Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto to police stations but more often exploding at random on mothers shopping in bazaars or children riding home on school buses. And it does not stop there: it also strikes at Pakistan’s international reputation as a Commonwealth parliamentary democracy striving to bring good governance and development to its people.

Some will argue that Pakistan is the author of its own misfortune: a breeding ground for forces that would use terrorism against others should not be surprised when the terrorists turn on their hosts. Our leading article in this issue, by Dr Nafisa Shah, MNA, of the Pakistan National Assembly, acknowledges some in her country have contributed to terrorism elsewhere. But, she counters, that is only a small and misleading part of the story about Pakistan and the war on terrorism. As we go to press, Dr Shah is in the midst of a national election campaign that democrats hope will not be scarred as the 2008 campaign was by the suicide bombing that took the life of Benazir Bhutto. The case Dr Shah makes here is compelling reading for all who have complained

about the cost of security budgets or the irritation of airport screenings and searches.

From Islamabad we turn to New Delhi where India faces, among its many challenges, the rising demand for water to supply its flourishing population and its burgeoning economy. The Speaker of the Lok Sabha, India’s lower House, Hon. Meira Kumar, MP, writes here that Parliament is playing a prominent role in ensuring that her country’s water needs are met. Its role does not stop with passing legislation and overseeing government water policies and performance; she notes that innovative ways have been developed so Indian MPs and the building in which they meet are all doing their part to make the best possible use of India’s water.

On a cold April morning in 1982, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, sat at a desk on a dais erected in front of Canada’s Parliament Buildings to sign into law the country’s new constitution and its Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This very public display of the monarchy and Parliament in action was only one of the many examples of how Canada has been well served by its monarchy throughout its history. Sen. the Hon. Raynell Andreychuk, a Saskatchewan Member of Canada’s Senate, enters a debate that has bubbled to the surface in Canadian politics from time to time

over whether the country should retain the monarchy. Unfortunately, Sen. Andreychuk notes, the debate has usually failed to appreciate fully what the monarchy has contributed to Canadian politics – and Canadian life – thus raising the possibility that, in the words of another Saskatchewan woman, “you don’t know what you’ve lost till it’s gone”. Sen. Andreychuk writes here that the successful conclusion to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year is the ideal time to open the debate again, but this time by promoting the real value of the monarchy in the development of Canadian society.

These first three articles and two others later in this issue are written by women but are not about a gender issue. An article on gender is featured in this issue’s Profile on the Cayman Islands Legislative Assembly, host to the 2013 Mid-Year Meeting of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Executive Committee, where there is a government headed by a woman in a Legislature with a woman as its Speaker. Premier Hon. Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, JP, MLA, leads a government which sits in the Cayman Islands Legislative Assembly under the watchful eye of Madam Speaker Hon. Mary J. Lawrence, MBE, JP, who is ably advised by another woman, Clerk Mrs Zena Merren-Chin.

Although the Cayman Islands

has a long tradition of women as Speakers and Clerks and in leadership roles elsewhere in society, Mrs O’Connor-Connolly is the first woman in her current position, the first woman to represent her constituency in the sister islands of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, the first female Deputy Premier and the first woman to have been a Minister. She is also, at the time of writing, the only female elected Member, so when she became Premier in December 2012, Premier O’Connor-Connolly named Hon. Dwayne Seymour, MLA, as the Minister of Community Affairs, Gender and Housing and it is he who writes about what the Cayman is doing to advance the participation of women in the Caribbean territory’s political life.

Mrs O’Connor-Connolly writes twice in this Profile, once on its constitutional position as an internally self-governing British overseas territory and then on its programmes to protect the environment. Madam Speaker Lawrence, who was appointed to her post from outside the House, also writes twice, first on the long history of the Legislative Assembly and then on the history of the Islands, which prides itself in having always paid its own way and never having relied on funds from the British government.

Two other Ministers, Hon. J. Mark P. Scotland, JP, MLA, and Hon. Cline Glidden, MLA, write

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INSIDE ISSUES

about funding from two opposing perspectives: Mr Scotland writes on spending on health care and Mr Glidden on how the Caribbean islands have successfully protected their income from tourism despite the global financial crisis.

Leaving the Cayman Islands, this issue turns to the Pacific where Members from two small island nations, Kiribati and the Cook Islands, write on different aspects of the application of the Westminster parliamentary system to their Pacific cultures. Hon. Taomati Iuta, MP, Speaker of the Parliament of Kiribati, reports that parliamentary government has cost his central Pacific people some of their valuable tradition of co-operative community spirit. Hon. Wilkie Rasmussen, MP, Leader of the Opposition in the Cook Islands, notes that the Westminster role of an official opposition has also taken time to be widely accepted by Islanders.

He writes that his party still does not have all the support and powers of oppositions elsewhere; but its role is now respected by the people, the government and its own Members as a legitimate part of the parliamentary process and not a waste of time.

Promoting understanding of the parliamentary system is what Youth Parliaments are all about. The CPA’s Fifth Commonwealth Youth Parliament, held in December 2012 at Westminster, performed that function for about 60 young people from all over the Commonwealth.

Rt Hon. Baroness D’Souza of Wychwood, the Lord Speaker, writes in this issue on the organization of this learning experience. Government Chief Whip Mr Mason Nkabindi of Mpumalanga and Opposition Leader Ms Claire Coulton of New South Wales write on their experiences as Youth Parliamentarians, experiences which they hope will take them and many of their fellow Youth Members much further into the parliamentary arena.

For many jurisdictions, the development of mineral and petroleum resources has been a boon that brought rapid development

and a high standard of living. For others, it has been a curse that has brought violence, corruption, uneven development and disillusionment.

A group of Parliamentarians from Commonwealth countries, states and provinces with experience in extractive industries came together in Vienna last October under the auspices of the CPA with experts from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank Institute and Revenue Watch International to discuss how to avoid the problems that resource development can bring. Their Concluding Statement is published in this issue to provide some guidance to the many Parliamentarians in a growing number of Commonwealth countries who are embarking on resource development in the hope that it leads to prosperity not disaster.

One sure path to financial difficulty, if not disaster, is to do nothing about a policy time-bomb that Mr Scotland cited in the Cayman Islands: the rising demand for and cost of health care. Prof. Tim Briggs proposes in this issue a different approach to treating patients in one medical discipline, orthopaedics.

Writing with Mr Jonathan Perera, Prof. Briggs describes a new treatment model which he has put to Britain’s government with the support of patient and medical professional groups. He argues the model, which is being trialled in England by the National Health Service, could improve treatment and reduce costs, not just in Britain but in other countries as well. One international study 15 years ago found that the treatment of musculoskeletal disease alone cost 2.5 per cent – not of health spending but of gross national product. With ageing populations, longer life expectancies and rising rates of obesity and other contributing factors, this cost will not be declining.

And with growing financial pressure to contain healthcare costs, governments and oppositions around the Commonwealth will be looking closely at policies to respond to this challenge in a way which will not be political suicide.

While Pakistan may have contributed to acts of terrorism elsewhere, that is a small and misleading part of the story.

When the CPA published its Benchmarks for Democratic Legislatures, the Legislative Assembly of the Australian Capital Territory was the first to test itself against them. It has now taken its self-assessment programme a step further by examining its performance against the Commonwealth Latimer House Principles on the Three Branches of Government. Mr David Skinner, the Assembly’s Manager of Strategy and Parliamentary Education, and Mr Tom Duncan, the Clerk of the Legislature, report the results in this issue.

The results of a different study are also reported in this issue as Dr Philip Massolin, Manager of Research Services, and Dr David McNeil, Clerk of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, examine the results of using the social media to elicit public reactions to assist an Assembly committee in reviewing the performance and policies of the Canadian province’s Heritage Savings Trust Fund, a multi-billiondollar investment fund. Having experienced low levels of attendance using the more traditional public hearings approach, the committee turned to the internet. The public input results achieved through the social media are reported here.

The work of committees in another House, India’s Rajya Sabha, is also examined in this issue. Shri Satya Narayana Sahu, a senior

official of India’s national House of the States, describes how his House has doubled committee scrutiny to improve legislation. Not satisfied with joint scrutiny by a committee of both Houses of the Indian Parliament, the upper House has followed this up in certain cases with further scrutiny by the upper House alone.

Finally, we feature an article on the resolution of a problem faced by the British Parliament which many – but not all – Commonwealth Parliaments will find strange. Dr Paul Seaward, Director of the History of Parliament Project¸ writes on the research being undertaken in the United Kingdom to identify who has actually sat in Parliament over the centuries. With as many as 40,000 people having been elected to Westminster, including those who took office as many as seven or eight centuries ago when record-keeping was not what it has become more recently, it is not surprising that the identities of all who have ever served as Westminster MPs are not clearly known. For those who administer more recent Parliaments, it is incomprehensible that a House would not have a full and accurate record of its Members. But with several other Commonwealth Parliaments that date back many centuries, including one in the Isle of Man with a thousand-plus years of parliamentary government, this surely cannot be a problem unique to Westminster.

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VIEW FROM THE CHAIR

OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH ENTERPRISE: SECURING AN ECONOMIC FUTURE FOR ALL

mind. Furthermore, similarities in legal systems governing contracts and shared Over the last few years I have been greatly heartened to see the renewal of focus language make doing business with these countries far cheaper than with many and energy given to the unique Commonwealth family of nations. The annual others. celebration of Commonwealth Day on 11 March is a chance to reflect on this What I feel to be great cause for optimism does not renewal and look to the future of organizations like the mean that the member states of the Commonwealth have Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA). In all no obstacles in the way of progress and development. To the comment, praise and constructive criticism made of highlight but one example of the challenges faced by the the Commonwealth, from the recommendations of the Commonwealth’s member states, we can look at its large Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group to the several number of small island nations, in particular in the Caribbean, academic critiques of the Commonwealth Advisory Indian Ocean and Pacific.

Bureau, I am delighted with the consistent theme of the Although hugely geographically and culturally different, Commonwealth’s key strength: the vast and rich diversity almost all these countries are particularly at risk from climate of its membership and citizenship. change and associated rising sea levels; they have economies Nowhere is this more evident than in this year’s highly dependent on tourism, the financial services and choice of Commonwealth theme “Opportunities Through fisheries; and they are suffering the effects of high levels Enterprise”, launched on Commonwealth Day. This year’s of emigration, in particular as their young people leave to theme celebrates the Commonwealth’s vast human Rt Hon. Sir Alan Haselhurst, chase broader horizons. For these countries, diversification potential and, as Commonwealth Secretary-General H.E. MP of their economies is an obvious priority, but far more easily Kamalesh Sharma has put it, “the ways in which talent Chairperson of the CPA identified than achieved. That said, I take pleasure from the and innovation can be supported and put to the best use Executive Committee development that one of them, St Helena, is at last to have an possible”. airport.

With a collective population of two billion citizens, or With its specific mention of “enterprise”, the theme also directs us to examine approximately one-third of the world’s population, and with over half of these economic engagement at all levels of society, and in particular the importance under the age of 25, the Commonwealth is unique among global fora. Its of microenterprise. Microenterprise is a crucial factor in bottom-up economic membership equally represents countries with booming economic growth, development and sustainable, inclusive growth. In particular, it is a means of economies dominated by agriculture, small island nations whose very existence giving women the opportunity for economic empowerment and involvement in is threatened by climate change, as well as some of the poorest countries in the economic decision-making at a local level. This in turn advances gender equality world; countries as different as Antigua and Barbuda and Zambia with over 50 in and social justice, which is a contributing factor to sustainable and equitable between. development.

Universal access to education to as high a level as possible must be a priority I warmly welcome this year’s theme and celebrate all it implies: fostering for all governments, as must seeking solutions to youth unemployment and lack the talent of the next generation, creating closer economic links between of engagement in the political process.

Commonwealth member states, broadening economic engagement throughout The 2013 theme also urges us all to look around at new avenues for all sectors of society and furthering progress towards the goal of equality of investment and growth. The Commonwealth links some of the world’s fastestopportunity. I very much hope that you, my Commonwealth colleagues, will join growing, most resource-rich economies including Papua New Guinea, Zambia, me in applauding this as a statement of some of our joint aspirations for 2013 Ghana, Mozambique and India, as well as several others that have emerged from and the CPA’s efforts to promote and achieve these. the global crisis relatively unscathed – Australia, Singapore and Canada spring to 6 | The Parliamentarian | 2013: Issue One

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VIEW FROM THE CHAIR

The Commonwealth links some of the world’s fastest-growing, most resource-rich economies including (from clockwise): Ghana, India and Papua New Guinea.

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VIEW FROM THE CWP

THE ROLE AND AUTHORITY OF THE CHAIR

• Proposes all motions when seconded; On 12 April 2013, it will be 13 years since I was elected as the Speaker of • Grants a general permission to media representatives to attend sittings, and Dominica’s Parliament where the nominated sit with the elected in a unicameral • Admits strangers to the House and requests their House of Assembly. I think it is fitting that I sensitize withdrawal as necessary.

Parliamentarians to my perception of my roles as Speaker.

The Speaker is responsible under the Standing Orders The Speaker in Dominica chairs the Standing Orders for all aspects of the management and administration of Committee, Privileges and Parliamentary Proceedings the House and also has power to regulate the conduct Broadcasting Committees and the Constituency Boundaries of matters not provided for in the rules. The Speaker is Commission. a creature of and derives powers, authority, duties and The Speaker is responsible for the observance of rules of obligations from not only the Standing Orders but also order in the House. Standing Order 86 says very forcefully: “A the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Dominica. decision by the Speaker, whether relating to these Standing They provide for the election of a Speaker, either after Orders or to a matter for which these Standing Orders do a general election or whenever a vacancy occurs, from not provide, shall not be challenged save upon a substantive among the Members of the House who are not Ministers motion moved for that exclusive purpose”. Standing Order 50 or Parliamentary Secretaries, or from among persons who lays down procedures for the maintenance of order. are not Members. I was elected from among persons not Hon. Alix Boyd Knights, MHA In Dominica, particularly in the recent past, the Speaker Members of the House.

Chairperson of the has been tested repeatedly in getting some Members to A Speaker who is an elected or nominated Member Commonwealth Women adhere to the rules. Once when the rules on suspending only votes when the other Members are equally divided Parliamentarians Members were invoked, the entire opposition (save one) and then exercises a casting vote. A Speaker elected from was affected, resulting in loss of remuneration. That became outside the House has neither an original nor a casting the subject of litigation when the Speaker was taken to vote. court for, among other things, depriving Members of their The Speaker among other things: pay. The court ruled that the Standing Orders were clear, • Presides in the House and regulates the conduct of withholding salaries was in order and the claimants were ordered to pay costs to its business; the three defendants (the Speaker, Attorney General and Sergeant-at-Arms) of • Commences, suspends and adjourns sittings; EC$207,000.

• Has regard to maintenance a quorum at all times; Later when the Speaker directed opposition Members to withdraw, they • Rules on the admissibility of documents, notices of motion and, where willingly did so bearing in mind, one surmises, the likely effect on their pockets. appropriate, consents to dispensing with notice; The Speaker vets questions and motions from Members, ensuring • Rules on amendments to motions; they conform to content (questions) and scope (motions). Questions and • Determines whether matters raised as Definite Matters of Urgent Public supplementaries are subject to the Standing Orders and the interpretation of Importance are valid; which the Speaker is the sole judge. In Dominica, a few Members try at every • Regulates debate with regard to timekeeping and manner of speaking, right turn to take issue with the Speaker on the admissibility of questions. In small of reply, interruptions, points of order, scope of debate, contents of speeches, jurisdictions such as ours, Members often use the grapevine and the media to anticipation and closure of debate as well as rules for Members not attempt to get the government to admit something. They couch their questions to speaking get the desired answer. When the Speaker points out that the questions infringe • Determines whether motions to suspend Standing Orders and claims for the Standing Orders and either disallows or alters them, Members often attribute privilege are validly made; bias and/or other motives to the Speaker.

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VIEW FROM THE CWP

In our Parliament the quorum is 12 Members. I often have to wait to start a sitting because there is no quorum.

On one occasion, I decided to enter the Chamber five minutes after the scheduled time of commencement.

There was no quorum present, I announced this and walked out of the Chamber with the Sergeant-at-Arms.

The Speaker is concerned with the image of Parliament and should demand that the House conduct itself with decorum, order and dignity. Members must be called upon to adhere strictly to the rules and their compliance contributes greatly towards that end. In upholding the image of Parliament, I have on many occasions had to remind the media of their duty to report proceedings accurately and, where they have reported inaccurately, to remedy the wrong reporting.

Some jurisdictions have a Parliamentary Privileges Act. In the absence of such legislation in Dominica, the constitution provides: “No civil or criminal proceedings may be instituted against any Member of the House for words spoken before, or written in a report to, the House or a committee thereof or by reason of any matter or thing brought by him therein by petition, Bill, resolution, motion or otherwise.”

In spite of the immunity from suit with which Parliament is clothed, the Speaker should not permit what would otherwise be defamatory statements against The Speaker’s Chair in the Chamber of Dominica’s House named individuals during debate or as an aside. The of Assembly.

Standing Orders speak of “unparliamentary language” and “imputing improper motives”.

The scope of a Bill or motion sets the parameters for debate. The Speaker’s attempts to keep the debate relevant may often be met with harsh criticism both in and outside the House. If one Member is permitted to widen the debate, it is only fair The Speaker is a time-keeper. I have not experienced any difficulty with to allow other Members to respond; but they should not go beyond what was said this. Members have complied with my call to discontinue and most requests initially. for additional time are granted, though opposition requests for further time are At the very least, the Speaker should foster a cordial relationship with all sometimes shortened.

Members on both sides of the House. An open-door policy and a fair share of Administrative duties include ensuring adherence to all deadlines and attention demonstrate objectivity and impartiality and allow Members to feel time-frames stipulated in the Standing Orders for notices of meetings and the “comfortable” with the Speaker. dispatch of Order Papers to Members. Although every effort is made to meet An active Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association also these times, it is not unusual for a Member to object that the service of the Order fosters close relations since the CPA transcends parties and factions and Paper did not satisfy the four clear days mandated by the rules, or that a particular encourages Members as Parliamentarians to fulfil their role of service to the Bill was too voluminous to be taken through all readings at that particular meeting. people.

I have noticed, however, that sometimes even short and medium-length Bills In my responsibility for the parliamentary precincts, I was confronted with have not been fully perused beforehand. an unusual situation when, prior to a sitting, an opposition Member said publicly The Speaker should always be impartial as Members expect that the that persons would be “coming with bazookas” and other weapons to deal Speaker’s primary duty is to defend the rights, privileges, traditions and with opponents. The police took the statement very seriously and Members on independence of Parliament. The Speaker is the servant not the master of the both sides were searched by police upon their entry into the Chamber. I only House and is bound by the Standing Orders. The Speaker must apply them to became aware of this as Members spoke about it when the sitting commenced. ensure Members’ rights are not infringed, particularly those of the minority.

Opposition Members vociferously condemned this action. I naturally apologized Where Standing Orders do not provide for a matter, we have the common to Members and took full responsibility as the Speaker is ultimately responsible provision that resort is to be had to the usage and practice of the House of for all that goes on within the precincts. An inquiry was undertaken by the Commons of Great Britain. The Speaker may also seek guidance and counsel Privileges Committee but was never concluded. from other authoritative texts on parliamentary practice and procedure, other The job of the Speaker can be arduous. Sittings often go on well past Parliaments and advisory staff. midnight and, whereas Members may go off for a rest, the Speaker continues to The Speaker should be familiar with parliamentary procedure and be ready sit. I receive wide support from most of the public over the airwaves and otherwise at a moment’s notice to interpret and apply Standing Orders. Knowledge of past and am encouraged by that. I now have the honour of being the longest serving proceedings may permit the Speaker to resort to “settled practice” for a matter Speaker in Dominica. where no rule exists.

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VIEW FROM THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

MEDIA IMAGES

The process of mass communication involves the daily production and distribution of millions of print and electronic messages and images across the world. The conventional role of mass media is to transmit messages that are considered useful to individuals in private and public life.

The fundamental human rights of freedom of expression and of the press seek to give individuals constitutional rights to communicate and associate freely.

What often disturbs me, however, is that the majority of the media in industrialized countries appear to focus on negative images that obtain in poor but developing countries.

World political and economic history has always been reported by the media, locally and internationally. The tradition of coverage has always been reporting events that make news, news being the unusual daily happenings.

During peace and war, the media has always and rightfully

Dr William F. Shija Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association

disseminated the real events, bad or negative as they are. This appears to be the cardinal principle of the media: to inform the public as soon as events occur.

Since the emergence of the United Nations, the period of the Cold War and the emergence of globalization, much effort has been done by international organizations to combat poverty, illiteracy and disease. The fight against endemic and pandemic diseases, such as smallpox, malaria, tuberculosis, leprosy and the current HIV/AIDS pandemic has been commendably discharged by the international community for the benefit of the world.

The disturbing aspect of media coverage occurs when gaping pictures of child and adult poverty are displayed by print media and television. It appears that the negative portrayals of poverty and misery in the developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America, are preferred by the international media. The images of ravaging poverty,

The Secretary-General’s

The Premier of the Cayman Islands, Hon. Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, MP, (left) and H.E. the Governor, Duncan Taylor (right) with the Secretary-General (centre).

Dr William F. Shija speaking at International W Interim Director Ms Esther Eghobamien, Com Lord Speaker Baroness D’Souza; and Barone

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VIEW FROM THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

malnutrition and deplorable sanitation are often displayed in isolation of any positive prospects existing in a given society. Most often, the international media do not care to present even brief backgrounds to show how the poor countries were historically – and in some cases continue to be – vandalized, exploited and the people disorganized and marginalized through slavery and colonialism.

These exploitative activities against poor countries continue in present times through human trafficking and modern slavery, economic domination and exploitation, cheap labour, aid, psychological dependency and environmental destruction.

Although there are many efforts being made by the developing societies themselves to overcome the effects of centuries of exploitation, the international media make no linkages with present-day failures and challenges. The focus of foreign media has been to simply blame these societies for corruption, lack of good governance and insufficient democracy.

The focus is often on how these poor countries should mimic the democratic values and practices of former colonial powers, sometimes without making cultural or environmental adjustments to suit their local needs and what their people want.

I am delighted to note, however, that efforts are now being initiated by the local media in developing countries to kick-start “positive message” journalism for their people. Sometimes supported by public funds, local media organizations in some African, Asian and Latin American countries are now working on positive media documentation to portray the development efforts their governments, Parliaments and people are carrying out.

There is no doubt that soon after independence 50 to 60 years ago, a number of countries in Africa and Asia did not have a clear choice on leadership and development. The international community was divided between the West and East Blocs. This division bred an intense Cold War. In the contemporary times, when even China is supporting the construction of democratic institutional infrastructures such as Parliament buildings in some Commonwealth countries, the international media ought to change their stance.

Yes, the last 50 to 60 years saw countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia move from the same level of development as some countries in Africa to become present-day fairly developed countries. The argument made by some leaders in Malaysia and Singapore is that they followed their own development path, navigating their own way to progress with the support of their own media.

Similarly, however, in contemporary times, many countries that made “mistakes” of copying foreign development models are now quickly changing to diversify their political and economic pathways, with the support of their media, to enable the maximum utilization of their human and material resources.

The international media are currently but surprisingly reporting that the next decade will see some of the rapidly developing countries being those in Africa and Asia. This means that the local media in Africa and Asia should drum it loud to show that their leaders and citizens have redoubled their efforts, having been left in deep pits of underdevelopment and misery in the immediate postindependence period.

Indeed, it is important for the local media in Africa and Asia to drum it up loud to show how education and other social services have multiplied in 50 years.

For example, in several countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia, Kenya, Uganda and others, which at independence between 1957 and 1963 had countable numbers of doctors and engineers, have now moved on to supply specialists in various fields of occupation at home and abroad.

Policies in those countries have enabled both women and men to access education, even by just gaining basic literacy. There are several other comparative statistics to show that our Commonwealth countries in Africa and Asia are moving rapidly towards modernization, and the political landscape is encouraging for both men and women.

The other aspect of negative international media images is that aid organizations display gaping pictures of malnourished and miserable children in Africa and other parts of the world, apparently to support the campaign for funds from potential donors. The images, repeated again and again, appear to be deliberately used to convince potential donors that misery could be overcome by

Commonwealth gallery

nternational Women’s Day at the Commonwealth Secretariat. Seated from left to right: obamien, Commonwealth Secretary-General H.E. Kamalesh Sharma, United Kingdom za; and Baroness Lindsay Northover.

The Speaker of the Parliament of Quebec and CPA Branch President Hon. Jacques Chagnon, MNA, (right) with the Secretary-General.

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their donations to the agencies working for children’s welfare. However, while it could be true that some children have dire needs in many parts of the world, even in Europe and the Americas, repeatedly displaying the same miserable images of children is inhuman, unfair and a violation of human rights. In fact, in many cases, the societies with those miserable children may not even know how the funds were being utilized by aid agencies through such children’s misery and despair. I believe that such practice should be stopped or changed.

In the same vein, it is important for Africa and Asia to utilize the adage that “Charity Begins at Home”. In this case, local media in African and other developing countries should work to reverse this negative imagery by advertising and donor agencies. Let the local media focus on the successes of the services to the children done in post-independence periods, highlighting the history and the political, economic and cultural successes so far realized. It is true that, taking the example of what the American writer Adam Hochschild says in King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa, Africans

were not expected to recover quickly from the physical and psychological effects of the colonial period, in which it was easy to find the hands of “naughty inventors”, for example, cut off to nip their zeal to invent, particularly those who were found attempting to make weapons of some sort. The effect of this psychological terrorism has left an indelible mark on the people from generation to generation.

In the effort to liberate the media images of Africa, I have followed with great interest the recent discussions in South Africa that seek to idolize the local development efforts by the Africans themselves. As His Majesty King Mswati III of Swaziland told the Members of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Executive Committee in Mbabane in 2010, the people in developing countries also desire to be part of the “first world”. This means there has to be full encouragement and support from the international media. This means that the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, the United Nations and its agencies, the Commonwealth and the rest are expected to support the countries that were, according to Walter Rodney, underdeveloped by Europe. While the

The Secretary-General’s The group of young people who participated in this year’s CPA Commonwealth Day programme, pictured with the Chairperson of the CPA Executive Committee, Rt Hon. Sir Alan Haselhurst, MP, (seated, second left), and the Secretary-General (seated, second right).

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international media is expected to support these efforts, the local media should champion and redouble their efforts.

As we celebrated Commonwealth Day 2013, perhaps the leaders and media owners of developing Commonwealth countries should take another look at what the first leaders attempted to do: to unite the African people, particularly for economic strength. A holistic observation clearly shows that Africans had already had a very different historical background when

the Berlin Conference of 1884 was held for Europe to scramble for the continent and impose foreign languages and cultures.

To date, in my view, the international community continues to treat Africa as a simple homogenous community. Africa, however, has the most diverse and heterogeneous community in the world and its cultural groups, further complicated by external factors, make it very difficult for former and current leaders to articulate their goals for true development. Therefore, the local

media must play a part, a serious part, in this process, raising the will and hope of both leaders and the ordinary people to be self-reliant.

In this context, it is my view that the recently formulated Commonwealth Charter should go a long way to encourage the countries that are still working on the provision of basic needs for their people in what is commonly known as “development”.

It is my view that the local media in Africa, Asia and other parts of the Commonwealth should lead the way to change the negative media images

that tarnish the positive efforts being made to improve the lives of the people. It is also time the international media supported the local media to play a role in changing the images of Africa and Asia from predominantly negative to a mixture of both the bad and the good images, as it obtains in real life.

This is because significant progress has been made in the newly independent countries during the past 50 years, in which case the people’s hopes must be encouraged and sustained.

Commonwealth gallery Dr William F. Shija (left) with Hon. Job Ndugai, MP, Deputy Speaker, Parliament of Tanzania

The Chairperson of the CPA Exectuive Committee (left) speaking at this year’s Commonwealth Day, with Dr William F. Shija seated.

The Secretary-General with the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, and CPA Executive Committee Member, Dr the Hon. Mark Robinson, MP.

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TACKLING TERRORISM

LIVING WITH TERRORISM: AN ACCOUNT OF A NATION’S PAIN Terrorism is a global problem; but no country is paying a higher price than Pakistan where daily attacks kill dozen of innocent citizens and threaten the country’s institutions, including its democratic governments, says a prominent Pakistani Parliamentarian. Some in Pakistan are contributing to the threat; but rather than blaming Pakistan for terrorism, she calls for global support for the country and its people as they fight a threat which they did not create.

Dr Nafisa Shah, MNA, in Islamabad.

Dr Shah has been Member of the Pakistan National Assembly for the Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians since 2007. A journalist and social anthropologist, she is the Chairperson of Pakistan’s National Commission for Human Development. She is also the Vice-Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.

On 10 January, 120 innocent people were killed in terrorist attacks across Pakistan, three successive attacks in Quetta and one in Swat.

Among those killed in Quetta were journalists, cameramen, daily wagers and breadwinners of families as well as the law enforcement personnel responding to the attacks. The second attack targeted the very rescue workers and law enforcement officers who came to protect the people.

A daily onslaught This was a numbing tragedy, but was not simply a case of an isolated day when something awful happened.

Such days, when hundreds of innocent lives are lost in bloody attacks, have become part of the norm. Not a day passes when we do not hear and see tragedies unfold with deaths of innocent citizens with the entire emergency machinery – ambulances, fire fighters, emergency workers, hospitals – severely challenged in the process.

These explosions and attacks in our midst affect not only our unstable border regions but all parts of the country. They take place in large cities, in congested places, in rural areas, anywhere and at anytime. And destroy all in their wake, killing young and old, men and women, leaders and workers alike. Terrorists’ enemies include everyone: religious minorities, students, teachers, health workers, politicians and just anyone who stands for a modern and progressive Pakistan.

About a month back, one of the most charismatic politicians of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and senior Minister in the provincial cabinet, Hon. Bashir Bilour, MPA, was killed in Peshawar, succumbing to a suicide attack. In 2008, we had lost Pakistan’s best icon of democratic struggle, Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, again in a suicide bombing and Governor Punjab Hon. Salman Taseer and the Minister for Minorities Hon. Shahbaz Bhatti, MP, became victims of extremism, as assassins targeted

Dr Nafisa Shah, MNA

them for their progressive views.

My country is witnessing one of the most traumatic periods in its history and going through the pain that no other nation is experiencing in the contemporary world. In fact, if any nation is the victim of terrorism, it is the Pakistan of today. Yet, there seems to be little understanding and empathy from the international community for the suffering of our people.

All the truths The present-day rhetoric on

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Pakistan needs global attention not only on the terrorist attacks taking place in the country, but also on its efforts to uphold democractic values, rights and freedoms to confront the issue.

terrorism makes repeated use of two stereotypes: first that it is fed ideologically by Islamic fundamentalism and extremism; and secondly that all terrorists, suicide bombers and killers seem to grow out from the tribal lands bordering between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Unfortunately both are facts, true for terrorism in our region.

But these facts are naturalized and presented as if it was always and

has always been this way, making this to be a problem for which we alone are considered responsible. There is little if any perspective by way of history or context that led us to this present state. For instance, it is equally a fact that terrorism was unheard of in Pakistan prior to 9/11, but this fact seldom makes it to the news analysts’ desks.

It is also a fact that Pakistani voters have never voted for religious

parties at popular level and have never subscribed to an extremist mindset while making a choice of their representatives. Finally, it is also a fact that terrorism and religious extremism in Pakistan are the products of a collective policy of the world’s powers, a political and historical phenomena growing out of the different phases of the Afghan war and the policies through which fighters were recruited, trained and supported.

It is a fact that the terrorist industry in the region is related to a call for an Islamic jihad against Soviet imperialism which was covertly encouraged and supported by the United States Central Intelligence Agency in partnership with a dictatorial and mercenary military regime in Pakistan in the 1980s. This strategy used Pakistan’s tribal territory, called the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (F.A.T.A.), as a training

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and fostering ground for transnational jihadi outfits, one of which was later to call itself Al-Qaeda and one of its leaders, Osama bin Laden, was to turn

of the greatest mountain ranges of the world, this area borders China, the former Soviet Union, and now Tajikistan, Iran, India and Afghanistan.

“I am convinced that extremism and militancy can only be confronted by a democratic system where peoples’ voices are heard and valued and where aspirations of the people are reflected in an active vibrant civil society.” his guns to his erstwhile benefactor, the United States of America.

Pakistan’s geography has also been central to our present vulnerability. Located in the foothills

It is easily the most contested site in the world today with the geopolitical rivalries of U.S.-Iran, India-China and Russia-U.S. playing out on this stage at some point or the other.

Earlier, this region was the place where “The Great Game”, originally a strategic rivalry between the British and Russian empires, was conceived and played, with Pakistan and Afghanistan serving as buffer areas protecting Great Britain’s imperial ambitions and preventing Russian incursions. Later the Cold War was played out here as the world powers used this territory to launch the counter-offensive against the Soviet incursion into Afghanistan.

Taliban to Al-Qaeda Today, our tribal region – a no-man’s land – is perhaps the last outpost of Cold War politics. For years billions of petrodollars, drug money and money generated from crime was all invested in a guerrilla war to oust the Russians

from Afghanistan. Once that was achieved, the U.S. left the region in haste without resolving the post-war trauma, or making any decisions on post-war power arrangements or even investing in the reconstruction of a war-ravaged and beleaguered country. The Taliban, students of seminaries in the Pak-Afghan border, led by the older Afghan Mujahideen, led a guerrilla revolt to fill the vacuum, or rather the ensuing chaos. Then out of this abandoned area emerged Al-Qaeda declaring its war on the West. The present militant outfits, particularly the various groups of the Taliban, are third-generation fighters of the Afghan Mujahideen and continue to be financed by drugs and crime.

When the U.S. decided to attack

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Malala Yusofzai (left) and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto (right): Both victims of the extremism that Pakistan is fighting.

Afghanistan post-9/11 and needing Pakistan for logistical and geopolitical support, they sought its assistance and Pakistan under General Musharraf made a u-turn against the Taliban and the militants it was earlier supporting.

That is when we became the enemy of the militants and fighters in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border lands. Operating from the F.A.T.A., an area where for decades the Taliban enjoyed safe havens, they have now spread into other cities like Quetta and Karachi under the banner of Tehrike Taliban Pakistan. Pakistan is left alone to deal with these lethal remnants of a vicious war as they have turned their wrath both on the state and its people.

Although terrorism has become a

global buzzword, and dominates world security politics, the human angle of terrorism rarely makes it to the world stage.

An assault on the nation and its people We here are going through a national trauma, having lost thousands of men, women and children to terrorism.

We have lost more soldiers than all North Atlantic Treaty Organization-led Coalition Forces combined in these daily attacks.

Officially, Pakistan cites a round figure of 40,000 casualties and a monetary loss of USD$50 billion, but I consider this to be a very conservative estimate. The reality is more gruesome than these numbers as negative fallouts of war have

been poverty, disease and a severely challenged state apparatus.

All wars have rules, and wars do not target civilian populations. The terrorists’ weapons are no-holdsbarred as they do not stop anywhere.

Comprising some of the most cruel and callous terrorists, these outfits engage in frequent kidnappings, suicide and bomb attacks and targeted shootings against the Pakistani nation. The terrorists are not only attacking our way of life, they are killing our best foot soldiers, our police and constabulary, our social workers, students, our health workers and teachers, and crippling our social delivery systems and our capacity to build the state. In Swat, for instance, a child activist, Malala Yusofzai, was attacked for standing up for her right to education. In Karachi, women polio workers were killed and in Swabi social workers were attacked and killed.

The gunshot wounds inflicted by the assassins are hitting at the nation’s deepest scars and, although it has renewed our force, resolve and unity against terror, it has also unravelled the schisms in Pakistan which sadly still persist. Nationwide prayers and peace vigils apart, this country, trapped in a chronic war for three decades, has developed deep fissures in its psyche. These fissures do not just divide the social world; they divide the state as well. Religious extremism has filtered into the society at several levels with a large section of the people subscribing to extremist ideals.

Fighting back Perhaps that is where our gravest challenge lies. Our history has caused its share of confusion, our dictatorships and the security establishment constructed by them having contributed to this state; and though the militants direction is towards the people of Pakistan, there is a perception that this surge in terrorist activity is related to the NATOled International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) action on Afghanistan and that all this will wither away, as if by magic, once the ISAF leaves the

region in 2014. We have yet to devise a strong politically cohesive national strategy that unites us against all terrorist activity.

Luckily, our best hope is democracy. It is the first time a democratic regime is completing its term in Pakistan and an election is due to take place in the mid-year. I am convinced that extremism and militancy can only be confronted by a democratic system where peoples’ voices are heard and valued and where aspirations of the people are reflected in an active vibrant civil society. Shaheed Benazir Bhutto repeatedly asserted: “Democracy is necessary for peace and to undermine the forces of terrorism.”

The cowardly attacks on students like Malala, polio workers, social workers and politicians have led to a strong voice calling for unity against obscurantism and militancy at the political level.

The attack on Malala has also stirred up the global community, which has begun to renew efforts in mustering global support for education in Pakistan.

Today, Pakistan needs the world’s full attention, not only for our tragic terror attacks and our human losses, but also for the fact that the nation has steadfastly upheld democratic values, rights and freedoms even as we confront militancy and terrorism, with our people demonstrating exemplary courage in facing up to the challenge. We have demonstrated courage again and again, whether it is our brave leader Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto who stood for the restoration of democracy or Malala Yusofzai, who stood for the right to education, or our polio workers or our social activists who work in the field with the poor and disadvantaged despite the odds.

The world needs to come forward and pay tribute to all the martyrs of terrorist attacks, and come forward to support us to promote, expand and strengthen the political and social space for a democratic and progressive civil society which is the only sustainable force that will confront the evil of terrorism.

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WATER MANAGEMENT

WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS The management of water resources is crucial to the advancement of society, so the Speaker of India’s House of the People reports that her institution has developed many ways to contribute to improved water use: passing legislation, monitoring water projects, bringing Members and water managers together, funding Members’ constituency water development recommendations and even harvesting the rain water off the parliamentary roof.

Hon. Meira Kumar, MP, in New Delhi

Smt. Kumar is the Speaker of the Lok Sabha of India. She stepped down as Minister for Water Resources in 2009 to become the Speaker. She was first elected to the Lok Sabha for the Indian National Congress Party in 1985 and was Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment from 2004 to 2009. Smt. Kumar was an Indian Foreign Service officer from 1973 to 1985.

Hon. Meira Kumar, MP

Water sustains life, habitat and ecosystems. It is a key driver of socio-economic development and is essential for maintaining a healthy environment. Across the world, especially in the developing countries, access to water is a vital component of growth, food security, poverty reduction and equity.

With climate change severely altering the weather patterns and impacting the way we live on Earth, countries across the globe are increasingly being confronted with acute water crises arising out of demand-supply imbalances. The demand for water resources in terms

of both quantity and quality for human consumption, sanitation and use in agricultural and industrial activities has grown exponentially with rising populations, increasing urbanization and water-intensive lifestyles.

The challenge is more serious than is generally understood as the availability of water is at the root of the sustenance of the human race and civilization. Historically, great civilizations have settled and flourished around water sources.

History also bears testimony to the fact that inadequate access to water resources has led to human conflicts. Sustainable management of water resources is, therefore, critical to development and security at all levels – local, regional, national and global. Today, around 26 countries are considered water-scarce, with the projection that by the year 2025, twothirds of the global population is likely to live in countries with a moderate to acute shortage of water. There is an urgent need to look into the supply and demand management aspects associated with water scarcity. These include adoption of techniques for improved water availability such as:

water conservation and pollution prevention, improving water use efficiency, recycling, reuse of drainage water and the like.

Conserving a vital resource The tendency to overuse and abuse the existing clean water coupled with bad water management have caused a global shortage of usable water. While rapid deforestation, poor storage facilities and over-exploitation of ground water result in water scarcity, the usability of the available scarce water resources is further reduced by dumping of pollutants into bodies of water.

Water conservation is perhaps, one of the best mechanisms to guarantee that our future is not jeopardized by a lack of fresh-water availability. It refers to reducing the usage of water and recycling of waste water for different purposes such as cleaning, manufacturing and irrigation. Water conservation can be defined in various ways: effecting a tangible reduction in water loss, use or waste as well as the preservation of water quality; a reduction in water use accomplished by the

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The sacred river Ganges: Despite government policies implemented to reduce pollution, its efforts have been unsuccessful. Civil society groups have taken up the challenge of supplementing government efforts tio help cleanse the polluting elements from the river.

implementation of water conservation or water efficiency measures, or improved water management practices that reduce or enhance the beneficial use of water. A water conservation measure is, thus, an action, behavioural change, device, technology or improved design or process implemented to reduce water loss, waste or use. The specific goals of water conservation efforts may be put as follows: • Sustainability: Ensuring availability of water for future generations and also the withdrawal of fresh water from an ecosystem at a rate not exceeding its natural replacement rate.

• Energy conservation: As water pumping, delivery and waste-water treatment facilities consume a significant amount of energy, the need for energy conservation is essential as part of the measures for water management.

• Habitat conservation: By minimizing the human use of water, we can

help preserve fresh-water habitats for local wildlife as well as for reducing the need to build new dams and other water diversion infrastructures.

and to adopt less wasteful irrigation techniques. However, many view such approaches as too harsh and counterproductive for developing economies.

One of the strategies towards conservation could be universal metering. The prevalence of residential water metering varies significantly worldwide. In addition to raising consumer awareness of their water use, metering is recognized as an important means to identify and localize water leakage.

Some researchers have suggested that water conservation efforts should be primarily directed at farmers in light of the fact that crop irrigation accounts for 70 per cent of the world’s fresh water use.

The agricultural sector is crucial both economically and politically, and water subsidies are common in most countries. Therefore, the advocates of conservation have urged removal of all subsidies to force farmers to grow more water-efficient crops

Water resource management in India India has four per cent of the world’s water resources to support nearly 18 per cent of the world population and 15 per cent of the global livestock.

Today, in India, the water crisis has become a reality with per-capita availability declining from 5,150 cubic metres in 1947 to 1,545 cubic metres in 2011. It is expected to be around 1,100 cubic metres by 2050.

With its monsoon dominated climate, spatial and temporal inequities in rainfall, having to address the demand for water from irrigation, industries and a huge population, India is faced with numerous challenges like the availability of water, its optimal management, a better distribution mechanism, the reduction of high rates of leakages, retrieving waste

water and harvesting rainwater.

India is one of the few countries where provisions for environmental conservation exist in the constitution itself. The management of India’s water resources falls under the jurisdiction of multiple government agencies, although the primary responsibility of their development is of the individual states.

The central government oversees the implementation of national policy on resource development and exploitation, and it manages the affairs relating to inter-state and international rivers and river valleys.

It also provides technical advice to individual states on water resource development, flood control, coastal erosion, dam safety, navigation and hydropower, if required. The Ministry of Water Resources at the centre is the principal agency responsible for water planning and the development of water resources in India.

Besides, a number of nongovernmental agencies are also

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proactively addressing environmental concerns, including water pollution, conservation and management independently or through collaboration with state-run agencies.

Parliamentary initiatives Parliament attaches immense importance to the conservation and efficient utilization of water. Over the years, progressive laws have ensured that environmental concerns are addressed with appropriate measures and due sincerity.

Most of the rivers in India are inter-state and as such the regulation and development of waters of these rivers is a source of inter-state differences and disputes. With regard to disputes relating to waterways, article 262 of the constitution states that “Parliament may by law provide for the adjudication of any dispute or complaint with respect to the use, distribution or control of the waters of, or in, any inter-state river or river valley”. Thus, Parliament has been mandated to regulate use, distribution and control of river water flowing across the country. Further, Entry 56 of List I of the Seventh Schedule to the constitution makes it clear that “regulation and development of interstate rivers and river valleys to the extent to which such regulation and development under the control of the union is declared by Parliament by law to be expedient in the public interest”.

The visionary framers of our constitution had, in fact, taken cognizance of the symbiotic relationship that a human being has with his/her environment. They enshrined certain provisions in the constitution to ensure that the state takes suitable measures to protect and improve the ecosystem and takes care of the forests and wildlife.

The Parliament of India has been at the helm of initiatives undertaken towards water resource management. Path-breaking legislation like The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act of 1974, The Territorial Waters, Continental Shelf, Exclusive Economic Zone and other Maritime Zone Act of 1976, The Water (Prevention and Control

of Pollution) Cess Act of 1977, The Inland Waterways Authority of India Act of 1985 and others have paved the way for prevention of pollution and management of water resources across the country. In fact, with a view to making the water conservation plans a reality, the Parliament House Complex itself has put in place its own conservation system with all the three major buildings inside the Complex having benefited from a system of rain water harvesting.

To give meaningful inputs to the Members for policy formulation and to gain deeper insights into various aspects of issues concerning their constituents, currently six Parliamentary Fora are functioning. One of these is on Water Conservation and Management.

Through this Forum, experts in the field have helped Members augment their knowledge of the related issues. Representatives from the Ministries of Water Resources, Urban Development, Rural Development, Agriculture, Science and Technology, and Drinking Water and Sanitation attend meetings and seminars organized by the Forum. The Forum is also appraised periodically by the government of the impact of the implementation of Forum suggestions/recommendations regarding water conservation and management. Consequently, when Members go back to their constituencies they are better equipped to scientifically help constituents and educate them on the means and necessity of conserving water, sanitation and hygiene, and maintaining a harmonious relation with the environment. The Forum organized 16 meetings during the 14th Lok Sabha and 11 meetings have been held so far during the 15th Lok Sabha.

The Parliament of India has, time and again, been organizing workshops, symposia and lecture series to help Members discuss and enrich their understanding of the key issues in vogue and covering diverse areas, from politics and economy to science and technology. In March 2012 it organized a workshop

on “Water Conservation and Management – with special reference to the river Ganga” (Ganges) to help Members better comprehend and grasp the gravity of the alarming rise of pollutants in the river.

Working at the local level In India, the river Ganga has, since time immemorial, been of high religious and cultural significance. The river also has immense commercial implications. Years of dumping pollutants and untreated sewage waste are now posing a serious threat to the ecological balance in the river. The efforts of the government in implementing the various policies designed to reduce pollution have not been able to free the water of this river from pollutants. Civil society groups have been trying to supplement the efforts of the government to cleanse the polluting elements of the Ganges and maintain the right ecological balance in and around the banks of this river, especially near its source.

It is said that India lives in its villages. No legislation, policy or programme can achieve its objective if its advantages do not reach the villages. The 73rd Amendment to our constitution, undertaken in 1992, is an example of India’s resolve to bring about democratic decentralization of political power and confirm that development percolates down to the poorest of the poor. Women, as housewives, have the heavy responsibility of meeting the water requirements of their homes. In rural India, more so in water-scarce areas, they walk long distances to fetch water. More than anyone else, they know how to value water. The participation of women in rural local self-government bodies has been the most satisfying element for water management. Today, nearly 37 per cent of the elected representatives in the village panchayats are women.

The panchayats are undertaking development initiatives at the grassroots level and addressing the sanitation, drinking water and irrigational needs of the rural masses.

Back in 1993, the Members of Parliament Local Area Development

Scheme was launched to enable Members to recommend development works with emphasis on the creation of durable community assets needed in their constituencies.

Right from the inception of the Scheme, durable assets of national priorities such as drinking water, primary education, public health, sanitation and roads have been created. Over the years, Members have helped their constituents undertake around 100,000 works with relation to drinking water and over 12,000 works relating to the irrigation sector. Their combined efforts have changed the rural landscape.

The Lok Sabha TV Channel, a dedicated 24-hour channel run by the Parliament of India, has been addressing social, developmental and environmental issues through its various programmes. The channel, with an outreach spread across the country, has been providing infotainment and educational assistance and promoting social awareness to the masses in the remotest of areas.

Governmental initiatives The Central Water Commission has been monitoring the storage position of reservoirs of our country. The extent to which irrigation and hydropower sectors utilize water from these reservoirs depends on rainfall and varies from year to year.

India has since independence undertaken planned development to address its developmental needs from time to time. During the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, demonstrative projects on rain water harvesting and artificial recharge have been implemented by the Central Ground Water Board under the central sector scheme of Ground Water Management and Regulation in priority areas such as over-exploited and critical areas, urban areas and the areas affected by water quality problems for replication by the state governments under similar hydrogeological environments. A “Model Bill”, which provides for mandatory harvesting of roof-top rain water, has

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Drinking water supply and sanitation are the responsibility of state governments.

been circulated to enable states and union territories to enact suitable legislation to regulate and control of ground-water development. So far, the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and the union territories of Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Lakshadweep and Puducherry have enacted legislation to deal with ground water issues.

Drinking water supply is one of the six components of Bharat Nirman, a flag-ship programme of the government of India, which was conceived as a plan to be implemented in four years, from 2005-06 to 2008-09, to build the rural infrastructure. Irrational and unsustainable water withdrawals from ground-water tanks and reservoirs for agricultural and industrial purposes are increasing at an alarming rate, which, in turn, have created an acute drinking water scarcity for the people, besides causing “ground-water depletion” in many states. This has aggravated water quality problems associated with excess fluoride, arsenic and brackishness in certain

areas and has resulted in various diseases like fluorosis and arsenical dermatitis. The Human Development Report, 2006, had called for a Global Action Plan under G8 leadership to resolve the growing water and sanitation crisis that causes nearly 2 million child deaths every year.

Drinking water supply and sanitation are the responsibility of state governments. These are included in the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution of India as among the subjects entrusted to the panchayats/ municipalities by the states. Since the First Five-Year Plan, the government of India and the state governments have substantially invested in the water supply sector to provide potable water to the people. It is perceived by many that by harvesting flood water and wasted rain water, India could easily tide over its water crisis.

The road map ahead Across the world, water scarcity is largely caused by the destruction and mismanagement of water resources and water bodies. The tendency to over-exploit and meet

the current requirements for irrigation, energy and industry have resulted in unplanned utilization of water resources. Sustainable development of water resources and their efficient management have become a necessity. While undertaking requisite measures for comprehensive and integrated development of available water resources, water resource management strategies should be carefully designed to help the society and nation at large.

There is a pressing need to integrate water projects to fulfil as many diverse demands as possible, constructing efficient multi-purpose water storage structures to provide irrigation, navigation, flood control, recreation opportunities, power generation as well as consistent water supply, and using water resources management to direct regional development, thereby maximizing economic and social returns.

Community-based water management with a vision of treating water as a common property to be managed locally by the community for sustainable development

and equitable distribution of water should be encouraged. It should encompass the missions of community empowerment of water management, protection as well as nurturing of water bodies at the grassroots and building the capacity of communities, using strategies like networking amongst communities, public agencies, water professionals; strengthening public-public partnerships; formation of core community-based water management team- and capacitybuilding.

Micro-irrigation at the grassroots level should be encouraged as the conveyance loss in micro-irrigation is minimal. Further, as a smaller power unit is required, it eases the pressure on power consumption. Weed growth is inhibited and disease incidences are reduced due to limited wetted area, thus not only aiding conservation, but also augmenting the economic returns for the resource users.

An effective institutional framework to regulate water resources within the state is indispensable for judicious, equitable and sustainable management, and allocation and utilization of water resources, given the fact that water is a finite resource and that it is crucial to sustain life, attain development and preserve the environment. Water as a resource thus needs to be brought under a regulatory framework to contend with all these issues in a holistic manner.

Water conservation and management to ward off water scarcity in the future is a grave challenge confronting the international community. Global problems call for universal solutions.

The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, having membership of Parliaments across the world, has to play a proactive role by encouraging Parliamentarians to build a consensus in their national Parliaments on the inevitability of water resource management. Collective action by the comity of nations will definitely ensure that the water requirements of coming generations are not compromised.

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THE CROWN IN CANADA: ADAPTING TO THE FUTURE Should an institution that has been an integral part of Canadian society for a century and half be replaced? Some Canadians think so. A senior Canadian Senator, however, argues that the monarchy has played an instrumental – if under-appreciated – role in building that society, a role that should be explained and promoted, especially to young people.

Sen. the Hon. Raynell Andreychuk in Ottawa

Sen. Andreychuk has been a Conservative Member of the Senate of Canada for the western province of Saskatchewan since 1993.

A lawyer and former judge and ambassador, she now chairs the Senate’s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Sen. the Hon. Raynell Andreychuk The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year provided a rare moment for national reflection among Canadians. On one hand, it conjured expressions of genuine respect and admiration for the Queen, and recognition of her dedication and hard work on behalf of our country. On the other hand, it stimulated dialogue on our system of government and the ways it has served us these last 60 years and more. Inevitably, some of our

contemplation was projected forward, with commentators anticipating future milestones in the evolving institution of the Crown.

Such reflection on the future of the Crown is not unprecedented.

Indeed, concerns about declining understanding and appreciation for the Commonwealth and the Crown have been on the rise in recent years, and various measures have been taken to counter the trend.

Noteworthy in this regard was the decision by Commonwealth Heads of Government in Perth, Australia, in October 2011 to end the practice of placing male children before their elder sisters in the line of succession and to remove legal provisions that make heirs marrying Roman Catholics ineligible to succeed to the Throne.

Despite these efforts, there are those for whom the Crown remains an anomaly, ultimately destined to be replaced with some alternative

system of government. While virtually inaudible during the Diamond Jubilee year, this perspective deserves serious consideration as our attention turns to the future of the Canadian Crown.

The debate National conversations about the building blocks of the state are critical for democracy. In order to be purposeful, they should be balanced and rooted in fact and pragmatism.

This has proven a challenge in discussing the Canadian Crown, which tends to conjure strong and divergent opinions.

Opposition to the Crown in Canada is premised largely on three arguments: that which posits the Canadian Crown as a foreign institution, that which views it as lacking relevance in modern Canadian democracy and that which views it as superfluous and easily supplanted.

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The Crown’s authenticity as a Canadian institution arises from the Queen’s simultaneous status as monarch in other realms. The title Canadian Crown can appear misplaced when speaking about a monarch whose accent and place of residence seem so distant from the Canadian experience. Understood as an institution and placed within the broader continuum of Canadian history, however, we find that the constitutional entity we today refer

to as the Canadian Crown closely reflects our national reality.

This is seen in the evolution of the monarchies of Nouvelle France (now Quebec) and British North America. Through a consistent and incremental tailoring of governance arrangements in response to specific Canadian challenges, the Crown gradually emerged as a uniquely Canadian institution in support of an independent Canadian state.

This process produced a number of

innovations that are easily recognized today as distinctively Canadian.

Take, for example, Canada’s bilingualism and multiculturalism.

Following the 1763 Treaty of Paris, by which former French territories were signed over to the British Crown, King George III adopted measures that guaranteed the rights, benefits and freedoms to “the several Nations or Tribes of Indians with whom We are connected, and who live under Our Protection”. He later extended

Above: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to Toronto in 2005.

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religious and land rights to “all His Majesty’s Canadian Subjects within the Province of Quebec,” the majority of whom were French Catholics.

Defining principles Though not always fully respected, these measures began defining ways in which the Crown in Canada gradually assumed functions distinct from those exercised in other British colonies. They established the basis of Canada’s identity as a bilingual, multiracial state, while also demonstrating an early predisposition to treaty-making over conflict in dispute resolution. Finally, the Canadian Crown’s promise of protection to minorities – a groundbreaking concept at the time – would prove instrumental in attracting the waves of immigration that allowed us to populate and consolidate our vast territory under a single flag. As the Canadian journalist and author John Fraser wrote: “The truth of the matter is that by some evolutionary constitutional miracle directly attributable to the presence of the Crown, we have found an official and constitutional way to include minorities of every description in the national and regional life of the country.”

Canada and its Crown similarly co-defined themselves through their innovation of responsible government and federalism.

Arising as a response to pressures for local representation influenced by the American Civil War, the system of responsible government bound Governors exercising authority on behalf of the monarch in Canada to follow the advice of elected local Assemblies. As stated by history teacher Nathan Tidridge in his book Canada’s Constitutional Monarchy, responsible government was ”the uniquely Canadian solution to balancing American republicanism with British monarchism”. Indeed, through responsible government Canadians chose to remain loyal to their Crown, while adapting it in a manner that provided for greater control of their domestic affairs.

In a further evolution of local

accountability, Canadian federalism is a system in which the Crown’s sovereign authority operates simultaneously in each of the 10 provinces, as well as in the federal government itself. Cumbersome as this arrangement can be, Canada’s so-called “compound monarchy” strikes a useful compromise between the dual imperatives of regional diversity and national unity.

Responsible government and federalism helped consolidate Canada’s emergence as a strong and independent country, while bilingualism, multiculturalism and treaty-making underpinned the success of the New World Canadian social project. Illustrating the Crown’s enduring capacity to adapt to the complex needs and aspirations of Canadian statehood, self-government and identity, they paint the picture of a uniquely “Canadian Crown”¸ whose character and relationship with Canadians is quite distinct from the colonial Crowns that preceded it and the Crowns that exist in other Commonwealth realms today.

An organizing principle The Crown’s formal functions in Canadian government also run deep, but go mostly unobserved. Frank MacKinnon described this paradigm in his 1976 book, The Canadian Crown: “[The Crown] works so unobtrusively that many citizens are unaware it is at work at all – a fact which is an asset in its successful operation, although a hindrance to public appreciation of it.”

Thirty-seven years later, in the transparency-oriented, 24-hour-news age, this observation rings truer than ever. Few Canadians see the Crown’s constitutional powers at work in the daily function of our federal and provincial governments. Largely this is because direct sovereign intervention has in the past been typically reserved for crisis situations. Still, the rarity of such situations does not diminish the importance of having an institution of last resort. As former Canadian Senator Eugene Forsey wrote: “The Queen or Her representative is the guardian of our democratic

constitution against subversion by a Prime Minister or cabinet who might be tempted to violate that constitution and deprive us of our right to selfgovernment. The Crown does not govern; but it makes sure that we, the people, are not prevented from governing ourselves.”

Abstract as its powers may be, the Canadian Crown’s authority underpins the operation of the executive, the Legislature and the courts in a manner designed to guarantee enlightened selfgovernment by and for the people.

Prof. David E. Smith aptly described it as “the organizing principle of Canadian government”.

Precautionary note Understanding the Canadian Crown in these terms, one appreciates the need to approach discussions about changing our constitutional arrangements with caution.

Technicalities aside, a transition away from our Westminster parliamentary system would entail much more than constitutional amendment; it would literally require us to renegotiate the myriad ways in which the powers and structures of government and society at large interact.

And for what benefit?

It is noteworthy that most British ex-colonies that chose alternate forms of government following independence did not adopt systems that vary considerably from ours.

A number of them chose dualist systems, with heads of government separate from their Parliaments, while others chose to keep their governments in Parliament, often with the Crown or a local alternative as the separate head of state. Nearly all chose to maintain ties to the Crown through membership in the Commonwealth.

This reinforces the need to consider how abandoning the Westminster system – in favour of, say, American- or French-style presidentialism, or German-style federal parliamentary republicanism – would usher in any significant improvements in the way Canadian

society functions. Certainly, Canada’s social and economic achievements appear to underscore the continuity, strength and stability our comparatively youthful democracy has enjoyed under the Canadian Crown. This leads one to question the motives for changing a system that has served Canadians well for 150 years and more?

Confronting democratic deficit Short of a solid theoretical or evidentiary basis upon which to believe that an alternative constitutional modality would afford Canadians more freedom, more efficient or effective government than we enjoy under current arrangements, what could be motivating some Canadians’ calls to abolish the Crown?

One possible explanation could be associated to what political scientists around the world have for years been describing as the “democratic deficit”. The term is used to explain a

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Canadians who witnessed events such as the first televised Throne Speech in in Parliament in 1957 or the signing of the Constitution Act in 1982 on Parliament Hill (this page) were reported to have greater levels of respect for the monarchy.

widening gap, often accompanied by expressions of distrust and antipathy, between citizens and the traditional organs of the state. What is more, these symptoms predominate among younger members of society.

The notion that discomfort with the Crown could relate to this same phenomenon seems borne out by evidence.

Canadians reporting the greatest levels of respect for the Crown are those belonging to the generations that witnessed Queen Elizabeth II delivering the first televised Speech from the Throne in 1957, and signing the Constitution Act in 1982; and who read the headlines that accompanied her appearance at Expo ‘67 or the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. As the first television sets appeared in living rooms across the country, and as modern Canada took shape, the Queen was there to be seen and heard by Canadians.

Unsurprisingly, the same Canadian demographic continues

to favour the Crown today. A recent poll found that only 37 per cent of Canadians aged 55 and up supported abolishing the monarchy.

This compares to 53 per cent of those aged 35-44, and 43 per cent of those aged 18-34. Canadians aged 55 and over were also most likely to assert that the monarchy is a home-grown Canadian institution.

Even more intriguing is the fact that voting patterns amongst Canadians of different age groups reflect an almost identical pattern. In the May 2011 federal election, for example, voter turnout was barely 50 per cent among 18-24 year-olds, and only a few points higher among those aged 24-35. Among 45-54 yearolds, by contrast, turnout was 70 per cent, peaking at 82 per cent among those aged 65-74. The reason given by the quarter of eligible voters who did not cast ballots was “not interested in voting”.

These numbers lead me to wonder whether popular

disillusionment with politics and the monarchy are dimensions of the same issue. The label “demographic deficit” could be applied. But Robert Finch, Chair of the Monarchist League of Canada, probably captured it best when he said the greatest threat to the monarchy was not republicanism but “indifference.”

Seizing the youth advantage By this reasoning, the problem facing the monarchy is not really about the monarchy at all; it is about how younger citizens interact with and relate to governments and governance issues. The question we should be asking is therefore not, “Should we do away with the Crown in Canada?” but rather, “What can be done to help younger Canadians appreciate the Crown’s role in the decisions and social frameworks that affect their lives?”

On this question, the Commonwealth’s own process of “renewal” provides some useful parallels.

In 2009, an Eminent Persons Group was tasked with finding means to improve understanding, appreciation and effectiveness of the Commonwealth and its attendant institutions. The EPG’s top recommendation involved establishing a Charter of the Commonwealth following broad consultation in all Commonwealth countries. The proposal was agreed

by Commonwealth Heads of Government in Perth, Australia, in October 2011.

As Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, I was honoured last January 2012 when Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs asked our committee to undertake Canada’s consultations on the Charter proposal.

In the report that summarized our hearings, one of our committee’s main suggestions was that the proposed Charter leverage what we termed the “youth advantage”. By building rapport with the under-30s who make up at least 60 per cent of the Commonwealth’s 2.1 billion citizens, we argued, the Commonwealth

could help secure its relevance into the future. Education, training and leadership initiatives needed to be placed closer to the centre of the Commonwealth’s mandate.

The same logic applies to the Canadian Crown. Citizens living in a technology-driven global arena engage and identify with peers and ideas that are increasingly complex and transnational in nature, causing traditional state organs to appear more remote, old-fashioned and archaic. The future relevance of the Canadian Crown, it follows, can be strengthened by mobilizing the youth advantage; that is, by taking steps to ensure that the system that supports our rights, freedoms and aspirations becomes as proximate to young Canadians as Queen Elizabeth II appeared to their parents.

If, as I have argued, the history of the Canadian Crown describes a constant yet adaptable institution, these adjustments can and must be made to secure the monarchy’s relevance as a 21st century institution.

Legislated changes to the line of succession, and Christmas webcasts from the Queen are two such timely measures. But more can yet be done to meet the imperative of restoring appreciation for the Crown’s ongoing contributions to our national identity, self-government, independence and stability.

With Canadians still almost equally divided over whether we should abolish the monarchy, it is a debate that is not going away. The challenge lies in finding ways to use such discussions to connect with youth and to appeal to their intelligence and creativity.

Participatory and social media provide a means to reach out.

Parliamentarians, governments and civil society organizations must provide the impetus. Indeed, by engaging youth on issues of democracy and good governance, I believe we can revive an appreciation of the role of the evolving Canadian Crown in our system of government and ensure it remains a respected and relevant sovereign partner for generations to come.

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DEMOCRACY IN KIRIBATI SINCE INDEPENDENCE The introduction of Westminster-style parliamentary democracy changed the culture of a small central Pacific nation – and not always for the better, says a senior Member of the Parliament of Kiribati.

Hon. Taomati Iuta, MP, in Tarawa.

Mr Iuta has currently been the Speaker of the Parliament of Kiribati, the Maneaba ni Maungatabu, since 2007, having held the office briefly in 2003.

He was a Minister from 1979 to 1994, including serving as Vice-President from 1991 to 1994.

He was a Member of Parliament from 1994 to 2002. This article is based on a presentation most recently to a conference on democracy at the McMillan Brown Centre of Pacific Studies at Canterbury University, Christchurch, New Zealand.

of governing all the islands when the British annexed Kiribati and the Ellice Islands as a British colony.

The Chiefly system, which was practiced mainly in the islands of northern and central Kiribati, slowly died out, though there was an effort to nurture it by some British colonial officers.

Hon. Taomati Iuta, MP

Before the missionaries set foot in the Kiribati islands and before Kiribati was annexed as a British protectorate there were mainly two systems under which the people were governed.

The method of a government in the southern islands was “the Maneaba system” and in the northern islands “the Chiefly system”. The Maneaba system suited the Kiribati lifestyle better and was the system

Wisdom by the consensus of old men Government under the Maneaba system consisted of the old men from the village from different families meeting together in the village “Maneaba”. This was a big building in the centre of the village, where people came together to celebrate, eat, be entertained, talk and debate all matters of concern.

When the Maneaba discussed matters for the good governance and the welfare of the village, everyone was encouraged to attend and listen;

but at such meetings only the old men, traditionally regarded as wise counsel, could talk. They were lengthy discussions, as decisions that came as an outcome had to be accepted by all and not only by the majority.

The discussions were very polite and respectful to all those present. If ever there was a dissenting voice, efforts were made to achieve a consensus.

The debate in the Maneaba traditionally was never adversarial but always conciliatory. When a decision was reached, all in the village had to abide by it as it was considered a good decision for the welfare of the village and for everyone in the community.

Anyone who disobeyed the decision of the old men was liable to be punished; and again their punishment was decided by the old men.

It was the type of system I grew up with and that in turn future generations were taught to accept it as one day it would be their turn

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to take on the role of the decisionmakers of the village.

The arrival of democracy When I-Kiribati people learned in

school of “democracy” as government by the people for the people, they understood perfectly well what it entailed. When Britain agreed to allow us to govern ourselves on the Westminster model by a democratically elected Parliament we cast our minds back to our Maneaba system of government. We agreed that they were very similar and readily accepted to have our constitution written along those lines which we had lived by for so long.

Kiribati was granted independence from Britain on 12 July 1979 with a set of rules that we had to govern ourselves under all written in our independence constitution.

Experience taught us after working with this written constitution that it was very different from the way we used to govern ourselves under the wise counsel of our old men.

It did not take long to realize that we were no longer governed by wise

old men who got to the position of governing because they had lived long and had understood quite intimately what was best for their community. In their place we had these elected representatives who, because they had been educated in alien ideas and culture, seemed to know more of the rules of the game.

They came with strange ideas and expected the community to follow their new ideas. Some might have seen and learned how Parliaments in the countries where they were educated debated issues along party lines and so they brought the idea of party politics with them and encouraged it to be the way debating should be conducted in our presentday Parliament.

Opposite page: the national flag; Above: The Parliament of Kiribati; Left: The entrance to the Parliament building in Tarawa.

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This page: An aerial view of Kiribati; Right: Women in traditional Kiribatian costumes performing a dance

the majority of those present – particularly the old men and women – quite strongly opposed the idea of political parties being introduced into our Parliament. This, however, was countered by the argument that political parties were an integral part of the Westminster system; they had been adopted by all former colonies of Britain and were now the norm in all Commonwealth Parliaments.

The final advice given to us by those who were to write our constitution was that there was nothing to prevent Members of Parliament, if they so wished, from

forming political parties as it was the normal thing to do in a Westminsterstyle Parliament. Years later it came to my knowledge that the Parliament of the Isle of Man, a dependency of the British Crown and the world’s longest continuing Parliament, had been and still is operating without a political party system. It had managed for a small nation to achieve success both politically and economically.

Thus, even though this idea of creating political parties was not required, as was the decision of the Independence Convention by not including it in the constitution, it was

silently encouraging it to happen and it did. Sadly, its major consequence on how decisions are reached is that the majority of those decisions are now discussed in our Parliament or island council meetings along party lines. It attracts adversarial debating that in many instances requires voting to test the majority feeling in order to decide upon the issue being considered.

This new concept creates the feeling that the wish of the majority has to be accepted. The old way of our ancestors, that all decisions must be attained through conciliatory discussions so that a consensus

decision for the good of all is reached, is no longer adopted.

The unfortunate consequence of this is creating a division in the community as people begin to think along party lines and not as one community of a village or of one island.

The divisiveness in the community of the village or the island emerged when the missionaries first arrived.

People divided themselves into groups according to which church they belonged to and not as people in one community, one village, or of one island. This feeling, however, began to dissipate after the passing of Catholic

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French priests and British Protestant missionaries.

A beneficial community tradition lost The other adverse example brought about after independence was decisions that required voluntary communal work for the good welfare of the community. One such example was case of the school in two villages that required maintenance.

The teachers told the school committee that one classroom needed urgent repair work in order to protect the children from the

elements given the roof was leaking and the walls had fallen apart. The committee asked the Council to attend to the request but it hesitated because due to insufficient funds.

So the Committee requested the old men of the two villages to help where they could. The old men met in council under their Maneaba and decided that this problem called for voluntary communal work from everyone in the villages. Everyone agreed to the decision and the schools were repaired, enabling the children to study under better conditions.

However one of the parents refused to work without being paid and so did not contribute to the schools’ repair. Other parents reported this to their village and the old men decided again in council that the child whose parent refused to work voluntarily should be barred from attending classes.

The parents of the child complained about this and the Ministry of Education replied that it was against the law to forbid a child from going to school. The committee replied that it had not forbid the child

from going to school; they only agreed that the child should not be schooled in the classroom that the child’s parents refused to help repair. They

“The unfortunate consequence of this is creating a division in the community as people begin to think along party lines and not as one community of a village or of one island.“ were of the view that the child could be schooled anywhere just not in that classroom.

The court then came into dispute and ordered that under the constitution it was wrong to make anyone work without pay. It ended the authority of the old men in making decisions for the good of the community and deciding

punishments to those who refused to obey their decisions.

As it stands, people refuse to work on community projects anymore without being paid. For Kiribati, which has very little revenue, this means that all communal amenities and assets are left to the whims and generosity of aid donors for their maintenance, as the government normally has few financial resources.

Taking matters into their own hands The authority of the old men is still revered by most of the community so the few who dare go against it under the guise of the new system are still punished but in a more discreet way which is near to committing a criminal act. There is now a term called “the six o’clock punishment”. People who refuse to obey the old men’s/village decision are punished by stones being thrown at, or their houses being burned down after six o’clock when it is dark and no one can see or recognize the perpetrators.

It is sad but it is one result of the so-called Westminster democracy.

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THE ROLE OF THE OPPOSITION – A DUTY TO THE PEOPLE OF THE COOK ISLANDS

One Foot Island off Aitutaki Island, one of the Cook Islands’ 13 inhabited islands.

Opposition is no party’s position of choice; but in the Cook Islands it is now widely accepted as an important role that enables pro-active MPs to pursue initiatives to benefit their country, says the Pacific country’s current Opposition Leader.

Hon. Wilkie Rasmussen, MP, in Rarotonga

Mr Rasmussen is the Leader of the Opposition and of the Democratic Party in the Cook Islands.

A former steel worker, journalist and lawyer, he was first elected to Parliament in 2002. He held several ministerial portfolios from 2005 to 2010, including Foreign Affairs and Finance, and then was Deputy Opposition Leader until becoming Opposition Leader in 2012.

Hon. Wilkie Rasmussen, MP

The Cook Islands is described by the constitution of the Cook Islands as “all islands in the South Pacific Ocean lying between the 8th and 23rd degrees of south latitude and the 156th and 167th degrees of longitude west of Greenwich; and each island of the Cook Islands shall be deemed to include all smaller islands lying 10 miles of the coasts thereof”. There are 15 islands that

make up the group. These are divided into north and south. The six northern islands are all low-lying atolls while eight of the southern islands are either volcanic with mountains and hills or raised coral. Two of the smallish islands are uninhabited. An atoll makes up the ninth island of the southern group. The Cook Islands have only a total land area of 240 square kilometres and in contrasts almost 2.2 million square kilometres of ocean.

The indigenous people of the Cook Islands are Eastern Polynesians.

People in this classification of Pacific people have a similar language with some dialectic differences. They claim to have the same ancestral origins and generally have similar physical features. East Polynesia comprises of the islands of Hawaii, Tahiti Nui, Cook Islands, and Rapa Nui to the east. The Maori people of New Zealand are also East Polynesians although New Zealand is located somewhat further southwest to these islands.

The Cook Islands was given that name by the Russians to honour the famous English discoverer Captain

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James Cook when the Cook Islands appeared for the first time on naval charts after 1813. This was the year of the first official European sighting of Rarotonga, the capital of the group of islands, from the Endeavour, one of Captain Cook’s ships. This resulted in the Cook Islands being a “British protectorate” until 1900 when it was annexed by New Zealand.

Constitutional structure The constitutional structure of the Cook Islands is as would be found in many Commonwealth

parliamentary systems with an executive, a judiciary and Parliament as set out by the Constitution Act of 1964. This Act empowers the Cook Islands Parliament as the only authority to enact, amend and repeal laws in the Cook Islands, including the constitution itself, in respect of which the Cook Islands Parliament must follow special procedures set out in the constitution such as having a two-thirds majority to amend the constitution.

The executive consists of the Prime Minister and his/her cabinet

of Ministers. The judiciary includes a High Court and an Appeal Court.

The Parliament of the Cook Islands is modelled on the Westminster system with elections held every four years. It has a Speaker who is either an MP or a member of the public.

Royal Assent to Bills is given by the Queen’s Representative who is the Head of State, a local eminent person appointed and vested with duties pertaining to the Crown.

The country also has a House of Ariki (House of Traditional Chiefs) whose role is mainly ceremonial but

it can discuss matters of national importance. There are also local authorities in the form of Mayors and councillors all throughout the islands except Rarotonga.

In 1965, the Cook Islands became a self-governing country in free association with New Zealand – a choice made by earlier leaders of the Cook Islands when asked by the United Nations in 1964 to forge its direction of self-determination and to be decolonized. This “special relationship” with New Zealand meant that Cook Islanders are New Zealand

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citizens and carry New Zealand passports. The Cook Islands has a local population of 10,900 as noted in the 2011 census; but there are close to 80,000 Cook Islanders living in New Zealand and several thousand in Australia with smatterings in other places around the world.

In 2001, a Joint Centenary Declaration was signed between Cook Islands Prime Minister Dr the Hon. Terepai Maoate and New Zealand Prime Minister Hon. Helen Clark to acknowledge that in the special relationship between the two countries, the Cook Islands has evolved into virtual independence apart from New Zealand being responsible for its defence.

Today, Rarotonga is the hub of commercial, government and social activities in the Cook Islands. It is where the Parliament of the Cook Islands is located. Prior to Parliament, political representation of Cook Islanders was to the Legislative Council which was constituted in 1946.

There are 24 elected Members in the current Parliament and the government has 14 while the opposition has nine with one Member of Parliament as an Independent.

Elections are held every four years and the last being held in November 2010. The electoral boundaries of the Cook Islands set out for all inhabited islands to have at least one MP although some islands have had separate constituencies created within those islands based on representation according to population. Once elections are held, a Prime Minister is elected by Parliament and is usually the MP that commands the confidence of the majority of Members in the House.

The current Prime Minister of the Cook Islands is the Leader of the Cook Islands Party (CIP) and his party holds the majority of seats in the House.

On the other side of the Floor of the House is the opposition: all nine MPs represent the Democratic Party, the other major political party in the Cook Islands. The Democratic Party, known as the “Demos”, lost the

last general election after being in government for about a decade.

The position of the opposition As it is the case in any parliamentary democracy, the opposition in the Cook Islands plays the role of watchdog over the government and it readies itself to take charge of the Treasury – that being its ultimate objective.

The opposition in the Cook Islands is a good spread of people with different backgrounds and ages.

Three of the opposition MPs are in their early and mid-60s and are longserving MPs and former Ministers.

In fact one of them is a former Prime Minister.

The rest of the MPs, along with myself, are in our 50s but less than 55 years old. There are three women MPs in the opposition, all three of them first entered Parliament after the male incumbents died causing by-elections. Two of the female MPs are first-time Members, one being elected in October last year and the other only a few days ago at the time of writing.

There is no particular law that defines what an opposition is apart from some conventions that set the number of MPs to comprise the Official Opposition. For instance the accepted number is five MPs as opposed to three some years before. Achieving the establish number entitles that party to funding to be channelled to the Office of the Leader of the Opposition. That office hires staff and carries out activities pertaining to the functions of the Leader of the Opposition and the rest of the MPs in the opposition.

The current annual budget of the Cook Islands government sets aside by way of the Appropriation Bill a total sum of $205,000 for the Leader of the Opposition. A Social Responsibility Fund of $8,000 per MP, including the opposition, is also made available for small constituency projects and activities. Expenditures of such funds are all to be receipted for and the budget for the Office of the Leader of the Opposition is also subject to government auditing.

There are no offices for other opposition MPs. That is also the case for government Backbenchers although they can use the offices of Ministers and appropriate Ministries over which they have been assigned some responsibility.

An accepted moral duty The evolution of the opposition has been gradual; but it is a largely accepted view that it plays an important role in the development of the democratic process of the Cook Islands. Conventions and Standing Orders set out a working framework as to what the opposition does in Parliament, in particular how it challenges the government on a

“Times have certainly changed for the better and the opposition is a lot more dynamic; but there is still some way to go.” number of its initiatives in Parliament.

However, it does not enjoy the full services of some of the Public Administration Offices. For instance, it cannot utilize Crown Law for opinions as would any Ministry of government, nor is it necessarily on the mailing list for circulars the government sends out amongst its own agencies. The Leader of the Opposition can demand access to confidential information and, if not given it, can apply under the Official Information Act like any member of the public.

The opposition engages in debate with the government in Parliament over legislation or papers submitted for deliberations. It also engages in debates on matters of procedure.

In issues where a two-thirds vote of all MPs is required, the opposition can certainly defeat the current government if it does not agree with the matter. For instance, there

is an ongoing demand for political reform where some seats with a very low number of electors would be abolished and the electoral boundaries redrawn. The government will definitely need to work with the opposition to ensure passage of amendments to the constitution or the Electoral Act to establish the electoral boundaries.

When in session, opposition MPs are not compelled to actually stay in Parliament because the government with its majority can carry on in complete disregard of the opposition.

However, politeness being a feature of Cook Islands politics, the opposition often sits throughout lengthy sittings and in fact takes up most of the speaking time otherwise government

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ROLE OF THE OPPOSITION

The parliamenary building in Avarua on Rarotonga island.

will just “guillotine” Bills tabled into the House. The opposition in this aspect conducts its duties with a view that it has a moral duty to the electors and taxpayers of the country to discharge its duties as elected representatives.

The opposition feels very obligated to be seen and heard and it is empowered somewhat by the encouragement of more responsibilities in committees and by the programmes and directions set by organizations such as the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.

At the moment the opposition is advancing the argument that the position of Chairperson of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee should be held by the

opposition; but that has fallen on deaf ears. It is questionable for a government to audit itself hence that request. It is a common practice in many other Commonwealth Parliaments for the opposition to chair Public Accounts Committees.

At public events, the opposition is also acknowledging by way of courtesy and the Leader of the Opposition is often invited to such events as the representative of the alternative government.

This may include “traditional” Cook Islands events such as “title investitures” or government-organized conferences. The opposition is treated on par with the government at state funerals. The several state funerals held over the last couple of

years, apt speaking time was given to the government and the opposition as well so the tributes and respectpaying are fair and equal.

The opposition also holds court with the media and this can at times be a fiery and tenuous relationship.

The media can sometimes be an ally of the opposition in printing or voicing its criticisms and concerns.

Conclusion One former Speaker, Deputy Prime Minister and long-serving MP for the Democratic Party said to me when I first came into Parliament: “My dear Wilkie, do not ever be in opposition.”

I clearly understood that to mean that when in government one has access to the Treasury and to the

implementation of projects and indeed to the privileges and perks.

Conversely, opposition MPs can almost feel redundant unless they are pro-active types, chasing after initiatives that will be of benefit to the people they represent and the country as a whole. Mind you, that colleague of mine, whom I became very fond of as an articulate and clever political operator, came into politics in 1965 and at that time the opposition was organized as a political party but was not regarded by the government as having entitlements so it could do its work properly and effectively.

Times have certainly changed for the better and the opposition is a lot more dynamic; but there is still some way to go.

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5TH CYP

ENGAGING YOUNG PEOPLE The Fifth Commonwealth Youth Parliament held by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association brought to the United Kingdom a diverse group of politically aware and articulate young people who demonstrated that political apathy is not a characteristic of everyone under age 30.

Rt Hon. Baroness D’Souza of Wychwood, in London.

Baroness D’Souza has been the Lord Speaker, the Presiding Officer of the House of Lords at Westminster, since 2011.

She is a Joint President of the CPA United Kingdom Branch. A Peer since 2004, she was the Convenor of the Crossbench Peers from 2007 until she was elected as the Lord Speaker.

Rt Hon. Baroness D’Souza

From 4 to 7 December 2012, the United Kingdom Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and the CPA Secretariat hosted the 5th Commonwealth Youth Parliament, which saw some 60 young people come to Westminster from the furthest reaches of the Commonwealth.

The four-day programme explored the principles of governance at a local, national and international level, exposing the delegates to the ancient system of the Westminster Parliament. Experiencing plenary addresses, model parliamentary

business sessions such as a Committee of the Whole House and several more interactive workshops, the Commonwealth Youth Parliamentarians (CYPs) were given an introduction to the intricacies of parliamentary democracy.

The programme culminated in a final parliamentary-style debate on access to education in the House of Lords Robing Room – once used as the Chamber of the Upper House after the Commons Chamber was bombed during the “Blitz” of the Second World War – discussing whether there should be free schooling for all.

Having formed party caucuses over the course of the week, the CYPs had the opportunity to develop party structures, to elect party leaders and front bench teams, and to formulate policies to present to the House.

I was delighted to preside at this debate, the second one in which I have played a part during my tenure as Lord Speaker thus far. Once again, I was struck by the proficiency of the arguments, the coherence of each party’s policies, and the impressive

degree of political agility displayed by all participants. On a personal level, I have found both experiences highly rewarding, and am very pleased that the U.K. was once again able to host.

The Commonwealth includes one third of the world’s population, and 50 per cent of its population is aged 25 or under.

The Commonwealth Youth Parliament therefore represents a remarkable opportunity to engage with this key demographic, a group representative of the future leaders, legislators and activists of the Commonwealth. In a year that has seen us celebrate the 60th anniversary of the succession of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the Head of the Commonwealth, it seems a particularly fitting moment to turn our eyes forward, and to seek to engage this next generation in the political process.

A key priority in planning the 5th CYP has been the use of social media to ensure a legacy of ongoing relationships between the Commonwealth Youth Parliamentarians is established, by creating alumni communities

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5TH CYP

The Lord Speaker addressing delegates in the Robing Room.

for Commonwealth Youth Parliamentarians to continuing sharing challenges and successes.

Engaging young people both within the U.K. and internationally is one of my major aims. I have continued my predecessor’s Peers in Schools programme which has now sent peers to speak in around 1000 schools, reaching around 50,000 students. There is also a

well-resourced Education Unit within the Houses of Parliament, which runs visits both to and from schools in order to teach young people about Parliament and provides extensive teaching materials for schools. Parliamentary Outreach and the House of Lords Outreach team undertake similar activities with community and youth groups, working outside the traditional

educational system to reach young people.

This work complements the recent addition of citizenship to the national curriculum in Britain, which is now taught up to the age of 16.

Citizenship was introduced as a compulsory component of education in 2002 in a move to improve political literacy and participation in the U.K. It is now one of the fastest-growing

subjects at GCSE, the general exams taken by all British students at the age of sixteen.

The curriculum is designed to encourage young people to involve themselves in their communities and give them an understanding of how to influence the democratic process, lessons that unlike so many school subjects will have a direct impact on all citizens for the rest of their lives.

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5TH CYP

Mason Nkabinde, MYP, of Mpumalanga

Mr Nkabindi was a Member of the Youth Parliament representing Mpumalanga and was the Government Chief Whip in the 5th Commonwealth Youth Parliament.

Currently employed as a security and protocol co-ordinator in a South African company, he holds a National Higher Certificate in information technology and software development from Tshwane University of Technology in Nelspruit.

It was a great pleasure that I took part in the 5th Commonwealth Youth Parliament (CYP) held in London in 2012. I can confirm that it was a valuable experience for all the young people present.

I assure the CPA that the young people will continue to prosper, as the purpose of the CYP was among other things to share experiences among ourselves as youth from completely diverse backgrounds and I think this purpose was met to its fullest.

As I was attending the CYP, I received an update which read: “This December the rich and wealthy will be on holiday, the aspiring to be rich and powerful will be in Mangaung (the South African city where the ruling African National Congress was formed and which hosted the party’s 53rd conference in December), workers will be in the shop floor maximizing profit for the rich while the youth will be on the streets Idling.”

I shared this update with some members of the CYP, particularly those in the government Commonwealth Democratic Alliance (CDA), of which I was part. The last part of the update got us thinking

many issues facing the modern world – poverty, underdevelopment, HIV and many other forms of societal challenges – impact disproportionately on young people.

Mr Mason Nkabinde

on how best as a ruling party we could change the status of youth in our societies. It was at this point where many different schools of thought emerged. The debates formed the foundation on which our destiny would be built and the future cemented.

The 5th CYP was designed in a format that gave us an opportunity to be in a functioning Legislature for four days. We had a government party (CDA), an opposition party (the Determination for the Future Party) and independents.

This exercise exposed us, as young leaders, to the reality of what the role of Parliament is in ensuring accountability of the executive and oversight by Parliament of the decision-making process in government. With the presentations from the different speakers that generously imparted their knowledge and answered our questions without reservations, it was by far the most informative programme I have ever attended – and I’m sure here that I speak for all MYPs. Having being introduced to the Westminster Parliament, I take home the experiences and wisdom of the Honourable Members who took time to brief us. What is undisputed is the fact that, as young people, we have so much to contribute to the direction of development. National leaders must take heed from the CYP programme that there is a leadership role that young people can and must play. We can no longer wait for the future to take up this position, as so

Looking ahead The CYP presented a platform for us to make a pact that we are no longer simply going to be the future, but we will take charge today to protect and determine our destiny as nations. The message is crystal clear for all that we must be involved in decision-making and implementation, and we do all of this because we don’t wish for the youth to continue to suffer.

Our debates during the week focused on youth unemployment, which evidently is a large issue for all Commonwealth countries.

Deliberations indicated that as the youth, we do not ask for free rides, hand-outs and pity; but we need more

“I hope the CYP is merely the first in a series of platforms for young people to learn and make our input in how best Commonwealth countries can develop and how the life of their people can be changed for the better.” opportunities through education, entrepreneurial space and a voice audible enough for our leaders to heed.

We further appreciate the role we can play in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, both at the conceptual and practical level. We

think we are strategically placed to contribute as direct beneficiaries of these programmes.

I wish to take this opportunity to congratulate all the participants on a smooth-running CYP. This in itself is an indication that the 5th CYP was a meeting of visionary and disciplined future leaders with an awareness of their role as representatives of the young people of their countries charged with finding solutions to contemporary challenges confronting them.

I hope the CYP is merely the first in a series of platforms for young people to learn and make our input in how best Commonwealth countries can develop and how the life of their people can be changed for the better.

The disheartening picture of disengaged youth in Commonwealth countries must be eliminated; a culture of activism, creativity and participation must be encouraged by all Parliaments in the Commonwealth by developing programmes that speak to youth participation in the governance of their countries. The message that governments don’t exist for themselves but for the people must be disseminated, heard and understood.

I hope the next CYP has more time to reflect extensively on a number of issues which were not covered in the 5th Youth Parliament, including the effects of HIV/AIDS, sustainable development and strengthening democracies.

I think the Commonwealth has a bright future, especially if it continues to look to its youth. This is an open invitation to all governments to utilize the resource we present; together we can achieve more.

If I may paraphrase the words of the Deputy Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Mrs Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba: “It is through experience that we learn that democracy is what we do, not what we have”. Let’s do democracy and encourage (and hear) young people to be actively involved in the affairs of their countries’ development.

See you at the 6th CYP!

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5TH CYP

Ms Claire Coulton, MYP, New South Wales

Ms Coulton was a Member of the Youth Parliament representing New South Wales and was the Leader of the Opposition in the 5th Commonwealth Youth Parliament. Currently completing a Master’s degree in politics and international studies at the University of New England in New South Wales, she is also a research assistant to a Member of the Australian state’s Legislative Council and worked previously as a teacher.

As the oldest Commonwealth Youth Parliamentarian of 2012, I was unsure of what to expect when I travelled to London in December to meet my colleagues. From the outset, the mood was exuberant and contagious. The foyer of Lambeth’s Tune Hotel has surely never before seen such a raucous gathering, as delegates excitedly met their fellow party and opposition members. Many of us had endured a 30 degree drop in temperature during our travels from all corners of the Commonwealth, and we were all rugged up and excited for four days of seminars, debates on motions, caucusing and committee meetings.

Apart from the more obvious cultural differences, we were also quite a disparate group in terms of political view points. Interestingly, a number of countries’ delegates were split between the two major parties.

As the leader of the conservativeleaning Opposition, the Determination of the Future Party, I was pleased to discover overwhelming bipartisan support for a number of motions that are quite contentious in my home

Ms Claire Coulton

state of New South Wales, such as marriage equality and the reduction of the voting age to 16.

While both parties and the Independents agreed on the need to address youth unemployment, the significance of agriculture to the Commonwealth and the importance of education, there was very enthusiastic debate about how schemes to tackle these issues should look and how they could realistically be funded.

The week also included a number of lighter moments, such as latenight caucus meetings in the coffee shops and pubs of South London, unexpected party defections (a big win for the Opposition!) and the most multicultural dance party I have ever attended.

A particular highlight was the invitation to Marlborough House for a question and answer session with the Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General, Ms Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba, where the hot topic was the relevance of the Commonwealth. In Australian schools and in the media, the Commonwealth is rarely mentioned outside of the Commonwealth Games. Biannually we see the images of the CHOGM summit on the television and only differentiate it from the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum due to the smaller number of colourful shirts worn by the leaders. Through CYP, however, I had the chance to really examine the Harare declaration, as well as the core principles of the declaration, and to begin to

understand the importance of the Commonwealth as an essential advisor in particular for developing nations.

Myth of youth disengagement One of the more controversial topics of the week was the disengagement of young people in the political process at all levels. As a former teacher and member of the youth wing of a political party, I think that youth disengagement in politics is a myth – political apathy and ignorance exists across all spectrums and age groups, and some of the most switched-on political minds I have ever met are under the age of 30.

This belief was reinforced at the CYP, where each and every delegate was passionate about politics.

If communities as a whole were more connected to the political process, this would lead to increasing engagement amongst the younger generation. Disengagement is a serious problem, but one that political leaders need to address across their entire communities, and not solely in classrooms. In NSW, politics is part of the curriculum, and the majority of students have the chance to travel to Canberra, visit Parliament, the Electoral Commission and other relevant institutions, and perhaps participate in a mock election for their favourite chocolate bar or boy band.

However, without context these experiences can be meaningless, and every CYP representative agreed that political education comes best from doing, rather than from chalk and talk.

Personally, my most beneficial political experiences have come from involvement in my school’s Student Representative Council, participation in student leadership forums, and membership of the NSW Young Nationals. These experiences are all immensely more valuable than a lesson in a classroom, and teachers and Parliaments alike should be facilitating experiences like this for young people.

This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be teaching politics in schools; but any activities need to be relevant, studentdriven and to lead to real outcomes.

Events such as the CYP are the perfect incubator for encouraging politically minded young people to become involved in politics. No guest speaker was more engaging than CYP’s own Emily Shaw, from the Shetlands, who explained the incredible participation rates in the Scottish Youth Parliament, which is run entirely by young people.

The most valuable element of the CYP was the opportunity to network with enthusiastic and passionate young people from across the Commonwealth, a number of whom I am sure will go on to achieve great things. We recognise the importance of being accountable for the opportunity we were given, and have formed a group on social media where we will continue regularly to interact. Collectively, we have made a commitment to blog about both our experiences at the CYP and any issues of significance for the group.

I am particularly interested to learn more about the smaller states that attended, including the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, the Falklands and Swaziland. Through this blog, we hope to continue the learning experience that began in London.

On behalf of all participants, I would like to express our gratitude to our home CPA Branches for their nomination and support, to the many guest speakers, including the House of Commons Speaker, Lord Speaker and several prominent MPs, and most particularly to the Commonwealth Youth Parliament team, under the leadership of CPA Secretary-General Dr William F. Shija and United Kingdom Branch Secretary Mr Andrew Tuggey, for organizing the programme so well at the same time as letting us take the lead and set the agenda for debate.

It was an honour and a thrill to debate in Westminster. The experience that will stay for me for a lifetime, and I am certain that it has encouraged several emerging political careers.

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EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES

BENEFITING FROM EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES THROUGH PARLIAMENTARY OVERSIGHT The Concluding Statement from an October 2012 Global Seminar on the Role of Parliaments and Extractive Industries points to steps Parliaments can take to ensure that the development of mineral, oil and gas resources is a benefit rather than a curse for their societies. Parliamentarians from selected resource-rich Commonwealth jurisdictions shared experiences with experts from international organizations to identify problems and solutions.

Proposals to strengthen parliamentary oversight of extractive industries so they are developed in a transparent and accountable way which benefits their societies and the wider world have been identified by a select group of Parliamentarians from 11 Commonwealth jurisdictions with extractive industries. The proposals came out of a seminar from 29 to 31 October 2012 at the Joint Vienna Institute in Vienna, Austria, that brought Commonwealth Parliamentarians together with representatives from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank Institute, the Revenue Watch Institute and the Parliamentary Centre (Ghana).

The proposals offer Parliaments, parliamentary committees and individual Parliamentarians guidance on specific processes they and multi-stakeholder groups could use to ensure that mineral and petroleum resources are converted into social and financial assets for the benefit of the people of the jurisdictions which own them. They will help governments to provide a stable environment and efficient, effective and robust

policy, legislative, administrative and regulatory frameworks for investment in exploration, development and marketing of these resources. The proposals are built on the fundamental principle that all stakeholders will have confidence in the development process if it is managed in a fully transparent way throughout the life of the projects.

It was recognized that mineral and petroleum resource development is a highly complex, technical and volatile field. The resources themselves are non-renewable and consequently finite. Transparency and accountability are therefore essential to re-assure all stakeholders that expectations are reasonable, developments are fair and benefits are spread equitably throughout society. The group therefore encourages all Parliaments and Parliamentarians to support efforts to enhance the transparency of the sector, including projects such as the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and contract monitoring.

The group stressed that the provision of processes to ensure transparency and proper scrutiny is

only the starting point. Governments, Parliaments and other stakeholders must have the capacity and the will to use the processes fully and vigorously.

The following are some of the main proposals that emerged from the discussion:

tory agencies and the scrutinizing of income and expenditure of revenue emanating from resource development.

Enabling parliamentary engagement

5. Provided the selected fiscal process or processes are run efficiently and transparently, revenue from extractive industries can be obtained equally effectively through the sale or auction of contracts including production-sharing regimes, through taxes and royalties including the licencing of exploration and exploitation areas and through direct state ownership either as a majority or minority shareholder.

6. A combination of revenue processes can be beneficial if there is a need to obtain revenue early in the development of extractive industries.

7. Stabilization clauses seeking to shield companies from future political and legislated changes are inappropriate and generally ineffective.

8. Commercial confidentiality should be kept to a minimum and should be time-constrained.

1. Parliament must approve clear and well-considered policies on extractive industries which are part of a comprehensive development plan.

2. Parliament must scrutinize government institutions, administrative processes and regulatory agencies involved in extractive industry development.

3. Parliament must have access to the contracts, licences and other agreements between the government and resource developers and investors, including provisions on changes in ownership of projects and the arbitration of disputes.

4. Parliaments and parliamentary committees must have clearly defined roles in the approval of contracts, the oversight of regula-

Scrutinizing extractive industry agreements

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EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES

Parliamentarians discussed proposals to strengthen parliamentary oversight of extractive industries during a seminar in October 2012.

Parliamentary strengthening 9. Parliaments should be provided with the information and the resources necessary for effective oversight, including where possible the provision of expert technical advice.

10. Parliaments, parliamentary committees and individual Parliamentarians should work with civil society groups, both local and international, to obtain information and expert advice on the operations of resource projects, the effectiveness of their regulation and the monitoring of revenues.

11. Parliament should consider supporting or encouraging the creation of multi-stakeholder groups, possibly including some Parliamentarians, to give civil society a formal role in monitoring extractive industries.

12. Parliament must maintain the highest standards of propriety among its Members through strict adherence to codes of conduct, codes of ethics and asset disclosure rules so its performance in the oversight of extractive industries is beyond reproach.

13. Parliament must make full and effective use of all its oversight prac-

tices and procedures to monitor the performance of extractive industries, including: public accounts and audit reviews, approval of the budget, questions to Ministers, departmentally related committee reviews, requests for the production by ministries of persons and papers, special parliamentary committee inquiries and debates on policies and motions.

Overseeing the beneficial use of revenues 14. Government must report to Parliament fully on its use of the revenues and in-kind benefits, including social development projects, received from extractive industries.

15. Parliamentary budget scrutiny should ensure that public expenditure levels distribute the benefits from extractive industries sustainably over time to avoid excessive short-term spending when revenues are high and excessive borrowing when revenues are low and to retain equitable benefits for future generations.

16. The revenues from resource assets should be used to finance social and infrastructure development, economic diversification and the

Parliamentary Participants

development of human resources to help reduce future dependence on revenues from extractive industries.

The Parliamentarians offer these proposals to assist Commonwealth Parliaments and Legislatures, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the World Bank Institute, the International Monetary Fund, the Revenue Watch Institute, the Parliamentary Centre and the wider global community to address the issues around the development of extractive industries.

They recognize that the responses to the issues will vary in each jurisdiction to reflect local circumstances. However, the Parliamentarians see great advantages in strengthening parliamentary oversight of the development of publicly owned natural resources and suggest that Parliaments consider the proposals to increase transparency and public confidence in this sector.

The participating Parliamentarians and organizations extend their thanks to the Joint Vienna Institute for facilitating the seminar.

• Mrs Lisa France, MP, Assistant Minister for Natural Resources and Mines, Queensland • Hon. Norman Frederick Moore, MLC, Minister for Mines and Petroleum; Fisheries; Electoral Affairs, Western Australia • Mr Anisul Islam Mondal, MP, Bangladesh • Ms Donna Kennedy-Glans, MLA, Chair of the Standing Committee on Resource Stewardship, Alberta • Mr Rob Norris, MLA, Legislative Secretary to the Premier, Saskatchewan • Hon. Albert Kan-Dapaah, MP, Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Ghana • Shri Pinaki Misra, MP, India • Shri Dhananjay Singh, MP, India • Hon. Sani Ibrahim Ruwan Doruwa, MHR, Nigeria • Hon. Dr Roodal Moonilal, MP, Minister of Housing, Lands and Marine Resource and Leader of the House, Trinidad and Tobago • Hon. Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda, MP, Uganda • Mr Ambrose L. Lufuma, MP, Zambia.

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SUSTAINABLE AFFORDABLE HEALTHCARE

THE INTERNATIONAL HEALTH CARE TIME BOMB: TIME FOR ACTION Governments have long sought – often with limited or no success – to provide more and better health care at a sustainable price. The United Kingdom’s National Health Service is about to test a new response to this global dilemma which a leading British specialist argues can meet both soaring demands and soaring costs.

Prof. Tim Briggs and Mr Jonathan Perera in London.

Prof. Tim Briggs, MBBS (Hons), MCh (Orth.), MD (Res.), FRCS (Ed.), FRCS (Eng.), has advised British Ministers. He is a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital of England, VicePresident of the British Orthopaedic Association, Chair of the National Clinical Reference Group in Specialist Orthopaedics and Chair of the Federation of Specialist Hospitals.

Mr Jonathan Perera, MRCS, is an orthopaedic training registrar at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital of England.

The United Kingdom National Health Service (NHS) has provided unrivalled, world-renowned healthcare since its inception on 5 July 1948.

Its objectives are to meet the needs of everyone, be free at the point of delivery and be based on clinical need and not on ability to pay. The NHS is one of the largest employers worldwide, employing approximately 1 in 20 of the United Kingdom’s working population. Staff are in contact with more than 1.5 million patients on a daily basis.

The importance of the continuance of the NHS to the U.K. population cannot be understated.

This has led to it being a focus for politicians of all parties in their manifestos and at general elections.

The cost of providing free and timely healthcare, in these times of severe austerity and huge national debt, for an ageing, demanding population is a significant challenge that must be tackled.

One healthcare discipline is a prime example of the challenge.

Musculoskeletal disorders are the leading cause of time off work for sickness, and of disability contributing

to the 2.5 million unemployed in the U.K. We currently spend £10 billion a year on musculoskeletal disease, which equates to almost 10 per cent of the total NHS spend of £110 billion. By 2035, 23 per cent of the population in the U.K. will be over 65 years. An increased life expectancy, and other factors such as obesity, will further increase the demand from patients needing orthopaedic care.

The NHS and all world health services are under pressure to meet increasing demands and patient expectations within increasingly stringent budget limitations. The NHS is about to embark on a pilot project to test a different approach to this problem which I maintain will improve care while containing costs.

Rising demand Currently, 25 per cent of all surgical interventions within the NHS are for the treatment of musculoskeletal disease. This is set to rise significantly over the next two decades. There are approximately 400,000 patients on orthopaedic waiting lists at any one time, with more than 120,000 waiting for more than 18 weeks for treatment

Prof. Tim Briggs

and over 50,000 for more than six months.

In 2010, over 180,000 hip and knee replacements were carried out, an increase of nearly 300 per cent compared with the previous six years.

Over the last five years, there has been a 92 per cent rise in revision knee and 49 per cent rise in revision hip replacements (a second operation on the same joint).

A total of 35 per cent of hip and knee replacements are now carried out in patients below retirement age, and 12 per cent below the age of 55 years. This is leading to an increasing huge burden of cases needing future

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SUSTAINABLE AFFORDABLE HEALTHCARE

The report Getting It Right First Time was launched in the United Kingdom House of Commons by Prof. Tim. Briggs and Rt Hon. Stephen Dorrell, MP, Chairperson of the Commons Health Select Committee.

The full text can be downloaded at www.timbriggs-gettingitrightfirsttime. com. The report is supported by professional and patient bodies across the U.K. including the Patients’ Association, the British Orthopaedic Association and the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

revision. These procedures – which are expensive, complex, and timeconsuming – will continue to grow exponentially.

Complications following orthopaedic surgery are costly to the patient and to the NHS. Infection in hip and knee replacement can cost up to £70,000 per case to treat yet varies significantly in incidence between different providers. If the lowest infection rate of 0.2 per cent in the best units could be achieved across the NHS, current projected annual savings would be £200 to £300 million. This would allow an extra 40,000 to 60,000 joint replacements to be undertaken annually at no extra cost. This would reduce the need for rationing by commissioning groups.

Large variations in orthopaedic outcomes for joint replacements exist.

Many different types of implants are used and some may have little data on long-term effectiveness.

Data from the National Joint Register showed that in 2010 only 22,311 cemented polyethylene acetabular cups (used to replace the socket) were implanted at a cost of approximately £6.7 million.

Conversely 42,297 uncemented acetabular cups were inserted at a cost of about £80 million. This is despite evidence showing that cemented prostheses remain the gold standard.

Over the last 10 years there has been an explosion of subspecialization and treatments offered in orthopaedics, sometimes with little evidence of clinical efficacy. In shoulder surgery, there has been a 746 per cent increase in the number of patients undergoing arthroscopic

subacromial decompression (keyhole surgery) with little long-term data on outcomes.

Potential NHS litigation costs are currently valued at £15.5 billion. The NHS Litigation Authority paid out £1 billion in claims last year. Orthopaedics accounted for 15 per cent. The NHS cannot withstand this.

A critical global health agenda The NHS has to make savings of £20 billion by 2015. Some savings can be achieved by efficiencies and streamlining; but the majority can only be achieved by working “smarter” if we are not going to affect the quality of care provided.

The pressure on GPs to refer increasing numbers of patients for orthopaedic care, fuelled by rising obesity, the expectancy of an active retirement in an ageing, longer-living

population and the advances in new technologies will dominate the health agenda.

The United States of America suffers from similar problems to the U.K., with up to 30 per cent of the population affected by musculoskeletal problems at any one time, and 10 per cent suffering from osteoarthritis activity limitation. There has been a massive increase in the cost of this burden. Between 1997 and 2003 the cost of the disease burden has risen from $234 to $322 billion, of which $90 billion is specific to osteoarthritis. Within this, the amount specific to loss of earnings is approximately $16.3 billion, which is more costly than pulmonary, renal and neurological diseases combined.

This trend is also being predicted to worsen worldwide. Several continents have a large percentage

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SUSTAINABLE AFFORDABLE HEALTHCARE Figure one: Population distribution graph showing ageing population

Figure two: World population pyramids 1950 - 2050

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SUSTAINABLE AFFORDABLE HEALTHCARE

of their population living in rural areas, the worldwide average being 44 per cent, with some countries

having over 90 per cent. This will impact on the treatment of arthritis, as joint replacement is effectively

inaccessible to rural populations, resulting in increasing numbers with severe deforming arthritis. Asia, where a large percentage of the population lives in rural areas, is a good example.

By 2020, over 20 per cent of people over 60 years of age in Asia will have arthritis, with 15 per cent having significant symptoms. One third of these will have debilitating disease, equivalent to over 40 million people.

The population is ageing worldwide. This has been predicted for some time (figures 1 and 2) by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. They have produced a world census in 2003, updated in 2007, with ongoing predictions to 2050 which show the gravity of the situation.

By 2050, the overall world population will have increased by 270 per cent since 1950. The number of people under 60 years is predicted to increase by 218 per cent; but

the number of over 60-year-olds is predicted to rise by a staggering 856 per cent. The median age in 1950 was 23.6 years and this is predicted to rise to 36.2 years by 2050. The prevalence of osteoarthritis varies between countries; but, due to its irreversible nature, as the population ages so does the prevalence (figure 3).

The growing burden The rise in worldwide obesity is leading to serious health problems.

The obesity rate has more than doubled between 1980 and 2008.

In 2008, over one in 10 people were classified as obese worldwide (Obese = Body Mass Index >30, Overweight = BMI >25 but <30, BMI = mass(kg)/height2(m2)) – equivalent to half a billion people. With more than 40 million pre-school children overweight, obesity rates are set to rise further.

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SUSTAINABLE AFFORDABLE HEALTHCARE

Figure three: Prevalence of osteoarthritis of the knee by age/sex/region

WHO osteoarthritis report. A - regions = Developed countries in North America/Western Europe/Japan/Australia/ New Zealand; AF = Sub-Saharan Africa; AM BD = Developing countries in the Americas; EM = Eastern Mediterranean/North Africa; EU BC = Developing countries in Europe; SEA = South-East Asia; WP B = Countries in Western Pacific region.

This is due to an increasing sedentary lifestyle, reduction in physical activity, changes in food processing, urbanization and changes to transportation. A recent study published in the leading medical journal The Lancet in 2012 reports that obesity has now become the sixth most important risk factor for death.

An ageing population is a significant risk factor for

musculoskeletal disease. Females live longer than males with the worldwide life expectancy of a female born in 2050 predicted to be 79 years versus 74 years for a male. In the U.K., life expectancy for females is 83 and 79 for males, an increase from 53 and 49 years over the past 100 years. Overall, approximately 14 per cent of people (18 per cent female and 10 per cent male) will suffer from symptomatic osteoarthritis worldwide. The knee

is affected more than the hip, and Europe and America have the highest prevalence compared to the rest of the world.

The economic burden of musculoskeletal disease worldwide is increasing. A study in 1997 of Australia, Canada, France, the U.K. and the U.S.A. found that the cost was 2.5 per cent of Gross National Product. If this figure is used with today’s world Gross National Income

of 2.5 per cent, the cost is equivalent to £1.28 trillion (using 2011 figures).

As the U.K.’s and the world’s populations are ageing, it is clear that the burden of musculoskeletal disease could severely damage the economy and, if we do not change, treatment costs may become unsustainable.

Focused action – A new model The NHS is on a knife-edge with

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SUSTAINABLE AFFORDABLE HEALTHCARE

“Only by working together now can we make changes that benefit the whole population that do not disadvantage some of the most vulnerable population groups. We need to have orthopaedic surgeons, general practitioners and managerial staff working closely together in both the primary and secondary care settings to ensure the best, appropriate, most cost-effective care for our patients.”

pressure to perform more efficiently yet maintaining its high standards of care.

There have been some highprofile examples where this has failed and this has been a salutary lesson to everyone. It is not too late to solve this problem if it is acted upon now.

Guidelines for referral and treatment pathways are essential to try to contain cost and ensure patients receive the most appropriate and

effective treatment whilst providing value for money for the taxpayer or insurer. This massive and increasing workload and disparity in service provision needs to be tackled by a medium- to long-term action plan which needs be removed from politics.

Changes must be implemented that will benefit the whole population. The primary and secondary care sectors need to work more closely together to ensure the best, most cost-effective care for patients.

Orthopaedics in the United Kingdom has been neglected, even though it is one of the most referredto specialties. The three main areas that need addressing to move forward in orthopaedics in the U.K. are: • Appropriate primary care pathways with a referral system designed to allow the right patient to be seen by the right specialist at the right place at the right time. There is also a need for co-operation between the patient and the primary care practitioner to ensure that patients maintain a healthy lifestyle and reasonable bodyweight.

• Delivering Secondary Care “Getting it right first time”, a report published in September 2012, highlighted the problems but also suggested solutions whereby reducing complications and improving quality of care could make significant annual savings; and • Appropriate patient follow-up.

To meet the increasing demand and patient expectations in a challenging economic climate we need to recognize the value of improving the quality of patient

outcomes and the role that the frontline specialists can play.

In a perfect society, there would be no limit on healthcare spending to maintain the health of its population.

The expectations of patients are increasing and will continue to do so.

In order to fulfil these expectations, the NHS has been forced to change.

Recently it did this by setting targets backed up by a managerial team to enforce the changes. The laudable aim was to reduce waiting times for outpatient and inpatient procedures, not the quality of care provided. This may at first sound very reassuring; but if you had a choice to have a treatment quicker which had a higher chance of failure or a slightly increased wait with a better outcome in the long-term, there is an obvious choice.

Patients would rather travel further for better, higher-quality care in one location rather than a short distance for a poor service. Concentrating on waiting times rather than quality has led the NHS to overspend, which is now unsustainable as there has to be a balance between funding and service provision, especially in an economic downturn.

The focused partnership of the British Orthopaedic Association, its specialist societies, frontline hospital specialists together with GPs in Commissioning Consortia is the way forward to provide the population with access to high-quality care at the right time whilst ensuring the best use of taxpayers’ money.

There has to be a new open and honest relationship between senior management within the NHS and

orthopaedic clinicians to ensure this. If this fails then changes made may not be in the best interest of the patients and will ultimately lead to rationing of healthcare as demand becomes unaffordable.

Instead of orthopaedic departments and clinicians acting alone, they will form part of a network of hospitals and treatment centres forming Specialist Units and working to quality assurance standards. This will generate standardized protocols for implants and treatment pathways across the NHS, to the benefit of patients. Protocols will be based on either their own accrued evidence or from the published literature or joint registries.

Working together to get it right the first time It is predicted that by introducing such changes, just in orthopaedics, will save the NHS over £2 billion over the next three to five years. If “Getting it Right First Time”, which is to be piloted across the NHS in England, is successful, then it is likely that other specialties will follow suit.

Only by working together now can we make changes that benefit the whole population that do not disadvantage some of the most vulnerable population groups. We need to have orthopaedic surgeons, general practitioners and managerial staff working closely together in both the primary and secondary care settings to ensure the best, appropriate, most cost-effective care for our patients. These changes must be led by frontline clinicians to ensure success.

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COMMONWEALTH LATIMER HOUSE PRINCIPLES

REVIEWING THE COMMONWEALTH LATIMER HOUSE PRINCIPLES: THE A.C.T. EXPERIENCE Having assessed itself against the CPA Benchmarks for Democratic Legislatures, the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly submits itself to an external assessment of how it performs against the Commonwealth’s standard for separating the powers of the three Branches of government.

Mr David Skinner and Mr Tom Duncan in Canberra.

Mr Skinner in the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly’s Manager, Strategy and Parliamentary Education, and Mr Duncan is the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly. A version of this paper was presented at 43rd Australian and Pacific Presiding Officers and Clerks’ conference in Solomon Islands, July 2012.

Each Commonwealth country’s Parliaments, Executives and Judiciaries are the guarantors in their respective spheres of the rule of law, the promotion and protection of fundamental human rights and the entrenchment of good governance based on the highest standards of honesty, probity and accountability.

Latimer House Principle, the three branches of government (principle No. I) Introduction and background The genesis of the formal adoption by the Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory (A.C.T.) of the Latimer House principles can be traced back to two different papers

Mr David Skinner

presented at successive Presiding Officers and Clerks conferences in 2007 and 2008 by former Speaker of the Assembly, Wayne Berry MLA.1 In different ways these papers set out to examine the extent to which the

Mr Tom Duncan

Assembly lived up to the high ideals of parliamentary democracy, relying on comparisons of its performance against two seminal documents: the first, the CPA study group’s 2006 work Benchmarks for Democratic

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COMMONWEALTH LATIMER HOUSE PRINCIPLES

Table 1 - Elected members at each level of government Commonwealth

State/Territory

Local Gov

Total reps

Enrolment at 30/06/2010

Ratio all levels of Government

Ratio local and state Government

House Senate of Reps

Lower House

Upper House

NSW

49

12

93

42

1,518

1,714

4,552,976

1:2,656

1:2,754

VIC

37

12

88

40

631

808

3,506,844

1:4,340

1:4,620

QLD

29

12

89

0

553

683

2,684,538

1:3,931

1:4,181

WA

15

12

59

36

1,278

1,400

1,341,005

1:958

1:977

SA

11

12

47

22

715

807

1,099,031

1:1,362

1:1,402

TAS

5

12

25

15

281

338

356,203

1:1,053

1:1,110

A.C.T.

2

2

17

0

0

21

242,842

1:11,564

1:14,285

NT

2

2

25

0

148

177

118,401

1:669

1:685

TOTAL

150

76

443

155

5,124

5,948

13,901,840

1:2,337

1:2,429

Legislatures and the second, the Commonwealth (Latimer) House Principles on the Three Branches of Government themselves.2 These documents both articulate a strikingly similar set of foundations for maintaining and strengthening the democratic parliamentary form of government, including the importance of maintaining institutional checks and balances and the criticality of the doctrine of the separation of powers.

Speaker Berry’s papers in many ways provided the impetus for a broader discussion about how the institutional integrity of the legislature could be assured. We started to see in the A.C.T. – amongst MLAs, public servants, academics and interested members of the community – an authentic conversation about what arrangements should apply so far as: the Assembly’s budget was concerned, the role of the A.C.T. public service in the affairs of the Legislative Assembly Secretariat; the administrative and legislative protections that might be adopted to enhance the independence of the legislative branch and so on.

Following the 2008 election there was an opportunity to place the Latimer House principles at the front and centre the legislature’s thinking in these matters. In negotiating a parliamentary agreement with the A.C.T. Greens (who then held the balance of power in the Assembly), the government agreed that it would be appropriate to give greater prominence to the principles and indeed to adopt them as a yardstick for measuring the adequacy or otherwise of the form of democracy we practice in the territory.

On 11 December 2008, the Attorney General, Mr Simon Corbell, moved a resolution in the Assembly calling for the endorsement and adoption of the principles.

The resolution was passed with unanimous support in the Assembly.

The Legislative Assembly for the A.C.T. is the first and only jurisdiction of which we are aware that has formally adopted the Latimer House principles.

In its resolution of continuing effect, the Assembly acknowledged that “the principles express the fundamental values they believe should govern

the relationship between the three branches of government in the Australian Capital Territory”.3 The resolution was later amended, following a report on the Latimer House Principles by the Standing Committee on Administration and Procedure, to provide that a comprehensive review of A.C.T. governance was to be undertaken once in the life of each Assembly (once every four years) to assess implementation of the principles. The resolution requires that reviews are to be conducted by a suitably qualified person appointed by the Speaker.

The resolution requires that the report on the review is to be tabled in the Assembly and referred to the Standing Committee on Administration and Procedure for its inquiry and report. The first of these reviews was conducted in the latter part of 2011 by John Halligan, Professor of Public Administration at the University of Canberra’s Faculty of Business and Government. In this paper, we will briefly address four areas considered

by Professor Halligan in his review

– the Assembly’s budget control, its committee system, the need for more members, and the sovereignty of the Legislature vis-à-vis the Commonwealth.

The review The current Speaker, Mr Shane Rattenbury, MLA, appointed Professor John Halligan to conduct the review of the implementation of the Latimer House principles in the first part of 2011. Professor Halligan was a good fit for the review task given his longstanding interest in A.C.T. self-government.

As Research Professor of Government and Public Administration, Faculty of Business and Government at the university, Professor Halligan has conducted extensive research in relation to comparative public management and governance, public sector reform, performance management and government institutions.4 His review was informed by the Latimer House principles themselves, statistics relating to the business of the Assembly, the practices that have

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COMMONWEALTH LATIMER HOUSE PRINCIPLES been adopted in other jurisdictions, past reviews of self government, the body of academic literature on the subject, interviews with representatives of the three arms of government, and the contributions of MLAs in Assembly debates and committee reports.

It was encouraging to see that the review found that “The [A.C.T.] Legislature rates very well against Latimer Principles in terms of its relative independence from the executive, the opportunities for private Members and the concern with enhancing the institution”.5 With a few minor exceptions, the Legislature does perform remarkably well in this area and operates with a great deal of autonomy vis-à-vis the executive.

There is a culture of deference to the Legislature in the A.C.T. and successive executives have not generally attempted to encroach on the operations of the Assembly.

We suspect that this cultural acceptance of the separation between the legislative and executive branches derives, in large part, from the prevalence of minority government in the A.C.T. with six of the seven Assemblies having formed minority governments where one of the major parties has relied on the support of crossbench Members to prevail. Our particular Hare Clark electoral system, which entails proportional representation with multimember electorates, preferential voting, the prohibition of “how to vote” cards and rotating candidates names on the ballot papers (Robson rotation), all serve to make the achievement of a majority government (i.e. nine of the 17 Members) a difficult task. The prevalence of minority governments in the A.C.T. has tended to encourage compromise and the diffusion of power.

It is also true that the Assembly provides significant opportunities for non-executive members to participate in proceedings with high levels of engagement within the committee system, and a relatively high number of private members bills being passed.

In relation to this first point, Professor Halligan observes that:

“In a Legislature of 17 Members, the membership of standing committees is likely to be dominated by non-government parties, currently the A.C.T. Greens and the Canberra Liberals (but the A.C.T. Greens also operate under a Parliamentary Agreement with the governing Australian Labor Party). Of the seven Standing Committees all but one have three Members, the remaining committee (Administration and Procedure) has four. In each case there is only one government Member on the committee, which means that non-government parties prevail in terms of membership.

“Similarly, the roles of chairs of committees are distributed across the parties, but with one exception are currently held by opposition or crossbench Members. The A.C.T. has a tradition of using opposition Members in this position. Another example is the Select Committee on Estimates, which has five Members (two from the Opposition, two from the third party, and one from the government), and a non-government Chair.”6 It would be true to say that there has not been a “winner takes all’ approach adopted throughout the history of self-government. Power has traditionally been shared between members and party groups and the institutional capabilities of the Assembly have thrived as a result.

With regard to the second point, Professor Halligan observes that “in 2009-10, 72 Bills were introduced comprising 55 from the executive [76 per cent] and 17 private Members’ Bills [23 per cent]. This is an unusually high number for an Australian Parliament (or indeed comparable Parliaments overseas). Of those introduced all the executive’s Bills were passed, but 10 [14 per cent] private Members’ Bills were also successful’.7 Both of these measures, taken together demonstrate that there is a high level of independence and significant opportunities for participation by non-executive Members in the business of the Assembly to an extent not generally observed in other Parliaments.

Assembly budget control An all-party committee of Members of Parliament should review and administer Parliament’s budget which should not be subject to amendment by the executive.

Latimer House Guideline VII (6) In his report, Professor Halligan notes that “in relation to the key Latimer Principle, that the Legislature should have the power to determine and approve its budget, is not applied in A.C.T..

This question should be reviewed once the A.C.T. system of government as a whole acquires independent authority over its governance and agreement is reached on a larger Assembly”.8 The Assembly does not determine the allocation provided to fund its operation and that appears in the annual appropriation Bill tabled in the Assembly.

Instead, the traditional practice has been that the executive determines the funding quantum for the Assembly after having considered a draft budget put by the Speaker and after he or she has sought advice from the Standing Committee on Administration and Procedure. The Assembly as a whole has then been able to support or reject the appropriation. Speaker Berry pointed to the problems inherent in this approach in his paper on the application of the Latimer House principles in relation to the development of the Assembly’s budget, observing that: “the development and implementation of Parliaments’ budgets should not be subject to the vagaries and transient political and policy agenda of a particular government of the day.

In order to sustain and nourish the institution’s accountability, legislative and representational functions, an independent budgetary process is required; separate from those which apply to executive government departments and agencies. It is the autonomy of the parliament to decide its affairs that should take precedence over the role of the executive in

developing and framing budgets to deliver on government policy.”9 With the recent passage of the Legislative Assembly (Office of the Legislative Assembly) Act 2012, two new arrangements have been adopted which give greater effect to the relevant Latimer House guideline.

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COMMONWEALTH LATIMER HOUSE PRINCIPLES

The A.C.T. Legislative Assembly in Canberra.

The two significant advancements in this area are that: 1. the executive is now required to table a separate appropriation Bill in relation to the Assembly’s budget; and 2. where the executive departs from the funding allocation sought by the Speaker; it must table in the Assembly a

statement of reasons for doing so.

This brings an additional level of transparency and accountability to the budget process so far as the Assembly’s funding arrangements are concerned.

The Assembly is constrained in the extent to which it can implement

this principle given the fact that s65 of the A.C.T.’s effective constitution, the Australian Capital Territory (Self Government) Act 1988 (Cwlth) provides for the financial initiative of the crown, meaning that it is only the executive which can frame an appropriation. We believe these new

arrangements bring us closer to realizing the spirit, if not the letter, of the relevant Latimer House principle.

Enlarged Assembly A persistent theme to emerge in reports and reviews of selfgovernment in the A.C.T. over the The Parliamentarian | 2013: Issue One | 49

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COMMONWEALTH LATIMER HOUSE PRINCIPLES

A close-up of the statue in front of the A.C.T. Legislative Assembly building.

last 20 years has been the view that more Members are required to fulfil the potential of the Assembly as the legislative branch of government.

The Halligan review continued this theme, observing that: “The Legislative Assembly needs to have its numbers substantially increased as soon as possible. The actual size needs to be determined, but the figure advanced by previous reports (25) is at the upper end of those advocated, ‘and provides the greatest potential for augmenting governance capacity’. The actual size and electoral arrangements should be the subject of an independent investigation that includes the Electoral Commissioner, with a major emphasis being governance capacity.”

It has become quite clear that a considerable increase in the size of the Assembly is required in order for

the institution to acquit effectively the full range of legislative, executive, representative and accountability functions.

The A.C.T. is perhaps the most under-governed jurisdiction in Australia and there is a strong case to amend the Australian Capital Territory (Self Government) Act 198810 to allow the Assembly to set its own size and, following this, to introduce a clearly defined process for increasing the number of MLAs.11 Self-government and sovereignity The review notes the recent advancements in the A.C.T.’s governance arrangements following the passage in the Federal Parliament of the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Amendment (Disallowance and Amendment

Power of the Commonwealth) Bill 2010, which amongst other things removed the power of the federal executive through the Governor-General to override Territory laws. Professor Halligan observed that: “Securing full-self government is already a priority of the A.C.T., and significant progress has recently been made with the removal of a Commonwealth Minister’s ability to reject Territory legislation, but full independence from the Commonwealth needs to be reiterated here to underscore its importance as a fundamental basis of territory governance”.13 Although the federal Parliament retains the power to overturn A.C.T. laws, it is a major advancement that the Commonwealth executive alone no longer has this power. Speaker Rattenbury’s submission to the

Senate committee examining this Bill, made the following point: “While it is accepted that the Commonwealth Parliament will always have legislative responsibilities in relation to the A.C.T., the existing provisions in the Self-Government Act permitting disallowance of A.C.T. laws by the Governor-General on the instruction of the Federal Executive Council are undemocratic and are anachronistic in much the same way as are ss 58, 59 and 60 provisions in the Commonwealth Constitution.

“In the case of the A.C.T., this is not an academic or theoretical point - the fact that the federal executive has chosen to exercise the disallowance powers under s35 of the SelfGovernment Act and overturn an enactment of the Legislative Assembly for the A.C.T., creates a high degree of uncertainty as to the

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COMMONWEALTH LATIMER HOUSE PRINCIPLES extent of the democratic remit that applies in the Territory and casts into considerable doubt the operation of any authentic form of responsible government in this jurisdiction.

“It is simply an unnecessary impost on the people of the A.C.T. to have a federal executive looking over their shoulders in exercising their democratic rights. Removing s35 will strengthen the democratic character of the A.C.T. and provide additional certainty for A.C.T. legislators in performing their roles as elected representatives, ensuring that they are attentive to the needs and aspirations of A.C.T. citizens, rather than the executive of the federal government.”14 There remains unfinished business with respect to the operation of the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988. As we touched on before, it is clearly desirable that the prescriptive provisions concerning the number of Members of the Assembly and the maximum number of Ministers should be removed and these powers be granted to the Assembly itself.

Committee system The review observed that: “The committee system of the Legislative Assembly needs to be reviewed to reflect a larger Assembly, and to improve overall performance.

This will resolve the current need to rely on the three-person standing committee.”

The Assembly’s committee system in its current form involves six three-Member standing committees with coverage over particular portfolio areas – 1. Climate change, environment and water; 2. Education, training and youth affairs; 3. Planning, public works, territory and municipal services; 4. Health, community and social services; 5. Justice and community safety (which also performs a scrutiny of bills role); and 6.

Public accounts.

There is also one four-Member standing committee on administration and procedure which is primarily established to advise the Speaker on the internal administration of the

Legislature itself. The Assembly creates select committees on a needs basis with a five-Member select committee on estimates established each year to review the government’s Appropriation Bill and associated budget.

The constraints within the existing system primarily relate to the scarcity of Members within the Assembly.

There are obvious limitations in the extent to which committees can meaningfully explore the vast array of issues that emerge within the context of each of these broad portfolio

“The fact that the review process will be repeated in each Assembly is also positive and brings a continuous improvement mechanism to bear.” groupings. It is also the case that individual non-executive Members must sit on numerous committees at the same time which means that each Member is required to get across an extraordinary range of policy detail, a situation not typically encountered by Members in larger legislative bodies.

Professor Halligan seems to concur with this view noting in his report that “the resources of the committee, including the size of its membership, need to be strengthened”.15 The review observed that, “Greater use should be made of the committee system for the consideration of legislation”.16 While there are always benefits in parliamentary committees scrutinizing proposed legislation, to undertake this role effectively would almost certainly require an increase in the number of Members who sit on committees.

The same applies in relation to Professor Halligan’s finding that the resources of the Public Accounts Committee, “including the size of its membership, need to be strengthened”.17

Within these constraints our committee system performs remarkably well and the level of advice and support provided by committee secretaries within the Office of the Legislative Assembly is of a very high calibre.

the principles underpinning them.

Endnotes 1. Berry, W (2007) ‘The application of the Latimer House Principles in developing a legislature’s budget: parliamentary autonomy versus executive prerogative’ and Berry, W (2008) ‘Rat-

Conclusion We see the predominant value of the review process as being to enliven discussion about our governance arrangements and as a potential catalyst for strengthening and refining the A.C.T.’s existing institutional capabilities and structures. The review rated the A.C.T. Legislative as performing well against the Latimer principles and the Benchmarks of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association , noting that “the Assembly has had relatively more independence, compared to comparable systems operating within a Westminster tradition because a one-party majority in the Assembly is the exception”.18 We believe that the review process has been a positive one and will help inform the changes necessary to make the A.C.T.’s form of governance even more effective.

The fact that the review process will be repeated in each Assembly is also positive and brings a continuous improvement mechanism to bear, one that doesn’t allow us to rest on our laurels or to become complacent. We see value in the suggestion contained within the 2004 publication of the Commonwealth Latimer House principles on the Three Branches of Government relating to the “creation of a monitoring procedure outside official Commonwealth processes”.

It is noted in the document that such a procedure could “initially... involve an ‘annual report’ on the implementation of the Guidelines in all Commonwealth jurisdictions, noting ‘good’ and ‘bad’ practice”.19 In this way, all Commonwealth jurisdictions could better gauge their performance on a continuum, identifying their strengths, areas where improvements can be made, and participating in a broader constructive dialogue about how to give best effect to the guidelines and

ing the A.C.T. Legislative Assembly against CPA Benchmarks for Democratic Legislatures – is A minus good enough?’

2. Included as Appendix A 3. Resolution of continuing effect 8A Endorsement of the Commonwealth (Latimer) House Principles on the Three Branches of Government Resolution agreed by the Assembly 11 December 2008 (amended 23 February 2012).

4. http://www.canberra.edu.au/arc-wholegov/staff/biography-of-prof-john-halligan 5. Halligan, J (2011) ‘An assessment of the performance of the three branches of government in the A.C.T. against the Latimer House principles’ p 2.

6. Ibid, p 9.

7.

Ibid, p 9.

8. Ibid, p 3.

9. Berry op cit, p 8.

10. The current A.C.T. Act sets the number of Members within the Assembly at 17 as well as the maximum number of Ministers that can be appointed at five, including the Chief Minister.

11. Towards the end of 2012 Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, indicated a willingness to amend the Australian Capital Territory (Self Government) A.C.T. 1988 in order to grant the Assembly the power to determine its own size.

12. Hawke, A (2011) ‘Governing the City State’, p 33 accessed at http://www.cmd.A.C.T..gov. au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/224975/ Governing_the_City_State.pdf 13. Halligan op cit, p 4.

14. Submission 29 accessed at http://aph. gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate_Committees?url=legcon_ctte/ A.C.T.terrirtory_self_government/submissions. htm 15. Ibid, p 3.

16. Ibid, p 3.

17. Ibid, p 3.

18. Ibid, p 7.

19. Commonwealth (Latimer House Principles) on the Three Branches of Government, p 24. accessed on 27 June 2012 from http://www. thecommonwealth.org/shared_asp_files/ uploadedfiles/%7BACC9270A-E929-4AE0AEF9-4AAFEC68479C%7D_Latimer%20 House%20Booklet%20130504.pdf

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COMMITTEE PARTICIPATION: A MULTIMEDIA APPROACH

MORE THAN IDLE CHATTER: A MULTIMEDIA APPROACH TO COMMITTEE PARTICIPATION Public involvement in the work of committees is a goal widely sought but difficult to achieve.

The Alberta Legislative Assembly has twice turned to the internet to bring more people into the discussion about how the province’s multi-million-dollar trust fund from oil and gas revenues is being invested. Senior Asembly officials report mixed results and and discuss possible ways to improve outreach.

Dr Philip Massolin and Dr David McNeil in Edmonton.

Dr Massolin is the Manager of Research Services and Dr McNeil is the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly of the western Canadian province of Alberta.

Dr Philip Massolin

Members of a committee of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, a province in western Canada, recently embarked upon an effort to increase citizen participation in its annual public meeting. The Standing Committee on the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund has employed a multimedia approach to enhance citizen engagement at its past two annual public meetings. The public meeting’s objective is to provide a forum for the public to learn about and discuss the

Dr David McNeil

investment activities and financial results of the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund.

This article outlines the logistics of planning for and implementing the committee’s multimedia approach. It also attempts to assess the successes of the committee in augmenting citizen involvement in light of not only increased meeting participation but also of achieving a measure of enhanced citizen engagement through interaction,

facilitated by social media technology.

Lastly, we will discuss the benefits, costs and risks associated with this multifaceted approach.

To understand the efforts of the Standing Committee on the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund, it is necessary to understand the committee’s mandate and the objectives of its annual public meeting.

The Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund (AHSTF) is a fund of approximately $16 billion made up of resource revenues which was initiated in 1976. The Standing Committee on the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund is an all-party committee of nine Members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. It annually reviews and approves the Fund’s performance, business plan and annual report; receives and reviews the quarterly reports on the Fund’s operations and results; and reports to the Legislative Assembly on whether the mission of the Fund is being fulfilled.

Traditionally the annual public

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COMMITTEE PARTICIPATION: A MULTIMEDIA APPROACH greater staff involvement in 2011 than had been the case in prior years.

It bears noting that the 2012 meeting required significantly less staff support than in 2011 as a result of the lessons learned in the previous year.

Table one: Communication costs for 2011-2012 public meetings Communications: Advertising Stats cards Shaw Broadcasting Livestream (online chat) TOTAL

meeting has been held in various constituencies around the province of Alberta. Members of the public could participate in the meetings in person, observing and/or asking questions if they wished, and the proceedings were recorded in Hansard. The 2010 annual public meeting had an especially low turnout, with only two members of the public attending. This low attendance combined with higherthan-expected television viewership numbers prompted the committee to re-evaluate its strategy for involving the public in its annual meeting. In 2011 the committee decided to continue with live broadcast of the proceedings – approximately 6,000 people viewed the proceedings on television in 2010 – to advertise for in-person attendance and for the first time to webcast proceedings live on the Internet. The webcast was accompanied by an online chat feature, enabling participants to log on during the meeting to chat and put questions to the committee about various aspects of the Fund.1 The committee adopted this new communications strategy for both its 2011 and 2012 annual public meetings. The 2012 attendance results are as follows, with 2011 results in parentheses: • Live audience: 25, five of whom posed a total of nine questions/comments (20, seven of whom posed nine questions/comments). All live audience questions/comments were responded to.

• TV audience: approximately 16,000 (5,000)2 • Online audience: 33 (43)

2012 Meeting

2011 Meeting

$28,147.84 1,432.00 3,344.00 1,127.72

$25,900.31 1,352.00 3,349.50 1,129.03

$34,051.56

$31,730.84

• Chat participants: • 2011 – 43 total participants, nine of whom generated 68 questions/ comments. The committee responded to seven questions/comments.

• 2012 – 33 total participants, 14 of whom generated 52 questions/comments. The committee responded to 19 questions/comments.3 • Overall, the committee and meeting organizers considered the 2011 public meeting4 a success.

In contrast to previous years’ experiences, there were sufficient questions and information to fill

“The multimedia approach has proven to be a costeffective method to reach larger audiences than in the past.“ the entire two hours and therefore no need to shorten the meeting.

The in-person audience raised a number of questions while the 43 online chatters also put a number of questions to the committee. The committee answered a considerable number of the questions from both chatters and the in-person audience, making for a better and more interactive forum in which to discuss Fund activities.

In 2012 television viewership increased substantially, to an

estimated 15,000 viewers. In-person attendance and online participation remained relatively static, as is indicated in statistics above.

Costs Table one displays the communications costs – i.e., costs for advertising, broadcast, webcast and chat room – for the 2011 and 2012 public meetings.

Advertising was the greatest single cost while the production of “stats cards,” which contain some overview details about the Fund, was a relatively minor expense. It is fair to say that the costs for providing the webcast/chat feature have not been prohibitive at just over $1,000/year while the broadcast cost remained at approximately $3,300 per annum.

The deployment of staff presents a somewhat different story, at least for the 2011 public meeting, at which the chat room and webcast features were introduced. The following staff worked the night of the meeting, largely to support webcast and chat room operations (total hours on the project are indicated, where possible, in parentheses): • Two IT staff (approximately 50 hours), • Three Communications staff (ap proximately 90 hours) and • Three managers.

Despite these figures, it is difficult to quantify exactly how much extra time and effort went into executing the operational requirements of the committee’s multimedia approach, but clearly the introduction of the chat room feature required much

Observations: Benefits, Opportunities and Risks The question now is whether the costs described above were justified in terms of enabling the accomplishment of the committee’s objective of increasing the audience for and participation in its annual public meeting. Clearly, the live broadcast of proceedings substantially increased the audience for the committee’s public meeting, as noted above. The reasons for this appear straightforward. Watching proceedings on television is more convenient than attending in person, and the live broadcast was available to hundreds of thousands of potential viewers throughout most of the province.5 The webcast and the online chat added to the overall viewership of the meeting, but it should be noted that the online chat offers a greater benefit than modestly increasing the public meeting’s audience. In addition to providing a greater reach and therefore a larger potential audience than the television broadcast, the online chat offers an element of interactivity that is not possible through television viewership. This interactive participation mirrors and perhaps even supersedes what can be done in person. At the public meeting online chatters may pose questions for the committee’s response or make comments that they wish the committee to address.

Alternatively, chatters may opt to discuss the meeting proceedings among themselves. In sum, the online chat offers wider access to the meeting proceedings than is feasible through the current local broadcast, access that is ideal for a meeting that deals with matters which are of a provincial or even national scope.

Just as importantly, the chat enables interactive participation, which is not feasible through television

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viewership and which had heretofore been unavailable save for in-person attendance at the meetings.

An additional benefit of the chat feature is that it added to the public meeting’s important question-and-answer component.

The annual public meeting has a question-and-answer segment of approximately 75 minutes in which, traditionally, in-person attendees ask questions of the committee.

With meager in-person attendance prior to the advent of the online chat, meetings were frequently adjourned early because there

were no further questions from the audience. In the 2011 and 2012 meetings, respectively, online chatters contributed seven and 19 questions and comments for the committee’s response.

Significantly, this contribution was approximately half of the total number of “interactions” made during the meetings.

Put in another way, without this input it is likely that the 2011 and 2012 public meetings would have run out of discussion material and would have had to adjourn earlier than they did.

Therefore, the online chat proved to be of considerable importance in filling the gaps left by the in-person audience.

We conclude that the marginal cost of implementing the online chat feature yielded significant results in terms of providing for direct citizen interaction with the committee on a real-time basis.

The television broadcast and the webcast and online chat, taken together, helped the committee achieve its objective of increasing public meeting participation, expressed both in terms of passive

viewership as exemplified by the television audience and active or, better put, interactive participation by way of the social media tool of the online chat room.

Additional benefits are that social media generally are a costeffective and increasingly popular way of reaching the public; appeal to a younger demographic; level the playing field in that video broadcast alone has limited reach while social media are available wherever there is an Internet connection, including extra-provincial access; and are effective tools to get the message

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Left: Advertising was the single biggest communication cost for the committee’s public meetings, while live broadcasts (right) of proceedings substantially increased the audience.

out on administrative matters such as meeting or submission dates.

But are there risks or drawbacks to the multimedia approach or, specifically, to using social media?

One disadvantage is that social media users often elect to remain anonymous, notably in the chat room situation.

Because chatters can use whatever chat name, or handle, they wish, anonymity can leave the client, in our case the committee, uncertain as to the identities of the social media users.6 The implications of this for the

annual public meeting were twofold.

First, it was not known whether chatters, even though few in number, were representative of Albertans at large.

It is feasible that the chatters were part of special-interest groups or associated with political parties. It is even possible that political staffers and/or people representing special interests constituted the bulk of the chatters. The result is that the committee cannot know to what extent the online chatters were representative of the Alberta public at large and, importantly, whether

the online chat therefore fulfilled the public component of the committee’s annual public meeting.7 A related implication of anonymous online participation is that the committee, by allowing social media interactions, risks losing a measure of control over its proceedings. Chatters who happen to be political insiders may take advantage of their anonymous status and pose preconceived questions to the committee which are representative of their partisan or special interest. Additionally, the anonymity may embolden chatters

to challenge the committee where they would not do so otherwise with questions or comments, some of which may be inappropriate for a public forum.

This input may embarrass the committee or certain Members who sit on it. Furthermore, it may also detract from the public purpose of the committee’s meeting by steering the meeting away from its objective, which is to provide a public forum for Albertans to discuss the fund and its performance.

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The webcast and online chat, along with television broadcasting, helped the committee achieve its objective of increasing public meeting participation.

opportunity to respond to questions or comments made by social media participants and therefore to “set the record straight”. There is also an opportunity to screen out offensive or inappropriate commentary.

Registration for the chat room could be a remedy for the issue of anonymity.

The committee could require chat room participants to register, compelling chatters to give their names and demographic or even occupational information in exchange for access to the chat room.8 Registration could provide enough of a disincentive to dissuade chatters from making assertions online that they would not otherwise make.

Furthermore, through registration the committee could gather information on chatters that would illuminate how representative they are of the public at large.

Demographic information would assist the committee in better understanding its audience and thus would provide the committee insight into the groups of people who are or are not participating in the meeting.

There are drawbacks to requiring advance registration, however. If the process to participate becomes too arduous or complex, then people might choose to not participate at all. This could be a perilous risk to take given the current low rate of participation.

Additionally, it is possible that individuals might exhibit their frustration with the registration process in posting comments critical of the administrative hoops required to participate, something which would reflect poorly on the committee.

The committee would be wise to carefully weigh the merits of requiring registration against these significant disadvantages.

Conclusion The use of a multimedia approach

“Chat participation has enhanced the traditional means of interactivity, and it has meant that the objective of increased interactive engagement in meeting proceedings, albeit on a small scale, has been achieved.“

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by the Standing Committee on the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund to enhance public viewership and engagement at its 2011 and 2012 annual public meetings may be considered a qualified success. The multimedia approach has proven to be a cost-effective method to reach larger audiences than in the past.

As such, a basic goal of the committee, increased attendance at the public meeting, has been accomplished.

Moreover, the addition of the online chat has allowed for greater interactive participation. Chat participation has enhanced the traditional means of interactivity, and it has meant that the objective of

increased interactive engagement in meeting proceedings, albeit on a small scale, has been achieved.

In addition, the chat feature has been the source of additional questions and commentary, which have contributed to and enlivened meeting discussions.

the Calgary and Edmonton areas alone and

6. It should be noted that no demographic

that Shaw Communications Inc. broadcast to

data on chatters were collected, so no analysis

approximately 70 per cent and 50 per cent

in this area may be completed.

of the Alberta population in 2011 and 2012,

7.

respectively.

information on chat room participants was

3. The questions from both the 2011 and

gathered. Because demographic profiling is not

2012 meetings included questions on the

possible, questions relating to the age, gender

investment strategies of the Fund; on reinvest-

or even the geographic origins (e.g., Calgary

ment in the Fund to more rapidly grow it instead

or Edmonton, urban or rural, et cetera) cannot

of putting returns into general revenues; and

be answered. Therefore, it cannot be known

questions asking for comparisons between the

whether the multimedia approach achieved

1. Livestream is the software that was used.

Fund and other similar sovereign wealth Funds

the oft-articulated goals of parliamentarians of

It allows the user to stream live events over

such as Norway’s.

engaging a wider spectrum of the populace, for

the Internet. It transmits video from a camera

4. At the time of writing, the committee had

instance a younger demographic, in legislative

into a live feed over the Internet in real time.

not yet met to evaluate the 2012 meeting.

proceedings.

Content can be distributed in a variety of ways;

5. As indicated in endnote 2 above, Shaw

8. Of course, chatters could still subvert the

e.g., embedded in a website or through mobile

Communications Inc. broadcast to approximate-

purpose of this process by providing false infor-

applications.

ly 70 per cent and 50 per cent of the Alberta

mation; however, one hopes that chatters would

2. Note that viewership is estimated for

population in 2011 and 2012 respectively.

not engage in this kind of dishonesty.

Endnotes

A corollary of this is that no demographic

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A UNIQUE PARLIAMENTARY TRADITION: REFERRING BILLS FOR DOUBLE COMMITTEE SCRUTINY IN INDIA’S UPPER HOUSE India’s Council of States, the Rajya Sabha, takes its law-making powers so seriously it has referred Bills for further committee review even though they have already been thoroughly examined by joint standing committees and passed by the lower House. A senior official of the upper House argues this is by no means an unnecessary duplication.

Shri Satya Narayana Sahu in New Delhi.

Shri Sahu is Joint Secretary in the Rajya Sabha Secretariat. He served as an Officer on Special Duty to the late President of India, Shri K.R. Narayanan, and as a Director in the Prime Minister’s Office.

Shri Satya Sahu

The Rajya Sabha, the Council of States of the Indian Parliament, has many distinctive features in spite of its equal powers with the Lok Sabha (House of the People) in many fields including the passage of laws and amendments to statutes and to the constitution. It is a permanent Chamber not subject

to dissolution. It has special powers to authorize Parliament to create an All-India Service or legislate on any matter enumerated in the state list by adopting a resolution as per the procedure prescribed by the constitution. It can approve the proclamation of an emergency promulgated by the President of India when the House of the People has been dissolved.

Over the years, it has added another dimension to those distinctive features by creating a unique parliamentary tradition and heralding a refreshing legacy of legislative scrutiny. On three occasions, it referred Bills to its select committees after they had been meticulously examined by the department-related parliamentary standing committees, which are composed of Members from both Houses of Parliament, and

passed by the House of the People.

A question might be raised if the Lok Sabha had referred any such Bill to its select committee after a department-related parliamentary standing committee of both Houses examined it and later the Rajya Sabha passed it. There is no such example in the annals of the Lok Sabha.

Additional committee scrutiny Several Bills passed by the Rajya Sabha had been referred to select committees of the Lok Sabha when it took up those Bills for consideration and passage. There is not any single example of a Bill which has been examined by the relevant departmentrelated parliamentary standing committee and passed by the Rajya Sabha and later referred to the select committee of the Lok Sabha.

The department-related

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Opposite page: India Gate in New Delhi; This page: Parliament House.

parliamentary standing committees were established in the Indian Parliament in 1993 following the pattern of the select committees of the United Kingdom House of Commons which were introduced there in 1979 to examine the policies and programmes of individual government departments. Normally in India both the Houses of Parliament have been referring almost all Bills to the relevant department-related parliamentary standing committee for scrutiny and examination. As of now the Rajya Sabha has referred some of the Bills to its select committee for examination and report even though such Bills have been already examined by a department-related parliamentary standing committee and passed by the Lok Sabha. So far the Lok Sabha has not done such a thing.

The foundational philosophy behind the reference of Bills to committees of both the Houses of Parliament or a committee of either House has been to enable deep examination and reassessment of their scope and thematic content. It is quite usual to refer Bills, introduced in either House, to a department-related parliamentary standing committee operating under the control of one House but consisting of Members of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, or to a select committee of either House. However, it is rare to see a Bill referred to a select committee of the Rajya Sabha after it has been thoroughly examined by a department-related standing committee and passed by the Lok Sabha. When the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011, to set up an ombudsman at the national and state

level, was taken up in the Rajya Sabha for consideration and passage on 21 May 2012, a Member of the House moved an amendment to refer it to a select committee of the Council.

The Lokpal Bill 2011 was first introduced in the Lok Sabha in 2011. It was then referred to the Department Related Parliamentary Standing on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice (functioning under the Rajya Sabha) which after detailed examination recommended alterations and accordingly reported to the Lok Sabha. The House debated and passed the legislation and transmitted it to the Council of States. When the Bill was being taken up for consideration, a Member of that House moved a motion and the Bill was referred to a select committee.

This was the third time that a Bill

examined by a department-related standing committee of Parliament and passed by the Lok Sabha had been referred to a select committee of Rajya Sabha. It happened for the first time on 7 August 1995 when the Rajya Sabha took a unanimous decision to refer the Trade Marks Bill, 1995, which was examined by the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry (functioning under the Rajya Sabha) and passed by the Lok Sabha, to its select committee for further scrutiny and examination. Again on 4 August 1997 the Rajya Sabha took a decision to refer the Coast Guard (Amendment) Bill, 1996 to its select committee even though it was examined by the Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence and passed by the Lok Sabha.

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Parking on the streets of New Delhi.

These three examples testify to the fact that the Rajya Sabha need not only take a well-trodden path in deciding the fate of legislation. They also prove the point that the Council can exercise its authority and power in applying its mind to assess the merits of legislation and accordingly chart out a course of action.

Pursuing issues of national interest The debates of the Rajya Sabha in the three cases show how the Council followed its own course independent of the course followed by the other House in exercising its law-making power.

The Trade Marks Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha in April 1993. Thereafter it was referred to the Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry. The committee reported in April 1994 recommending alterations to certain sections. The government accepted the alterations and incorporated them in the Bill which was later taken up in the Lok Sabha for consideration and passage.

The House passed it on 29 May 1995. The then Minister of Industry, Shri K.Karunakaran, moved the Bill in the Rajya Sabha on 31 July 1995.

When the Bill was discussed threadbare in the Rajya Sabha, several

Members supported referring the Bill to a select committee. They were of the opinion that certain provisions might harm Indian entrepreneurs.

The then Member of the House Shri S. Jaipal Reddy expressed his apprehension that the Bill would open the Indian market to all kinds of services from foreign countries and, therefore, wanted his apprehensions allayed by referring it to a select committee where issues could be discussed in detail and greater depth.

He even went to the extent of saying that the Lok Sabha passed it because the Government had a majority there and not because the Members of the Lok Sabha were happy with it.

“After all, through your majority you rule,” he said. “Though we are in a majority here, we do not want to overrule any Bill indiscriminately. Let me tell you very clearly: we merely want the government to take us into confidence. That is all. We will articulate our fears. Let the officers concerned, competent technocrats, come and tell the Members of Parliament in the select committee that their fears are misplaced.”

Similarly, Shri I.K.Gujral urged the Minister to accept the proposal to refer the Bill to a select committee.

“He would be richer by having the opinion of the committee because he would then be in a position to

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understand the various implications of this Bill. A debate, I concede, is a wholesome thing. I am all for debate.

But the committee system has also helped us. The select committee by itself is an institution which examines a Bill in all its details, takes into account all the points and the implications.

That is why I want the Honourable Minister to accept our suggestion in the interest of the nation. I am sure he would stand up and say that he accepts our contention and send this Bill to a select committee of the House,” said Shri Gujral.

The forthright stand taken by the Members in defence of the Rajya Sabha spoke volumes for the unfettered law-making power of the House. The preceding statements sharply bring out the assertion of the Rajya Sabha in dealing with legislations at its disposal in a manner which would serve the national interest.

However, Shri Karunakaran was not agreeable to constituting a select committee to have a fresh look at the legislation. On 31 July 1995 he said that the DepartmentRelated Standing Committee on Industry which had Members of both the Houses of Parliament recommended for alterations and the government was willing to accept all the recommendations. He wondered if the matter could be settled through dialogue and discussion.

On 7 August 1995, the Minister informed the House that, through a series of meetings with all the political parties represented in the Rajya Sabha, a unanimous decision was taken to refer the Bill to a select committee and accordingly he moved a motion to that effect and the House adopted it.

No duplication of committee work The Coast Guard (Amendment) Bill, 1996, was referred by the Rajya Sabha to a select committee on 4 August 1997 even though it had been examined by the DepartmentRelated Standing Committee on Defence and passed by the Lok Sabha.

When the then Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence, Shri N.V.N.Somu, moved that the Bill be commended for consideration by the House, three Members (Shri J.Chitharanjan, Shri Gurudas Das Gupta and Shri Ramachandran Pillai) expressed their desire to refer the Bill to a select committee of the Council of States and move amendments. The Minister argued that it had already been examined by the standing committee of Members of both Houses, recommended unanimously and passed by the Lok Sabha so there was no need to refer it to a select committee.

While some Members supported the Bill, Shri Pillai pleaded that many important issues were not considered by the standing committee. He said that the object of the Bill was to make the Coast Guard Act conform to the Army and Navy Acts but that the proposed amendments were not in consonance with that objective.

Many other Members also suggested improvements to the scope and content of the Bill.

Finally, Shri Somu took note of the suggestions and withdrew his objection to referring the Bill but called for the Select Committee to report as soon as possible as one committee had already been through the Bill. A Member replied that there was no duplication of work between the two committees.

These examples affirm the full extent of the power of the Council of States for further study and evaluation of legislation in its select committees as mandated by Rule 69 of the Rules of Procedures and Conduct of Business in the Council of States. It states that when a Bill is introduced or on some subsequent occasion, the Member in charge may move the motion for, among others, referring it either to a select committee of the Council or a joint committee of the Houses with concurrence of the House.

Rule 125 states that any Member (if the Bill has not already been referred to a Joint Committee of the Houses, but not otherwise) move an amendment that the Bill be referred

“The reference of the aforementioned Bills to select committees of the Rajya Sabha, in spite of the fact that they had previously been considered by department-related standing committees and passed by the Lok Sabha, yet again proves beyond doubt the immense legislative power of the Council.” to the Select Committee and, if such a motion is carried, the Bill shall be referred to a Select Committee, and the rules regarding Select Committees on Bills originating in the Council shall then apply.

Asserting its law-making duty On 21 May 2012 when the Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Shri V. Narayanasamy, continued the discussion on the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011, he urged the House to pass it on the basis of consensus. However, Shri Sitaram Yechury moved that the Bill, although passed by the Lok Sabha, be referred to a select committee of the Rajya Sabha.

Many Members objected but the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs clarified that “a motion for referring a Bill to a select committee…acquires precedence over everything…. It is for the House to accept it or not.”

Many Members argued that only the Minister or the Member in charge of the Bill could move a referral.

The Vice-Chairman of the House, Prof. P.J. Kurien, said any Member has right to move an amendment and the House has every right not to accept it.

Finally, the Minister moved the motion that the Bill be referred to a select committee of the Rajya Sabha and the question was adopted. A prominent daily newspaper The Indian Express reported that the Rajya Sabha opted for more debate by referring the Bill to its select committee.

These debates testify to the credibility and power of the Rajya Sabha to make laws for our country.

This power is validated by the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States.

The reference of the aforementioned Bills to select committees of the Rajya Sabha, in spite of the fact that they had previously been considered by department-related standing committees and passed by the Lok Sabha, yet again proves beyond doubt the immense legislative power of the Council.

Erskine May’s Treatise on The Law, Privileges, Proceedings and Usage of Parliament refers to the select committees in the House of Commons and states: “Select committees are appointed by the House to perform a wide range of functions on the House’s behalf.

Most notably they have become over recent years the principal mechanism by which the House discharges its responsibilities for the scrutiny of government policy and actions. Increasingly this scrutiny work has become the most widely recognized and public means by which Parliament holds government Ministers and their departments to account.

“It is the tradition of select committees, bolstered by their practice of deliberating in private, to proceed as far as possible by consensus and without regard to party affiliations.”

The detailed analysis of the three aforementioned Bills further testifies to the proposition that the Council of States of India’s Parliament has deepened the traditions of democracy and parliamentary work by referring Bills to select committees to hold the government accountable.

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FIVE CENTURIES OF MPS: THE HISTORY OF PARLIAMENT PROJECT How do you find out who occupied the Benches of the British Parliament centuries before accurate record-keeping was thought necessary? The Director of a major project – inspired by the interest of a history-minded MP – explains how Westminster is filling in the many missing pieces of its history.

Dr Paul Seaward in London.

Dr Seaward is the Director of the United Kingdom’s History of Parliament Project. A former Assistant Clerk, Senior Clerk and Deputy Principal Clerk in the House of Commons at Westminster, he was also an A.H. Lloyd Research Fellow at Christ’s College, Cambridge University.

Dr Paul Seaward

How many people have ever been Members of the British Parliament?

Over the 750 or so years of Parliament’s existence there have been very many indeed. It’s the History of Parliament Trust’s job to find out who they were.

Getting started That’s not always easy. There have been many Members, living at about the same time, who shared the same name and are difficult to distinguish.

There are many, especially in the early years of Parliaments, whose names we only know in part, or don’t know at all. Our guess at the moment is that altogether, around 30,000 to 40,000 people have been elected to Parliament over all that time.

The vast majority of them have been men, of course, as women have only been elected to the House of Commons since 1918, and very few were returned until the most recent general elections. Most Members have been relatively rich and wellconnected, since the electorate only became truly democratic in the

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The Palace of Westminster and, to the right, Portcullis House where many current MPs have offices.

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last century – although it is often surprising to find people of quite humble origins elected even before the age of democracy. And many of them turn out to have fascinating stories which tell us a lot not just about politics, but also about the society they lived in.

The History of Parliament project was originally conceived by Josiah Wedgwood (1872-1942), a Liberal, then Labour, MP from the Midlands.

First elected in 1906, he became a Minister in the Ramsay Macdonald government of 1924. Wedgwood was a keen local historian, particularly interested in his forebears as MPs for his own constituency and area. From 1928 he began to try to persuade the government to fund a national dictionary of parliamentary biography.

A committee of the great and good, set up by the Prime Minister, agreed that the project was a worthy one, but by the time it reported in the 1930s, the government was unwilling to provide the money to fund it.

Wedgwood started work anyway, using a small staff, and raising some private money. Apart from publishing two volumes on Parliament in the Middle Ages, he also sent round a questionnaire to all of those who had served as MPs in the period up to the end of the First World War, allowing them to provide him with the basic information which would ultimately become the foundation for their own biographies. It was only after his death, and after the end of the Second World War, that the project succeeded in gaining government support when in 1951 the Treasury finally agreed to fund it. From the beginning, it has been overseen by a body of trustees who are composed of Members and officers of both Houses of Parliament, but also by an editorial board of expert historians from universities across the country.

Since 1994 the History has been funded directly by the two Houses of Parliament.

Who served and what they did The project has come a long way.

The History of Parliament is now one of the most ambitious, authoritative

and well-researched projects in British history. It consists of detailed studies of elections and electoral politics in each constituency, and of closely researched accounts of the lives of everyone who was elected to Parliament within the period, together with surveys drawing out the themes and discoveries of the research and adding information on the operation of Parliament as an institution.

We have published 41 volumes, covering in total 338 years of parliamentary history, containing 21,500 biographies, 5,000 constituency articles and 25 million words. We have recently placed all of our articles on a website, which is freely available to all (www. historyofparliamentonline.org).

The result is that for most of Parliament’s long and exciting history it is possible to discover not only who served as a Member of Parliament for any constituency and when they did so, but also, in many cases what they did when they got to Parliament, and much about their lives outside Parliament.

Of course the key figures in Parliament are covered with major biographies: Prime Ministers, Chancellors, Speakers, Leaders of

the Opposition. But our work covers everyone, including the humblest Backbencher. It also includes those people who were famous for other reasons, but who were also MPs for part of their lives – people like Sir Christopher Wren, the architect, or Sir Isaac Newton, the mathematician, both MPs in the beginning of the eighteenth century.

Quite recently, we have started to work on the House of Lords as well as the House of Commons. The upper House presents with a whole set of different challenges. Here, it is usually a lot easier to know who was who – at least after the beginning of the eighteenth century – and our problem is often one of having too much, rather than too little, information.

The great, the good and those who were neither To take as an example of what we are writing about, one of the most recent sets of volumes to be published covers the political battles that resulted in the “Great Reform Act” of 1832 – Britain’s first step on the road to democracy.

It contains biographies of the 1,982 MPs who sat in the House of Commons during that period.

They include, naturally, the front rank politicians whom we still remember, like Sir Robert Peel, Lord Palmerston, Lord John Russell, and even the young William Gladstone. But they also include accounts of hundreds of second rank parliamentary figures, like Peel’s friends and ministerial colleagues Henry Goulburn, Chancellor of the Exchequer 182830, a saintly man with a head for business but no talent for speaking, or the foul-mouthed Irishman “Black Billy” Holmes, the Chief Tory Whip, who was driven to exasperation by Peel’s aloofness towards the rank and file.

They include prominent Backbenchers like William Wilberforce, the campaigner for the abolition of slavery; “Orator” Henry Hunt, the hero of the 1819 Peterloo Massacre, the champion of the poor; and the burly Scotsman Joseph Hume, a former naval surgeon, who relentlessly harried Ministers over their spending. They include MPs by accident, like the poet and pamphleteer Robert Southey, who was returned to Parliament without his knowledge or consent and resigned as soon as the new Parliament met.

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U.K.: THE PARLIAMENT PROJECT

From left to right: Sir Isaac Newton, Sir Robert Peel, Lord Palmerston;and William Gladstone.

There are rich men – James Morrison was the son of a Wiltshire publican who made his way in London, went into merchant banking and became probably one of the richest men of the nineteenth century.

There are poor men – John Fitzgerald, who died a broken man as a result of his disastrous Lancashire coal mining enterprises.

And there are, I regret to say, not a few who became beggars and thieves.

Chronicles of corruption Complementing the biographies are the constituency histories.

These provide a rich picture of the interaction between politics at Westminster and politics in individual towns and counties all over the country.

The 1820-32 volumes, again, are a good example of what they can show. Cumulatively, the articles on the 383 British and Irish constituencies provide the fullest account of the deeply corrupt pre-reform electoral system ever assembled. In some “pocket boroughs” rich and aristocratic “borough patrons” could exercise almost complete control over elections (indeed, in a number

of cases these constituencies were in effect bought and sold for astronomical prices).

In many others bribery, though formally outlawed, was rife, with money changing hands in exchange for votes. It’s a system that has thankfully long gone, and at the time it was strongly challenged by committed reformers, such as John Cam Hobhouse, imprisoned by the House of Commons for breach of privilege after he wrote in a pamphlet that it was only the army that prevented the people from marching on the House, “pulling out the Members by the ears, locking up their doors and flinging the keys into the Thames”.

Leading the way back in time Putting all of these individual histories together, the History is creating an amazingly detailed picture of politics and society in the sometimes very distant past.

The History now has around 20 professional historians working on five major projects: the House of Commons in the period 1422-1509, in 1640-60 and in 1832-68, and the House of Lords in 1690-1715 and 1604-1660.

The History is not quite unique.

The Spanish Parliament has been funding a similar project covering Members of the various Assemblies in Spain since 1812; the first of a series of biographical dictionaries of French MPs covering different periods and different localities was published in 1889, and there are other projects in other countries, whether relating to national or to subnational Legislatures.

Impressive though many of them are, however, none is quite as longstanding, or as comprehensive as our own.

Once all of our current Commons projects are completed, we will cover the period 1386 to 1868 – nearly 500 years, about two thirds of the time that Parliament has been in existence.

We are, you will notice, still a long

way from the present day. That’s why we have recently begun to work with the British Library on an oral history project with living former MPs – a project which will be featured in an article in the next issue of this journal.

The History of Parliament’s website, at www. historyofparliamentonline.org, contains all of the biographical and constituency articles published by the History up to 2010, as well as images of many of the Members featured and “Explore” articles about events and issues connected to Parliament.

The website also contains more information about the History, details of all of its publications and links to its blogs and other material. If you would like more information on the History, please contact the Director, Paul Seaward, on pseaward@histparl. ac.uk.

“Once all of our current Commons projects are completed, we will cover the period 1386 to 1868 – nearly 500 years, about two thirds of the time that Parliament has been in existence.”

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CPA MATTERS

CPA StAtement of PurPoSe The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association mobilizes its Parliaments, Legislatures, their Members and staff to advance the consideration of good democratic governance and the institutional and professional development of its membership. It works in the Commonwealth through meetings and publications to discuss: • The democratic representation of all sections of society and both genders; • Parliamentary oversight of the executive; • Parliamentary involvement in formulating legislation and government policy; • The role of small Parliaments; • Parliamentary outreach to the people, and • The independence of Parliament from the executive government.

Adopted by the CPA General Assembly, Colombo, Sri Lanka, September 2012.

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NEWS AND LEGISLATION FROM COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTS QUEBEC: New Legislature, new laws Page 75

NEW ZEALAND: Alcohol Reform Legislation Page 77

NEW ZEALAND: Geneva Conventions (Third Protocol and Red Crystal Emblem) Amendment Bill Page 78

INDIA: The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2012 Page 79

INDIA: The Enforcement of Security Interest Recovery of Debts Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2011 Page 81

AUSTRALIA: Clean Energy Amendment (International Emissions Trading

KENYA: CELEBRATING A JUBILEE, 1963 TO 2013 Page 63

and Other Measures) Act 2012 Page 83

AUSTRALIA: Freedom of Information Amendment (Parliamentary Budget Office) Bill, 2012 Page 84

SUCCESSION TO THE CROWN, ELECTORAL ADMINISTRATION & SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

INTRODUCING PROVISIONS TO IMPROVE USE OF HOUSE TIME

PRIME MINISTER ANNOUNCES AUSTRALIANS TO VOTE IN SEPTEMBER

Page 71

Page 76

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KENYA

CELEBRATING A JUBILEE, 1963 TO 2013 The life of the Tenth Parliament of Kenya came to an end on 15 January 2013, when its statutory five years ended.

The Tenth Parliament began in an environment clouded by the inconclusive general election which lacked a clear victor. This was coupled with the spontaneous post-election violence that rocked most parts of the expansive Rift Valley Province.

The period between December 27 and 29 2007, when the general election was held and January 15, 2008, when the first sitting of the Tenth Parliament was convened, was a stressful one.

The convening of the Tenth Parliament was propitious in deflecting attention from the heated disputes over the results of the presidential elections.

The constitutional and statutory framework bound the two leaders of the leading contending political parties for the presidency. President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga were designated the Two Principals and their parties respectively, the Party of National Unity (PNU) and the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), entered into a coalition. The two Principals brought along their affiliated political parties. The lifespan of the coalition was given as five years, however, provisions were included by which it could be ended upon disengagement of one of the Principals.

The negotiated agreement on which the Two Principals penned their signatures on 28

February 2008 was a product of the process shepherded by the African Union (AU), the United Nations, the European Union, and the East African Community (EAC). The African Union bestowed its mandate on the Group of Eminent African Persons led by the immediate former Secretary-General of the UN, Mr Kofi Annan, the immediate former President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Mr Benjamin Mkapa, the former First Lady of Mozambique, Ms Graca Machel, amongst others.

The AU and EAC team led by its Chairperson, JH.E. akaya Mrisho Kikwete, President of the United Republic of Tanzania, witnessed the signing ceremony of the agreement.

The structure and operational mechanisms of the Coalition Government were closely guided by the provisions of the National Accord and Reconciliation Act, 2008. Among the key salient provisions was that: (i) The two Principals would equally share out the Cabinet portfolios, thus the Tenth Parliament has witnessed the biggest Cabinet since re-Independence in 1963. There have been 42 Cabinet Ministers and almost double the number of Assistant Ministers; and (ii) Appointments to all key positions in the Public Service would be made by the President in consultation with the Prime Minister and vetted by the National Assembly prior to formal

assumption of office.

The Tenth Parliament and the Coalition Government are of marked significance in the political evolution of Kenya. They came to an end, respectively, upon the dissolution of the Tenth Parliament on 15 January 2013 and the holding of the general elections scheduled for 4 March 2013. The dissolution and general elections are collectively significant from a number of perspectives.

Firstly they have served Kenya in the ultimate decade of the first 50 years of re-Independence. As it ends, they usher in the next 50 years.

The major activity of the next Parliament, that is, the Eleventh Parliament and the government formed after the general elections, will be to celebrate the Jubilee of the re–Independence.

Nonetheless, it is instructive that the Parliament will mark its Jubilee on 11 June 2013, being the date on which 50 years ago the first sitting of the First Parliament was held. The government and the nation will celebrate Jubilee on 12 December 2013, which marked the date on which 50 years ago the British National Anthem and the Union Jack was lowered for the last time.

Secondly, in both the Tenth Parliament and the Coalition Government, there has been no official opposition. It has been a parliamentary system without the benches for the ruling party and those for the official opposition and the parties in the opposition.

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KENYA Assembly has the last say on defection under the existing legal framework.

The Tenth Parliament has witnessed a lack of party discipline and cohesion. This has been due to the fact that, the political parties did not have a say on how their members conducted themselves, including, the casting of their votes. Given there was no opposition in both the Executive and the Legislature, what purpose would it serve to whip Members for any cause?

Yet, that notwithstanding, the Party of National Unity and the Orange Democratic Movement each have a Chief Whip and a Deputy.

The Parliament of Kenya

In a nutshell, it has not been conceivable that the government would be out of office on the initiative of the Legislature. The PNU and ODM parties were all in it – how could they or either, vote against itself?

Thirdly, the Coalition System is an unfamiliar way of governing in Kenya. It has exhibited uneasiness, stress and infighting; particularly on various occasions when one of the parties appeared poised to gain mileage.

Consequently, on such occasions, expressions would be made, both inside and outside to the effect that, a partner was not respecting provisions of the National Accord and Reconciliation Act, 2008.

And on some other occasions, it has seemed like the Legislature turning up the heat on the Executive for the latter acting outside the constitution/law.

Fourthly, there have emerged divergences of opinion and position on how to address certain matters of national concern. On such occasions,

both the Parliament and the Two Principals have either found themselves divided right in the middle or the Two Principals going one way without their troops. Such instances include: (i) Censure motions introduced in the House on the perceived irregular conduct of a Cabinet Minister; and (ii) How to proceed upon the release of the investigation, findings and recommendations to deal with the post election violence of the general election of December, 2007.

The fifth perspective which has defied even the law, relates to defection or party hopping. Prior to the enactment of the Political Parties Act, 2012, defection by a sitting Member from the political party on whose ticket he or she was elected, required the Member to notify the Speaker in writing. The effective date of the defection would be the date on which the notification was written.

At the same time, the power for political parties to expel those of their Members they deemed wayward was clipped upon re-enactment of Multipartyism in the constitution in December, 1991.

Pursuant to the Political Parties Act, 2011, defection of a hon. Member is deemed to have taken place upon adducing of empirical evidence of the hon.

Member supporting the policies or candidates of another party at an election. Such empirical evidence has been abundant throughout the Tenth Parliament.

One or two political parties have attempted to put these provisions into effect. However, the text of the relevant provisions have, on close scrutiny been found inconclusive.

The registrar of political parties, understood to be the executing officer, has highlighted the fact of the law does not expressly vest such powers in her office.

Thus, neither the political parties, the registrar of political parties or the Speaker of the National

The constitution: A paradigm shift The enactment of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 is one of the key outputs of the Tenth Parliament.

The constitution received a 67 per cent endorsement at a national referendum on 5 August 2010 and was subsequently promulgated into the Basic Supreme Law of Kenya and became effective on 27 August.

The principles and structure of governance adumbrated in the constitution announced a major paradigm shift in the governance of Kenya.

The key aspect of the paradigm shift is the creation of two levels of government, i.e. the national level and the county level. Devolution is exclusively dealt with in Chapter Eleven of the constitution, while the division of functions between the two levels is in the Fourth Schedule.

The impact of the paradigm shift will be felt at most in the Executive and Legislature arms of government. The salient aspects revolve around: (i) Devolution – the delegated sovereign power to govern is deconcentrated from the erstwhile centralised Executive and Legislature to similar organs in

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the 47 county governments; (ii) National values and principles of governance – these have been expressly spelt out under section ten of the constitution and are binding on all State organs and officers; (iii)Separation of powers, checks and balances – these have been expressly stated, whereby specific state organs and officers have their mandates, roles and functions specified; (iv) Oversight roles and functions – these roles and functions have been entrenched and spread out to more state organs and offices; though, traditionally exercised by the Legislature, specific independent constitutional commissions and offices have been created to bolster oversight powers and functions; (v)Sovereignty of the People – starting with section one and traversing the constitution, is the enhanced pivotal position and role of the people as the owners of the sovereign power to govern; (vi)Participation and surveillance of governance by the people – the constitution provides guarantees for the people to participate in the work of the state organs and offices, access information held by state organs and offices, petition the Legislatures to execute matters falling within their purview and finally to recall an elected Member, prior to expiry of the lifespan of the elected body; (vii)The Bill of Rights - the rights and fundamental freedoms are specified as belonging to each individual and not granted by the State; the State and every state organ is charged with the duty to observe, respect, protect, promote and fulfil them; (viii)Citizenship – every citizen is entitled to the rights, privileges and benefits of citizenship, subject to constitutional limitations; provisions exist for dual citizenship; (ix)National Level of Government – national Executive comprises the President, Deputy President

KENYA and a Cabinet of not less than fourteen and more than twenty – two Secretaries; (x)National Legislature – bicameral Parliament - National Assembly of three hundred and fifty and Senate of 69 Members; (xi)County Level Government – County Executive Committee comprise the Governor, Deputy Governor and County Executive Committee Members; (xii)County Assemblies – unicameral Legislatures comprising 1,450 elected Members, with each County Assembly comprising of not less than 15 Members; (xiii)Independent Constitutional Commissions and Offices – these have been established to bolster the oversight and accountability mechanism, these include- Commission on Revenue Allocation, Salaries and Remuneration Commission, Auditor General, Controller of Budget, Commission on Implementation of the Constitution, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission; (xiv)The Judiciary - an independent Judiciary headed by the Chief Justice and the Supreme Court; Judges appointed by the President in consultation with the Prime Minister and vetted by the National Legislature, has independent management under the Judicial Service Commission and a separate budget.

The nitty gritty of the operational mechanisms of the Executives and the Legislatures in fulfilling their mandates will bring out the extent of the paradigm shift brought about by the Constitution of Kenya, 2010. Gone is the procedure where one state organ or office would accomplish execution of a function without the participation of any other. The constitution recognizes the distinctiveness of the two levels of government, while at the same time making them interdependent on each other for the due execution of

their functions. At the centre of the operations of all state organs is the requirement that, the organs, provide processes by which the people participate in their work.

Thus the Eleventh Parliament, to be elected on 4 March 2013, will redraft their procedure to ensure a bicameral process as well as reaching out to the 47 County Assemblies.

Generation shift When the general elections are held, the incoming Executive and Legislature will comprise Kenyans who were not in public service at re-Independence on 12 December 1963. Thus the Tenth Parliament has bid farewell to the last eminent Kenyan who was in both the Legislature and the Executive of the first republic, 1963 to 1969. Virtually all Members of the Eleventh Parliament will be persons without experience of the First Parliament. At most, the majority of them will be drawn from persons born after re-Independence.

The valedictory of the Tenth Parliament goes to President Mwai Kibaki, who has served continuously as a Member of Parliament from the first sitting of the First Parliament on 11 June 1963 to the last sitting of the Tenth Parliament on 15 January 2013. The President has in 50 years, distinguished himself as one of the Members who have successfully served in both urban and rural constituencies. The tenure of the President started in low-income Eastern Nairobi, Donholm Constituency, between 1963 and 1974. In the second general elections, held on 14 October 1974, he shifted base to the rural agricultural constituency of Othaya, Nyeri County, which he has served from 1974 to 2013. In successfully switching from urban to rural constituencies, he proved wrong the Kiswahili saying:”Jogoo wa mjini hawiki mashambani” (a country rooster would not crow

while in town). In this period, he served in various portfolios in the executive including Finance and Planning, Commerce and Industry, Health and Vice President for 10 years to 1988.

Apart from the ministerial positions the President held in the Executive, at Parliament, he occupied equally key positions. The key positions included: Leader of Government Business, 1978 to 1988; Leader of the Official Opposition Party in the House, 1998 to 2002; and founder Commissioner of the Parliamentary Service Commission from 1999-2002.

In acknowledging the service of the President, Parliament held a special sitting on 19 December, addressed by the President. Members from across the divide recalled his parliamentary performance as an effective, articulate debater . In his 20-minute address, the President underscored the centrality of Parliament in the governance of Kenya.

Forming part of the generation shift in the paradigm shift, was the passing on of the third Clerk of the National Assembly, Samuel Waweru Ndindiri, in April 2008.

Mr Ndindiri had a long tenure in the Clerk’s Chambers starting in the Third Parliament, 1974 to 1979. Additionally the Eleventh Parliament will miss the services of the last Clerk of the Unicameral Parliament, Mr Patrick Gichohi who has retired from service, along with his Senior Deputy, Mr P.C. Owino Omollo. The generation shift has also gone with Mr Murumba Werunga, the founder Head of The Centre for Parliamentary Studies and Training. To keep the service continuing, the Parliamentary Service Commission has already appointed Mr Justin N. Bundi and Mr Jeremiah Nyegenye to serve as Clerks of the National Assembly and the Senate, respectively.

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UNITED KINGDOM

SUCCESSION TO THE CROWN, ELECTORAL ADMINISTRATION AND SAME-SEX MARRIAGE The Succession to the Crown Bill On 28 October 2011, Commonwealth Heads of Government agreed at a meeting in Perth, Western Australia, to end the primacy of males over females in the succession to the throne. The Perth Agreement also extended to ending

and its Report Stage and Third Reading on 28 January.

Opening the Second Reading debate, the Deputy Prime Minister referred to the “phenomenal

Mr Paul Flynn, MP

Rt Hon. Nick Clegg, MP

disqualification of heirs who married Catholic spouses.

On 13 December 2012, the Deputy Prime Minister, Rt Hon. Nick Clegg, MP, (Lib Dem), introduced the Succession of the Crown Bill into the House of Commons. The Bill seeks to implement the two key strands of the Perth Agreement. It also limits the requirement to seek the Monarch’s permission to marry to the first six individuals in line to the throne.

The Bill passed through the House of Commons to an accelerated timescale – with its Second Reading and Committee Stage taken on 22 January 2013

co-incidence” that the final approval of the Commonwealth

Ms Jessica Lee, MP

Realms was received in writing “just hours before” the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge announced they were expecting a child. Commending the Bill to

the House, he said “discrimination is discrimination wherever we find it, and just as we respect our traditions and cherish our monarchy, the House must never tolerate prejudice in our laws.

Equality is, after all, a great British tradition too”.

Some Members expressed concern about the technical details. Mr Ben Wallace, MP, (Con) expressed concern that by not covering the lands associated with the Duchy of Lancaster in the Bill, these lands could be separated from the line of Royal Succession. Rt Hon. Nicholas Soames, MP, (Con) referred to the Bill as from the “good wheeze” school of government, rather than being a coherent attempt at constitutional reform. Mr Paul Flynn, MP, (Lab), argued that the Bill strengthened “the prejudices of the past” by not removing the constitutional bar on a Catholic taking the throne and Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg, MP, (Con) moved an amendment that would have allowed that bar to be removed.

However, the broad principle of the Bill was endorsed on all sides of the House. Ms Nia Griffith, MP, (Lab), described the Bill as an “important step on the long and tortuous trek to greater equality of opportunity between men and women in our society.”

On the other side of the House, Ms Jessica Lee, MP, (Con) said that the change reflected “not only examples of successful female monarchs but the reality of working life across the country.”

The Bill passed its Second and

Third Readings unopposed and passed to the House of Lords.

Appointment of the new Governor of the Bank of England The Governor of the Bank of

Rt Hon. Nicholas Soames, MP

England is widely regarded as one of the most powerful positions in British public life. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon. George Osborne, MP, (Con), announced his choice of the Governor of the Bank of Canada, Mr Mark Carney,

Ms Nia Griffith, MP

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as his preferred candidate in an oral statement to the House of Commons on Monday 26 November 2012.

As Governor, Mr Carney will take on responsibility for the

Rt Hon. Ed Balls, MP

management of the Bank, for setting monetary policy in line with the Government’s two per cent inflation target, and also, following a series of reforms implemented after the banking crisis of 2008, responsibility for many aspects of financial regulation.

Making his statement, the Chancellor paid tribute to Mr Carney’s predecessor, Sir Mervyn King, who had served in the post for nearly ten years, “five years of which have been during the most difficult period of economic policy making of the modern age”. Mr Carney will replace Sir Mervyn on 1 July 2013.

The Chancellor told the House that this was the first time that the job had been openly advertised and interviewed for. He announced that Mr Carney would remain in post for five years – stepping down in July 2018 and that, although not required for the role, would be applying for British citizenship. He summed up the case for Mr Carney’s appointment: “Britain needs the very best at a time like this, and in Mark Carney we have got him. He is acknowledged as the outstanding central banker of his generation, and I believe he will bring the strong leadership and external experience that the Bank of

UNITED KINGDOM England needs as it takes on its heavy new responsibilities for regulating our banking system.”

The Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon. Ed Balls, MP, (Lab), welcomed the appointment of Mr Carney, saying he had “a long and distinguished record of public service, great financial expertise and a track record of handling tough and complex challenges”.

However, the Shadow Chancellor questioned the government’s reforms to the regulation of financial services sector, which include provisions giving micro and macro-prudential regulation in the hands of the Bank. The Shadow Chancellor argued that the Financial Services Bill “heaps far too much power on the Governor” that would be able to supress the inevitable disagreements within the Bank about the direction of policy.

The Chancellor welcomed the Opposition’s support for his choice – saying he “hoped we could bottle this cross-party consensus and use it on future occasions.” On the Shadow Chancellor’s point the Chancellor argued that it was for the Bank to resolve its internal disagreements however it chose to do it.

The new Governor also agreed to appear for the Treasury Select

Mr Jesse Norman, MP

Committee for a pre-appointment hearing.

This was the first time that a Governor had appeared before

the Committee before taking up their post – although postappointment hearings have been standard practice since the Bank of England was first made independent in 1997.

One area of dispute between the Chancellor and Shadow Chancellor following the statement was the Government’s opposition to amendments to the Financial Services Bill

Mr Andrew Tyrie, MP

which would give such hearings statutory force.

At his appearance before the Committee, Mr Carney was asked a number of questions on the appointment process by the Committee Chair, Mr Andrew Tyrie, MP, (Con).

Mr Tyrie wanted to know whether Mr Carney thought it was fair that he had been approached to apply for the job after the formal application deadline. Mr Carney replied that he thought the process was fair – he had faced the same interview with the same questions as the other candidates.

Mr Jesse Norman, MP, (Con) pressed Mr Carney on the extent of his powers as head of the reformed Bank of England. He asked whether Mr Carney would be like an absolute monarch, a new “Sun King”.

Mr Carney argued that this would not be the case. The structure of the committees – the Financial Policy Committee and Monetary Policy Committee – and the voting required on those

committees mitigated against it.

He said that it was not possible to run a zero-failure institution, but that he preferred a “low to medium” level of failure.

Mr Stewart Hosie, MP, (SNP) asked whether, given his “consensual” style of decisionmaking, Mr Carney was ready to deal with the external members of the MPC and the possibility that they would vote against him, possibly that the Committee as whole might out vote him. Mr Carney said that he would expect to be on the right side more often than not, but yes, he was ready to be outvoted. He also observed that meeting 12 times a year to examine inflation was a little on the high side.

Mr George Mudie, MP, (Labour) asked about the present economic situation in the U.K. He noted that the economy had been “flat-lining” for two years. Mr Carney noted that he was not due to take up his post for another six months and that he was not yet expert in the U.K. economy.

However, he saw the possibility for monetary stimulus to the economy for some considerable time to come – in view of the “considerable slack” in the U.K. economy. In answer to a question from Mr Pat MacFadden, MP, (Lab), Mr Carney confirmed that he had some high-level

Mr Pat McFadden, MP

discussions about the merits of re-examining the remit given to the bank in terms of inflation, however he stressed that

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UNITED KINGDOM such decisions were for the Government.

Mr Stewart Hosie, MP

The hearing lasted for over three hours. On its conclusion the Committee announced that it endorsed the appointment of Mr Carney and wished him well in his role. It intends to publish a report in the coming months examining some of the issues that arose during the hearing.

Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill A “free vote” of the House of Commons is one in which party leaders and whips do not ask their members to vote along party lines. They are relatively rare and are generally held on matters of conscience. The Second Reading of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, held on 24 January 2013, was one such free vote.

The Bill would allow couples of the same sex to be married either in a civil ceremony or in a religious ceremony on religious premises with the agreement of the religious organization concerned. The Bill contained provisions preventing a religious organisation from being obliged to conduct such services and a further provision preventing the Church of England and Church of Wales from conducting such services.

Supporters of the Bill argued that it would remove an obstacle to equality between same sex and heterosexual couples. Moving the Bill’s Second Reading, the

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Rt Hon. Maria Miller, MP, (Con), said that marriage should be embraced by more couples.

“The depth of feeling, love and commitment between samesex couples is no different from that depth of feeling between opposite-sex couples. The Bill enables society to recognise that commitment in the same way, too, through marriage. Parliament should value people equally in the law, and enabling samesex couples to marry removes the current differentiation and distinction.”

Similarly, the Shadow Secretary of State, Rt Hon. Yvette Cooper, MP, (Lab), said: “Call us hopeless romantics or call it the triumph of hope over experience, but most of us think that when people love each other and want to make that long-term commitment, that is a wonderful thing. Why would we prevent a loving couple from getting married just because they are gay?”

Many other points of view were expressed. Mr Nick Herbert, MP, (Con) argued that “the defenders of marriage” should be welcoming with “open arms” same sex couples who sought the commitment and

Rt Hon. Maria Miller, MP

stability of marriage. Rt Hon. Ben Bradshaw, MP, (Lab) said it would have been “completely perverse” to prevent religious communities who wanted to

undertake same sex marriages from doing so, whilst Rt Hon. Sir Menzies Campbell (Lib Dem), asked: “We discriminated against women, we discriminated against Catholics, we discriminated against people from ethnic minorities, but very gradually and not always completely but perceptibly, this House has passed legislation to remove such discrimination. Is not this evening yet another example and another opportunity to do so?”

Opponents of the Bill argued that the nature of marriage was that of a heterosexual union.

Mr Robert Flello, MP, (Lab), argued that the Bill would not

Rt Hon. Ben Bradshaw, MP

create equality – it would create two different forms of marriage, heterosexual and homosexual.

He argued that marriage was about more than just love and commitment, if that had been the case, he said, the state would not take an interest at all. He concluded: “Marriage is the union of a man and a woman that is open to the creation and care of children—not in all cases, but fundamentally that is its intrinsic value. This Bill will fundamentally change that […] I believe that it creates inequality and that it does not tackle an existing inequality on the basis that the current legislation has been tested in the European Court and it has been shown that there is no inequality.”

Mr Tim Loughton, MP, (Con) said he had supported the introduction of Civil Partnerships

for same-sex couples in 2004.

He argued that the 2004 Act

Mr Michael McCann, MP

“should have been introduced earlier.” However, he argued that it has been a “historical truth” that marriage “is the union of one man and one woman” and questioned whether this legislation was required or appropriate.

Concluding his speech, he said: “I do not claim that my church marriage is superior to another Member’s civil partnership.

“It is not; it is equal in the eyes of the law and society, just different. Let us get away from the basis that we need things to be the same to be equal. It is not the same thing.”

Some Members, such as Mr Michael McCann, MP, (Lab), argued that they did not believe the state should have any role in marriage at all. Some, including Mr McCann, were concerned that the safeguards designed to prevent religious organizations being forced to conduct marriages would prove ineffective.

Mr Peter Bone, MP, (Con) argued there had been a “democratic deficit” in the way that the legislation had been brought forward, without any place in any parties’ pre-election manifesto.

At the vote Second Reading, the House overwhelmingly supported the Bill by 400 votes for to 175 against. The Bill will now go to a Committee, which will also take public evidence on it.

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SRI LANKA

DIVINEGUMA ACT NO.1 OF 2013 The “Divineguma Bill” (life uplifting) was presented to Parliament by the Minister of Economic Development, Hon. Basil Rajapaksa, MP, (UPFA) in order to establish the Department of Divineguma Development by amalgamating the Samurdhi (prosperous) Authority of Sri Lanka, Southern Development Authority of Sri Lanka and the Udarata (up country) Development Authority of Sri Lanka.

This Act is designed to empower 1.8 million poor families in all parts of the country to overcome economic difficulties in the government’s attempt to realize the aim of making ‘Sri Lanka the miracle of Asia’, while eliminating the poverty in the country.

The Bill, which was previously much debated in Parliament and challenged in the Supreme Court, was finally passed in Parliament with more than a two thirds majority following amendments on the recommendations of the Supreme Court and political parties on 8 January 2013. Thus, the Divineguma Act No.1 of 2013 was enacted and came into effect.

The Act aims to establish Divineguma community-based organizations with the voluntary participation of Divinegurna beneficiaries to provide for a co-coordinating network at the district and national level.

Supervising, monitoring and evaluating the functions of such organizations at regional level will be carried out by the Divineguma

regional organizations, while Divineguma District Committees will represent those within a district. Furthermore, Divineguma community-based banking societies will be established comprising of all Divineguma banks within the area of authority

Hon. Basil Rajapaksa, MP

of each regional organization, in order to establish a viable microfinancial banking network at a regional level.

The programme is based on the concept of “People initiate; Government facilitate” thus ensuring peoples’ participation from the bottom up in the development process. It also enhances the active role of the civil society in good governance policies.

The major purpose of the Divineguma Programme is to create a healthy and economically empowered strong domestic unit in several phases. Other core objectives include alleviating poverty and promoting economic development activities focusing on individuals, groups and

families. Thus, the Divineguma Development Department seeks to ensure that all people are beneficiaries of economic advancement aimed at achieving economic prosperity for the improvement of all citizens.

The programme will be implemented under several sectors including agriculture, livestock and fisheries, industries and marketing. As per the new regulations enacted through the Divineguma Act, the accomplishments of the programme through the above sectors are many and varied.

The Agricultural sector promotes the participation of urban as well as rural people in harvesting home-grown produce. Therefore not only will this improve nutritional levels, but it will also save money by preventing unnecessary household expenditure.

The Livestock sector, on the other hand, gives prominence to the distribution of animals and the preparation of cattle sheds etc, and a variety of fishery projects are also in the process of being implemented by the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

The industrial sector is also engaged in providing training to selected industrial individuals to improve the family economy by providing financial and technical incentives to commence village industries under the programme. It is expected that it will boost the household income while upgrading quality of life.

Moreover, it will create small scale

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SRI LANKA entrepreneurs in the villages while developing their technical and entrepreneurial skills contributing to the social capital.

The promotion of the concept of self-employment enhances particularly, the contribution of unemployed women towards the country’s gross production.

The features of the Act include the introduction of new regulations to merge the

Mr Ranjith Madduma Bandara, MP, (UNP) commented that the Bill would be supported if it did eliminate poverty. However he argued it was not fair that if it was simply a move to exploit people to gain political benefits.

The Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning, Hon. Dr Sarath Amunugama, MP, stated that

poverty would be further reduced with the implementation of the Divineguma Bill. He emphasized that a micro-credit system for small-scale entrepreneurs to strengthen their businesses and start new ventures would also be implemented.

Economic Development Minister Hon. Basil Rajapaksa,

MP, replied at the end of the debate that Samurdhi officers would be entitled to get pensions with the passage of the Bill, while the Leader of the House, Hon. Nimal Siripala de Silva, MP, asked for a division by name. One hundred and fifty nine voted in favour while 43 members voted against the Bill.

THIRD READING: QUÉBEC

Hon. Dinesh Gunawardena, MP

three institutions, the Samurdhi Authority, Southern Development Authority and the Udarata Development Authority, and to admit them to the public service making them entitled to pensions guaranteeing job security.

Hon. Dinesh Gunawardena, MP, Minister of Water Supply and Drainage said that the Divineguma Bill would enter into history by uplifting the living standards of the people while ensuring social justice. It would also strengthen the economy of Samurdhi beneficiary families by further raising their living standards. Thus, the majority of the people would reap the benefits of economic development.

Hon. D.E.W. Gunasekera, MP, Human Resources Development Senior Minister stated that the Bill had been widely discussed in the country.

While the Samurdhi Authority unanimously agreed when it was set up, all provincial councils except the Northern Provincial Council approved the Bill.

On 30 October 2012 the National Assembly opened the first session of its 40th Legislature. The September General Election resulted in the Parti Québécois forming a minority government with 54 elected Members. The Québec Liberal Party constitutes the Official Opposition with 50 Members, and the Coalition avenir Québec forms the Second Opposition Group with 19 Members. The National Assembly also has two independent Members affiliated with Québec solidaire.

During the brief fall sessional period ending on 7 December, the National Assembly passed nine public Bills, eight of which were passed unanimously.

In terms of anti-corruption legislation, on 7 December, the National Assembly passed Bill 1, the Integrity in Public Contracts Act. Under the new Act, enterprises wishing to enter into contracts with public bodies or municipalities must obtain prior authorization to do so from the Autorité des marchés financiers. The Authority may refuse to grant authorization if it considers that a lack of integrity on the part of an enterprise or its directors or officers has undermined public confidence. Such authorizations are valid for a period of three years, but may be revoked for the same reason. On the same date, the Assembly passed Bill 8, An Act to amend various legislative provisions concerning municipal affairs.

Among other things, this omnibus bill allows municipal bodies and public transit authorities to reject tenders from contractors or suppliers who have received an unsatisfactory performance assessment within the two previous years.

On 6 December, the Assembly also passed Bill 6,1 which follows up on the Act to eliminate union placement and improve the operation of the construction industry, passed in December 2011. Bill 6 defers to 9 December 2013 the coming into force of provisions regarding the establishment of a labour-referral service for the construction industry to be known as the Service de référence de main-d’oeuvre de l’industrie de la construction.

Bill 10, An Act to provide for the provisional relief from office of an elected municipal officer is still under committee examination.

The new legislation would allow the Superior Court, on a motion by a municipality or its electors, to declare elected municipal officers provisionally incapable of performing their duties of office if proceedings have been brought against them for an offence punishable by a term of imprisonment of two years or more.

On 6 December 2012, the Assembly unanimously passed Bill 2, An Act to amend the Election Act in order to reduce the elector contribution limit, lower the ceiling on election expenses and increase public financing of Québec political parties.

The Act limits the maximum yearly contribution of individual electors to $100 and abolishes the tax credit related to those contributions.

In addition, it lowers the ceiling on election spending during a general election by political parties to $8 million. Bill 3, An Act to amend the Election Act for the purpose of establishing fixed-date elections, introduced by the Minister responsible for Democratic Institutions and Active Citizenship, is still under consideration in committee. Under the new legislation, a general election would be held every four years on the last Monday of September.

Lastly, the National Assembly passed Bill 9, An Act to establish the Health and Social Services Information Resources Fund.

The Act establishes a fund dedicated to financing the activities and services of the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux relating to the computerization of the health and social services network, including family physician offices and medical clinics.

Endnotes 1. An Act concerning the date of coming into force of certain provisions of the Act to eliminate union placement and improve the operation of the construction industry.

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NEW ZEALAND

INTRODUCING PROVISIONS TO IMPROVE USE OF HOUSE TIME Extended sitting hours Parliament wound up its business for 2012 on 12 December. In the adjournment debate, Hon. Gerry Brownlee, MP, the Leader of the House, acknowledged the effectiveness of new provisions introduced in 2012 to improve the use of the House’s time.

One such measure had allowed for an increase in the number of sitting hours without the House needing to resort to sitting under urgency. Under a new Standing Order, the government can move to extend sitting hours by a motion without notice, subject to safeguards and restrictions including giving formal notice to the Business Committee a week beforehand.

A second mechanism allows extended sitting hours to be negotiated through the Business Committee.

Mr Brownlee told the House that the Business Committee had agreed to extend 12 sittings in 2012, and an additional sitting had been held by a government motion. He said: “The Business Committee is a group convened by the Speaker.

It has representatives from all parties, and it works on near unanimity. In other words, if the representatives of the greatest number of Parliamentarians agree on something, it can happen.” He paid tribute to all members of the Business Committee, acknowledged Hon. Trevor Mallard, MP, (Labour) “the shadow Leader of the House for his contribution in changing…the

Hon. Gerry Brownlee, MP

way in which we sensibly look at business that we are not divided on”, and cited Treaty settlement legislation as “a splendid example of the way in which Parliament can work when these provisions are used appropriately”.

The Speaker, Dr The Rt Hon. Lockwood Smith, MP, noted that the House had effectively sat for 35½ weeks in 2012 and that the number of hours that Parliament had sat under urgency in 2012 had decreased. He described the provision for extended sittings as a “much more measured way of advancing the legislative programme. It meant that legislation with wide support across the House could be facilitated, enabling much more focus on areas of difference and areas of controversy”.

Members’ Bills Other changes to Standing Orders have improved the passage of Members’ Bills through the House in 2012. The Speaker described the innovation as “pretty successful” when

speaking in the adjournment debate. “In 2011 we had no Members’ Bills introduced into the House; this year there have been 34. That is a huge improvement in the opportunity for Members to have their proposals considered by the House.”

Under Standing Orders any Member other than a Minister may propose a Bill, but there are restrictions on the number of such Bills that the House may consider. Members’ Bills are drawn from a ballot. Previously, Members whose Bills were drawn needed time to promote their Bill ahead of the first reading, which led to postponements and delays.

Proposed Members’ Bills may now be lodged at any time. They are then uploaded to Parliament’s website, so that they are available to the public before the ballot takes place and can proceed through the House without undue delay.

Three Members’ Bills passed into law in 2012: the Employment Relations (Secret Ballot for Strikes) Amendment Bill, the Military Manoeuvres Act Repeal Bill, and the Fair Trading (Soliciting on Behalf of Charities) Amendment Bill.

Moving the third reading of the Employment Relations (Secret Ballot for Strikes) Bill Picture captionAmendment here on 9 May 2012, Hon. Tau Henare, MP, (National) said the Bill was “not a debate about whether or not the union organization is right or wrong.

This is not a debate about whether the Labour Party, the

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NEW ZEALAND National Party, New Zealand First, or the other parties in this House are right or wrong. This is a Bill that states quite categorically that when strike action is to be taken, there must be a secret ballot. That is the least that we ask of our country when we go to the polls— voting by a secret ballot”.

Mr Darien Fenton, MP, (Labour) said “it is a Bill that was never needed and a problem that never existed, except in the Member Tau Henare’s mind, except in his experience of 30 years ago when he was a union organizer with the Clerical Workers Union. Ever since then he has been standing up for the National Party, and the National Party’s attacks on workers”.

Ms Catherine Delahunty, MP, (Green) asked “is the Bill trying to legislate a time-honoured practice of the secret ballot over the right to strike so that it can chip away at the right to strike itself? The technicalities in the Bill allow this outcome. The Green Party holds dear the International Labour Organization position on the right to strike. The right to strike was won through sacrifice and suffering, and any moves to use the law to technically undermine its power is basically abhorrent”.

Mr Simon O’Connor, MP, (National) noted that it was “not a Bill that talks about the right to strike or freedom of association.

This is about the process of

making the decision to strike.

When circumstance allows, a person can strike”.

The Bill passed by 61 votes to 60.

Twelve of the 34 Members’ Bills introduced in 2012 passed their first reading. Proposed by Members from National, Labour, the Green Party, and the Maori Party, the Bills include a range of issues. Labour Member Ms Louisa Wall’s Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill would allow marriage between same sex couples, National Member Todd McClay’s Bill would prohibit gang insignia in government premises, and Green Member Holly Walker’s Bill, the Lobbying Disclosure Bill,

would bring more transparency and public disclosure around the lobbying of Members and their staff.

On the first reading of her Bill on 25 July 2012, Ms Sue Moroney, MP, (Labour) explained that the Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Six Months’ Paid Leave) Amendment Bill would extend “paid parental leave by 12 weeks, to reach six months over the course of the next three years”. She said she had “drafted my Bill with this global recession in mind”. Noting a recent government decision to “spend an additional $11 million on adolescent mental health services”, she asked “how much better off would our young people

THIRD READING: NEW ZEALAND Alcohol Reform Legislation The Alcohol Reform Bill was divided by the Committee of the whole House into three separate Bills for the third reading, which was held on 11 December 2012.

Moving the third readings, the Minister of Justice, Hon. Judith Collins, MP, noted: “In August of this year, this House voted to retain the current purchase age of 18 years.” Although “personally disappointed by this choice”, the Minister said “the purchase age is not the only tool available to reduce the harm for young people.” “These bills contain a wide range of measures that will help to bring a change in our drinking culture. They provide many parts of society, from central to local government, communities, and parents, with tools to make that happen”.

The measures would restrict trading hours for liquor sales and introduce changes to the liquor licensing so that “licences will be harder to get and easier to lose”. Communities would have an option “to adopt a local alcohol policy” if they wished to set rules on local trading hours and the “location of licensed premises near certain facilities such as school”. The Minister said the legislation would “give parents more control over their children’s drinking and make adults’ responsibilities more clear”. It would also give local authorities powers to extend liquor bans over public spaces “where people, including young people, gather to drink”, and it would provide the police with additional powers for seizing alcohol.

Opposition members criticized the legislation for not going far enough. Hon. Lianne Dalziel, MP, (Labour) told the House “the evidence says increase the price of alcohol, increase the purchase age for alcohol, decrease accessibility, decrease marketing and advertising, increase drink-driving measures, and then, on top of that, increase treatment options for heavy drinkers”. She said the real issues were “restrictions on advertising, discounting, and promoting of alcohol; restrictions on trading hours; minimum pricing; making local alcohol

policies mandatory and strengthening the community’s say; banning the sale of ready-to-drinks with more than five per cent alcohol and more than 1.5 standard drinks; health risk warning labels and nutritional information panel requirements; health levies; and lower blood-alcohol levels for drink driving —all of which would contribute to saving lives”.

Mr Iain Lees-Galloway, MP, (Labour) said that “pressure from the liquor industry” and “pressure from the supermarkets”, had led to the Minister “watering down” the Bill. Although the Bill would “get broad support from around the House”, he said, the government’s “failure to act, and its failure to tackle the big issues, the difficult issues” had disappointed New Zealand. Mr Charles Chauvel, MP, (Labour) told members that the legislation “is going to be judged by all the lost opportunities, which we as a Parliament have passed up, to really try to make a dent in the problematic parts of New Zealand’s binge drinking culture, which is a problem that is acknowledged right across the House”.

Opposing the legislation, Mr Denis O’Rourke, MP, (New Zealand First) said “there are some good things in the three bills, though, but not nearly enough to save the legislation from being a failed and weak attempt at reform”.

Mr Tim Macindoe (National) acknowledged that “this legislation will not solve all of our alcohol-related problems…the fact remains that legislation alone cannot change a culture”. He urged: “Each and every one of us must do our bit to influence better decision-making by our friends and family, to teach our youth how to handle alcohol sensibly, to oppose irresponsible promotions and distribution of alcohol, to support our health workers and law enforcement officers, who bear such a heavy burden whenever alcohol is abused”.

The Sale and Supply of Alcohol Bill was passed by a majority of 108 to 13 votes. Both the Local Government (Alcohol Reform) Amendment Bill and the Summary Offences (Alcohol Reform) Amendment Bill received unanimous support.

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be, and how much would the rest of us get to save, if we invested money in their early years instead?”

Opposing the Bill, the Minister of Women’s Affairs, Hon. Jo Goodhew, MP, said: “The phased policy in this Bill would cost $450 million extra over its first four years. We do not have that money.

New Zealanders know we do not have that money. The dangers of running up high deficits through unaffordable government are simply not worth it.”

Ms Denise Roche, MP, (Green) supported the Bill, saying “today we are hearing the same arguments against 20 weeks’ paid parental leave that we heard back in the 1990s—that we cannot afford it. That was the same argument that we heard in the 1970s about equal pay. We got those measures introduced, and guess what? The economy did not grind to a halt. The country did not go broke, and the sky did not

NEW ZEALAND

fall in. We have become so used to thinking in the short term that we no longer think of the longterm benefits. These long-term benefits will outweigh the costs”.

The Bill passed by 61 votes to 60, and is currently being considered by a select committee.

Another Member’s Bill to pass its first reading was the Gambling (Gambling Harm Reduction) Amendment Bill, which was

Ms Denise Roche, MP

introduced by Te Ururoa Flavell,

MP, (Māori Party) on 9 May 2012.

Mr Flavell said that his Bill would “provide local communities with more power to determine where pokie [slot] machines may be sited and how the proceeds can be distributed. Umpteen pieces of research tell us that problem gambling can have devastating consequences on individuals and whānau [families].

Those consequences can be demonstrated in relationship breakdowns, financial ruin, psychological distress, criminal offending, imprisonment, and suicide. People do, however, recognize that something needs to be done about pokies to address the harm caused by those machines”.

Mr Michael Woodhouse, MP, (National) said National would support the Bill at its first reading “for two reasons. Firstly, the support for the referral of this Bill to the select committee is part of the National Party’s confidence

and supply agreement with the Māori Party, and I think this reflects very well the sorts of cooperative relationships that can not only be agreed on but also honoured in good coalition governments. The second reason…is that we share the very grave concerns…about the effects that problem gambling has on society. The goal that this Bill has is harm minimization, and I applaud those efforts”.

However, Rt Hon. Winston Peters, MP, Leader of New Zealand First, stated: “The Bill is completely ineffective to achieve

Rt Hon. Winston Peters, MP

THIRD READING: NEW ZEALAND Geneva Conventions (Third Protocol and Red Crystal Emblem) Amendment Bill The Geneva Conventions (Third Protocol and Red Crystal Emblem) Amendment Bill passed its third reading without debate and with unanimous support on 4 December 2012. The Bill implements New Zealand’s obligations under the third protocol to the Geneva Conventions of 1949.

In the second reading debate, which was held immediately before the third reading, Hon. Chris Tremain, MP, speaking on behalf of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, said: “The third protocol establishes a new distinctive emblem, known as the Red Crystal, giving it the same legal recognition and protection from misuse that the Red Cross, the Red Crescent, and the Red Lion and Sun currently enjoy under the Geneva Conventions framework. The Red Crystal emblem provides an alternative to the Red Cross and Red Crescent emblems, and is intended to be free from any national, religious, cultural, or political connotations.”

Dr Cam Calder, MP, (National) referred to the Bill as “very necessary”. The Red Crystal emblem would

“strengthen the protection of victims in conflicts where neither of those existing emblems has the respect of both sides in an armed conflict.

“The risk to humanitarian neutrality is something that has become a part of an urgent debate over the last 20 years or so,” Mr Phil Twyford, MP, (Labour) said. He linked this “to the proliferation of civil conflicts that we have seen around the world after the end of the Cold War in places like Somalia, Kosovo, the Congo, Sudan, Azerbaijan, and, most recently, Syria, to name just a few.”

He said there had been a corrosion of “the perception of the neutrality of humanitarian workers, and that really goes to the heart of one of the key principles of the Geneva Conventions and much of the development of international humanitarian law over five or six decades”.

The passage of the Bill “will now allow the government to ratify the third protocol to the Geneva Conventions, and New Zealand will join a long list of countries that have officially incorporated this protocol. It will allow the Red Crystal to take its place alongside the Red Cross and the Red Crescent”.

that purpose. There are many alternative forms of gambling available, all of which can have a negative impact on the problem gambler.”

A personal (or conscience) vote was held at the end of the debate. The Bill was passed 83 votes to seven and is currently under consideration by a select committee.

Ten of the 12 Members’ Bills to have passed their first reading in 2012 await consideration by a select committee.

Select committees have reported to the House on two such Bills: Labour Member Dr David Clark’s Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day) Amendment Bill, and National Member Chris Auchinvole’s Habeus Corpus Amendment Bill). Both Bills now await second reading.

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FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN MULTIBRAND RETAIL TRADE The 2012 Winter Session of Lok Sabha occurred from 22 November to 21 December.

During the Session, the House faced disruption of its proceedings for days together over the government’s decision

to allow 51 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail trade. It became a major bone of contention between the ruling and opposition Benches.

On 22 November, the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) party

tried to bring an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha on the issue. Leave to move the adjournment motion however, was not granted due to the lack of support of less than 50 Members. The Speaker of Lok

Sabha, Smt. Meira Kumar, made several attempts to break the deadlock. The matter was finally resolved when it was decided to discuss the issue under rule 184 that provided for voting.

On 29 November, the Speaker

THIRD READING: INDIA The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2012 The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 was enacted to provide for the more effective prevention of certain unlawful activities of individuals, associations and for matters connected.

The scope of the Act was widened in 2004 and terrorist activities were brought within the scope of the said Act. An Inter-Ministerial Group was constituted to evaluate the existing provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and to recommend necessary amendments. In addition, the Financial Action Task Force, an inter-governmental organization set-up to devise policies to combat money laundering and terror financing admitted India as its 34th member. On the basis of commitment made by India at the time of admission to the said Financial Action Task Force, various legislative and other legally binding measures were required to be taken on a medium term basis, i.e., by 31 March, 2012. These recommendations, were examined and it was proposed to amend the Unlawful Activities(Prevention) Act, 1967 to make it more effective in prevention of unlawful activities and dealing with terrorist activities.

The government brought forward the Unlawful Activities(Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2012 with the proposed amendments to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, to bring more clarity to the existing legal framework, and remove the deficiencies identified in the implementation of the provisions by the Central and State intelligence and investigating agencies.

Highlights of the amending Bill included defined key terms such as: • Economic security: Financial, monetary and fiscal stability, as well as ecological and environmental security; • Person: 1. an individual; 2. A company; • Proceeds of terrorism: 1. All kinds of properties which have been derived or obtained from commis-

sion of any terrorist act irrespective of person in whose name such proceeds are standing or in whose possession they are found; or 2. Any property which is being used, or is intended to be used, for a terrorist act or for the purpose of an individual terrorist or a terrorist gang or terrorist organization.

Section 16A of the Principal Act which outlined the punishment for making demands of radioactive substances, nuclear devices etc., was repealed, and Section 17 was substituted by a new sub-section 17 A detailing the punishment regarding accepting funds linked to terrorists groups or individuals.

New Sections have been inserted, providing for offences by companies (22A); for offences by securities trust (Section 22B) and regarding offences by companies, societies or trusts (Section 22 C) During the discussion on the Bill in Parliament, members welcomed the initiative for enlarging the scope of the Section 17 of the Act, which in as much as raising of funds, both from legitimate or illegitimate sources by terrorist organizations or by terrorist gangs or by individual terrorists has been deemed to be a terrorist act. Members expressed hope that illegitimate funds that were being invested in stocks and real estate would now be targeted and confiscated. Members felt that this amendment would help India in dealing with financial or economic terrorism posed by internal or external forces. The Minister in charge of the Bill while replying to the debate assured members that it was an endeavor to bring more clarity in the existing legal framework; identify deficiencies and remove them; and establish proper coordination with magisterial power. The Minister also assured that the law would not be used against any particular section of the people and would be applied judiciously.

The Bill was passed by Lok Sabha on 30 November, 2012 and by Rajya Sabha on 20 December, 2012. The Bill as passed by both houses of Parliament was assented by President of India on 3 January 2013.

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announced in the House that she had admitted the motion under rule 184. The Trinamool Congress, a key alliance partner of the UPA government had left the alliance in September 2012 over the decision to allow 51 per cent FDI in retail trade, further reducing the strength of the Treasury Benches. Two major political parties, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) giving support to the government from outside also had reservation on the issue of FDI in multi brand retail trade. A defeat in the House on the issue would not lead to the fall of the government; but it would be an embarrassment for the government if it failed to have the support of the House on an important economic reform policy.

Three motions on the subject were included in the Order Paper of 4 December 2012. One motion was listed in the name of the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Smt. Sushma Swaraj, MP, (BJP), recommending the government to immediately withdraw its decision.

The two other motions, one each in the name of Prof. Saugata Roy, MP, (AITC) and Shri Hassan Khan, (Independent) were for

Smt. Sushma Swaraj, MP

modification of the government notification. When the Speaker announced that the three motions would be moved one after

INDIA

another and discussed together as already mentioned in the Order Paper of the day and put to the vote of the House one by one, some members raised points of order.

They pointed out that as per Section 48 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act,

Smt. Meira Kumar

(FEMA) 1999, every rule and regulation made under this Act, was to be laid before each House of Parliament, for a total period of thirty days.

Thus, every member of the House had a right to table amendments for the annulment or modification of Notification within 30 days. As the Notification was laid on the Table of the House on the 30 November 2012 and if the motion for modification was voted along with the motion under Rule 184, then the Members of would lose their right to move amendments.

The Speaker in her ruling, observed that the effect of adoption of the motion under rule 184 was different from that of motions for modification. Since the subject matter of the motion under rule 184 and the motions for modification of the Notification was the same, the Speaker, in order to avoid repetition of debate on the subject, in her discretion, decided to allow a combined debate on the three motions followed by voting on each of them one by one. She, however, made it clear that the statutory

period during which a Member could move amendments or modifications was intact.

The 30 days’ period would remain intact and could be exercised according to section 48 of the FEMA. So far as seeking amendments or moving modification was concerned, there was nothing in this rule or in the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 which prohibited discussion on a motion for modification of a rule or regulation made under this Act and laid on the Table of the House immediately after it had been laid on the Table of the House, observed the Speaker.

Smt Swaraj criticized the government for not trying to build a political consensus on the issue of allowing FDI in multi brand retail trade despite promising to develop a consensus through consultation amongst various stakeholders that included the Chief Ministers of the State Governments and political parties.

A competitive market benefitted consumers while a monopolistic one did not.

The FDI was going to create a monopolistic market which would be against the interest of consumers. She believed the policy would badly hurt

Shri Kapil Sibal, MP

small retailers as the big multibrand retailers would engage in predatory pricing, first wiping out competition at low rates and then selling at high prices when

the consumers were left with no choice. The FDI also would not benefit farmers and a new type of middlemen would emerge.

She rejected the government’s claim that FDI would generate employment and the provision of 30 per cent sourcing local sourcing from local industries was a myth. She pointed out that the Congress party itself opposed FDI during the time of BJP-led NDA government calling it anti-national. She wanted to know how the circumstances had changed and the reasons for the change in position of the Congress party.

Smt. Swaraj ended her argument against FDI in retail by saying, “we don’t want to win by defeating you, we want to win by convincing you.” She appealed to the members to support her motion and defeat FDI. She said the government would not fall if they lost the vote.

Prof. Roy said FDI in multibrand retail would jeopardize the livelihood of 33 million people who were employed in the retail trade and badly impact the lives of the farmers whom this so called reform was seeking to address.

FDI-driven retailing would be labour displacing. Bringing in Wal-Mart would either help the Americans or the Chinese, believed Prof. Roy. Shri Khan said he might not insist on voting if he was satisfied with the outcome of the discussion.

The Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Shri Kapil Sibal, MP, said FDI in multi-brand retail would be allowed only in those cities of the country where the population was more than one million and there were 53 such cities in India.

As per the policy if any state did not want to allow FDI in retail it was free to do so, and as many states where the opposition parties were in power had raised their voice against FDI in multi-

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INDIA brand retail, the decision would be actually implemented only in 18 cities. In a federal system no state could be forced to implement

FDI in multi-brand retail. It was not correct to say that after the implementation of the policy the country would be sold out

to foreign country and Wal-Mart would take over the country. If anybody wanted to enter in the multi-brand retail in the country

then first of all he would have to invest 100 million dollar in the country.

The retailer had to buy 30

THIRD READING: INDIA The Enforcement of Security Interest and Recovery of Debts Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2011 The Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 was enacted to regulate securitization and reconstruction of financial assets and enforcement of security interest for matters connected. This Act enables the banks and financial institutions to realize long-term assets, manage problems of liquidity, asset liability mismatch and improve recovery by exercising powers to take possession of securities, sell them and reduce non-performing assets by adopting measures for recovery or reconstruction. The Act further provides for setting up of asset reconstruction companies which are empowered to take possession of secured assets of the borrower including the right to transfer by way of lease, assignment or sale and realize the secured assets and take over the management of the business of the borrower.

Under the provisions of The Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002: (a) The reconstruction companies or securitisation companies do not have the facility to convert their debt into equity in cases of business reconstruction or rehabilitation or revival as required under section 9 of the said Act; (b) The banks and financial institutions find it difficult to meet the requirement of considering the representations from borrowers and communicate their response within a period of seven days as required under section 13 of the said Act ; (c) Even though the banks, as secured creditors, are empowered to sell the securities to realise the defaulted loans, they are not empowered to accept the property in full or partial satisfaction of the claim against the defaulted borrower, if no bidder comes to bid or banks are unable to find a buyer for such assets as per the provisions of section 13 of the said Act ; (d) There was no provision enabling the banks or persons to file a caveat petition against the application filed by the defaulted borrower before the Debts Recovery Tribunal under section 18 of the said Act Considering the scenario in its totality and with a view to address the aforementioned problems which arose, the government decided to outline further detailed provisions amending the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002.

Another fiscal legislation namely, The Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993 was enacted with a view to provide for the establishment of Debts Recovery Tribunals for expeditious adjudication and recovery of debts due to banks and financial institutions.

To ensure expeditious adjudication and recovery of dues of banks and financial institutions, remove legal anomalies and strengthen the Recovery Tribunals, the said Act was amended in 1995, 2000 and 2004. The measures of recovery through the Debts Recovery Tribunal are not available to multiState co-operative banks. In order to provide an additional and effective

recovery mechanism to multi-State co-operative banks, it was considered necessary to give an option to the multi-State co-operative banks either to initiate proceedings for recovery of its debts under the Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act, 2002 or the Debts Recovery Tribunal under the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993.

The government accordingly brought forward the Enforcement of Security Interest and Recovery of Debts Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2011.

Highlights of the amending Bill include a new sub-section inserted into section 5, stating that with the acquisition of financial assets, the securitisation company or reconstruction company may with the consent of the originator, file an application before the Debts Recovery Tribunal or the Appellate Tribunal or any court or other Authority for the purpose of substitution of its name in any pending suit, appeal or other proceedings.

In Section 3, an amendment was made to increase the period of response to be sent by the banks or financial institutions to the representation of the borrower from seven to 15 days.

In Section 14 of the Principal Act, amendments were made by insertion of a proviso stipulating that any application by the secured creditor needed to be accompanied by an affidavit duly affirmed by the authorized officer of the secured creditor or any person claiming a right to appear before the Tribunal or the Court of District Judge or the Appellate Tribunal or the High Court as the case may be.

Detailed provisions have been laid providing registration of transactions of securitization, reconstruction or creation of security interest in the Central Registry, which are subsisting on or before the establishment of Central Registry and also to give powers to the Central Government to extend time for filling of such transaction with the Central Registry.

Amendments were also made in the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993. They included: a) To include the multi-State co-operative banks in the definition of ‘bank’ under clause (d) of section 2; b) To permit the multi-state co-operative banks, with respect to debts due before or after the commencement of the proposed legislation, to opt either to initiate proceedings under the Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act, 2002 or to initiate the proceedings before the Debts Recovery Tribunal; and c) To enable the banks and financial institutions to enter into settlement or compromise with the borrower and also to empower the Debts Recovery Tribunal to pass an order acknowledging such settlement or compromise.

The amendments proposed were broadly perceived by Members to be timely fiscal effective initiatives during discussion on the Bill in both Houses of Parliament.

The Amending Bill was passed by Lok Sabha on 10 December 2012 and

by Rajya Sabha on 20 December 2012. The Bill as passed by both Houses of Parliament was assented to by the President of India on 3 January 2013.

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per cent of manufacturing product from the micro, small and medium enterprises. After introduction of FDI, farmers would get better price and farming technology, while eliminating commission.

A policy that promoted the manufacturing sector should be adopted, the Minister argued.

Shri Mulayam Singh Yadav, MP, (SP) believed FDI was not in the interest of the country as it would render millions of people unemployed. The arrival of big retail companies would lead to a monopoly in the market.

He wanted the government to withdraw its decision on FDI and call an all-party meeting to discuss the issue.

Shri Basudeb Acharia , MP, (CPI-M) felt FDI in the retail sector would neither raise productivity nor provide job avenues; rather it would deprive India of employment opportunities.

He said if FDI would help in generating jobs, increasing

Shri Sharad Yadav, MP

productivity and developing technology in the country, his party would not oppose it. He was sure big retailers were not going to invest money in improving the infrastructure for the convenience of farmers; neither would farmers get remunerative prices for their produce nor consumers get commodities at fair prices.

Shri Sharad Yadav, MP, (JD-U) said the nation became weak whenever the farmers and traders

INDIA

had become weak due to wrong policies of the government.

The small traders accounted for 12.4 per cent of the GDP through hard work and did not depend on the government’s money. The decision to allow

Shri Basudeb Acharia, MP

FDI would jeopardize the interest of the majority of people.

The government should have fulfilled its promise to hold consultation in this regard. Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab, MP, (BJD) said FDI in retail would not help Indian agriculture and the manufacturing sector and might give rise to social unrest.

The argument that FDI in multibrand retail trade would result in all-round development of rural infrastructure, especially warehousing and cold storage was flawed. Opening up multi-brand retail to foreign players without addressing the constraints faced by India’s manufacturing sector like high capital costs, stifling regulations, poor infrastructure, etc. would lead to a flooding of imported goods from countries like China and Bangladesh.

The Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Shri Praful Patel, MP, (NCP) argued that in the age of globalization trade had become a two-way traffic and export of agriculture produce from India had greatly increased. Dr M. Thambidurai, MP, (AIADMK) argued historically that no

economy had ever developed on foreign capital and it was not going to help the Indian farmers and consumers either. He was afraid that FDI in retail would result in closing down thousands of small retail shops across the country endangering the livelihood of millions of people and asked the government to withdraw its policy.

Shri Gurudas Dasgupta, MP, (CPI) asked the government to tell the country why it was so determined to allow FDI. FDI in the prevailing economic situation was sure to have its adverse impact in the country’s economy.

It was not right time to have overdependence on the overflow of foreign funds particularly when the country was hit by the recession and inflation.

The government was under pressure of the multi-nationals to open-up the Indian market.

He asked the government to inform the House where FDI in multi brand retail had helped the farmers and created jobs. Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal, MP, (SAD) said the FDI policy of the government was nothing short of bartering away the interests of the people of the country. FDI was coming because foreign companies were only interested in making profits by exploiting the farmers, not with helping the country’s progress. Shri Lalu Prasad, MP, (RJD) said the opposition parties were misleading the people of the country keeping in view the Lok Sabha general election to be held in 2014. FDI in retail would bring in remunerative prices for the farmers’ produce and abolished the middle men.

The Minister of Commerce and Industry and Minister of Textiles, Shri Anand Sharma, MP, (INC) said the government had deliberated upon this issue with various organizations of farmers and held discussion with a number of other

consumers’ organizations. Six big organizations pertaining to food processing industries were also summoned to have discussion on this issue. The Minister said he had written to all Chief Ministers; responses were received from 21 states, 11 were in favour, seven against and three had asked for further clarifications.

India was a federal state and every state had its own right whether to implement the FDI in retail in the state or not. No one could tell an elected government what to choose and what not to. Consensus did not mean unanimity and if one had to wait for unanimity, one would have to wait till eternity. The states are free to choose whether to implement the policy or not.

He assured that the prevailing law would not permit any predatory pricing. Creating a fear psychosis among the retail traders is absolutely wrong. He believed farmers were suffering due to lack of the requisite infrastructure to manage their produce and FDI in retail would help them.

Replying to the debate, Smt. Swaraj said in the debate out of 18 political parties, 14 opposed FDI while only four parties supported it. She said FDI would not be allowed if the Samajwadi Party, a party providing outside support to the government, would also vote against it.

At the end of the debate the motion moved by the Leader of the Opposition failed to receive the support of the majority of members of the House and was thus was negative. The motion moved by Prof. Roy was also defeated. The motion moved by Shri Khan was not put to the vote of the House.

The issue was also discussed in the Rajya Sabha on 6 and 7 December 2012 under a rule that provided for voting. In that House the opposition also motioned against FDI.

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AUSTRALIA

PRIME MINISTER ANNOUNCES ELECTION FOR 14 SEPTEMBER 2013 The Prime Minister Hon. Julia Gillard, MP, in a surprise break with the approach used by

previous Prime Ministers, has given advance notice of the date for the next Federal election.

Section 28 of the Australian Constitution states that “every House of Representatives shall

continue for three years from the first meeting of the House, and no longer, but may be sooner

THIRD READING: AUSTRALIA Clean Energy Amendment (International Emissions Trading and Other Measures) Act 2012 This act is part of a package of legislation which links Australia’s carbon pricing mechanism to overseas emissions trading schemes from 1 July 2015.

The Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Hon. Greg Combet, MP, commented that “the Australian government accepts the advice of climate scientists that greenhouse gas emissions are contributing to climate change and that this poses great risks to our environment, our economy and our society”.

He noted that “Australia is in fact one of the top 20 greenhouse gas emitters internationally, and the highest per capita emitter amongst the advanced economies”.

The legislation provides that from 1 July 2015, the Australian carbon price mechanism will link to the European Union’s emissions trading scheme. The Minister stated that “the fixed carbon price will end on 30 June 2015 and that we will move to a fully flexible emissions trading scheme where the Australian carbon price reflects the price in the largest carbon market in the world”.

Mr Combet commented that “overall, linking the Australian emissions trading scheme with the European ETS is good for Australian industry, good for our economy and good for our environment”.

The Minister noted that the linking will reduce the cost of the emission reduction effort to the Australian economy. Mr Combet stated that “as Treasury modelling clearly demonstrates, without the ability to access international carbon markets, without the ability for Australian businesses to purchase international permits, the cost of reducing emissions in our economy would double in order to meet Australia’s bipartisan unconditional emissions reduction target”. He noted that the opposition is opposed to linking “which means that their policy will cost at least double if they were to genuinely pursue the emissions reduction effort they say they are committed to”.

The coalition is opposed to the government’s clean energy pricing mechanism and took the opportunity to further criticise the policy. During debate in the Senate, the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Environment, Senator Simon Birmingham noted that “we know that the carbon tax is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, backflips in Australian political history”.

Senator Birmingham commented that “having implemented that carbon

tax, having struck deals with the Greens and the crossbenchers to get it through, we now find, months later, that the government is introducing significant changes to the carbon tax”.

Senator Birmingham criticized linking the Australia emissions trading scheme with the European ETS commenting that “handing over of complete control” is really in many ways what is occurring—because it has become clear that this is “very much a one-way street”. Senator Birmingham added that “more significantly, because of the nature of the European scheme and the nature of the deal being struck, we see a situation where effectively the price of the carbon tax in Australia in future will be determined by decisions in Brussels rather than decisions made in Canberra”.

Senator Birmingham referred to committee evidence that suggested there were integrity problems with the EU scheme. He noted that the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia “highlighted concerns and indicated that in the EU emissions trading scheme there had recently been various instances of integrity issues around registry security and fraud”.

Senator Birmingham concluded that “whether it is in debates about lowest cost abatement, floor prices or the like, we see once again through this legislation a government in chaos, changing this big policy just after a few months, and doing the opposite in so many instances of that which they promised”.

Senator Christine Milne, Leader of the Australian Greens, noted that the Greens supported the legislation and criticized Senator Birmingham for his “disgraceful performance”’ She commented that “at some point Senator Birmingham ought to have acknowledged that the whole point of the legislation that we have before us, the whole point of the emissions trading scheme which we have—and he persists in calling it a tax; it is an emissions trading scheme—is to try to reduce greenhouse emissions, consistent with the challenge we have with global warming”. Senator Milne argued that it was essential to provide business with certainty.

She noted that “the Greens were concerned that, if we went with the hybrid model and we had the fixed-price period, we did not want the price to completely collapse at the end of the fixed-price period. You had to give some certainty into the future about a price trajectory for business so that they could start making decisions based on that”.

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dissolved by the GovernorGeneral”. There is no fixed date for a Federal Election. It is the Prime Minister’s prerogative as to when to advise the GovernorGeneral to dissolve the House of Representatives and prorogue the Parliament. Prime Ministers have normally used this process as a tactical opportunity to select a date which best advances their chance of re-election.

On 30 January the Prime Minister announced that she would advise the GovernorGeneral to dissolve the House of Representatives on 12 August

AUSTRALIA

and issue writs for an election on 14 September for the House of Representatives and half of the Senate.

The Prime Minister stated that “I can act so Australia’s Parliament and government serves their full three-year term and it is clear and certain when the election will be held. So I today announce that later this year, I will advise the Governor-General to dissolve the House of Representatives with writs to be issued on Monday the 12th of August for an election for the House and half of the Senate, to be held on Saturday the 14th

of September. I do not do so to start the nation’s longest election campaign. Quite the opposite, it should be clear to all which are the days of governing and which are the days of campaigning.

Announcing the election date now enables individuals and business, investors and consumers, to plan their year. But the benefit of fixing the date now is not just the end of speculation about election timing.

It gives shape and order to the year and enables it to be one not of fevered campaigning, but of cool and reasoned deliberation”.

The Leader of the Opposition,

THIRD READING: AUSTRALIA Freedom of Information Amendment (Parliamentary Budget Office) Bill 2012 The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) commenced operation in July 2012. It will prepare election policy costings at the request of authorized party representatives and Independent members of Parliament, and prepare policy costings outside the caretaker period at the request of individual senators and members. In addition, the PBO will on its own initiative conduct and publish research on the budget and fiscal policy settings. The then Attorney-General Hon. Nicola Roxon, MP, said that “with the creation of the PBO all senators and members, for the first time, have access to independent and non-partisan budget analysis and policy costings over the entire course of the three-year electoral cycle”.

The PBO is an exempt agency under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) However, the FOI Act “does not currently provide a specific exemption for documents relating to requests from the Parliamentary Budget Office that may be held by departments and other agencies”. Ms Roxon noted that “as a result, requests for information made to agencies by the PBO, and information provided to the PBO by agencies, may not be as fully protected from release under the Freedom of Information Act as they ought to be to give effect to the PBO’s special position”.

Ms Roxon advised that ‘the Bill amends the Freedom of Information Act to provide an exemption for information held by departments and agencies that relates to a confidential request to the PBO”. In addition,

the Bill also amends section 25 of the Freedom of Information Act to provide that an agency is not required to give information as to the existence or non-existence of a document where it is exempt under these new provisions”.

She concluded that “these reforms will protect the confidentiality of the PBO’s work and ensure that it will operate as it was intended when the Parliament expressly exempted the PBO from the Freedom of Information Act”.

The Shadow Attorney-General, Sen. the Hon George Brandis, MP, noted that “in May 2009, the then Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Malcolm Turnbull, MP, first called for the establishment of the PBO, modeled on the U.S. Congressional Budget Office”. Senator Brandis pointed out that the initiative was initially opposed by the Labor government. In relation to the FOI amendment, Senator Brandis commented that “we in the opposition of course take a more expansive view of freedom-ofinformation laws than the government; nevertheless, we are persuaded that, in certain circumstances, the protection of confidentiality in a process such as this is a more important policy consideration than freedom of information. The PBO’s work could not be carried out effectively if its clients did not enjoy a degree of confidentiality. So, for that reason, we agree with the government that this is a necessary measure. Once the Bill is passed, the coalition will finally have confidence that the confidentiality of any policy submitted to the PBO for costing, up until the signing of the writs for a general election, will be fully preserved”.

Hon. Tony Abbott, MP, welcomed the announcement of the election date. He commented that “this election will be about trust. Who do you trust to reduce cost of living pressures? Who do you trust to boost small business and to boost job security and who do you trust to secure our borders? That’s what this election will be all about. The Coalition is ready. We are so ready that we have already launched our Real Solutions plan and we are already campaigning on it. The choice before the Australian people could not be clearer. It’s more tax or less. It’s more regulation or less.

It’s less competence or more. It’s less freedom or more. That’s the clear choice facing the Australian people on 14 September”.

Senate Budget Estimates – 11 to 15 February 2013 The Senate Budget Estimates conducted between 11-15 February provided another opportunity for Senators to scrutinize executive government over its performance.

The official commencement of the election period for the purpose of the caretaker convention The Senate Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee scrutinised representatives of the Department of Prime Minister Cabinet (DPC) about the start of the caretaker conventions as result of the Prime Minister’s announcement of the election date for 14 September. The basic caretaker conventions require government to avoid implementing major policy initiatives, making appointments of significance or entering major contracts or undertakings during the caretaker period and to avoid involving departmental officers in election activities. The 7th Edition of the Cabinet Handbook states that “the caretaker conventions

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AUSTRALIA

The Prime Minister made the announcement on 30 January 2013.

operate from the dissolution of the House of Representatives until the election result is clear or, in the event of a change of government, until the new government is appointed”. The Cabinet Handbook also states that “it is also accepted that some care should be exercised in the period between the announcement of the election and the dissolution”.

DPC also issues Guidance on Caretaker Conventions which refer to the procedures for the pre-election consultation with the opposition. These guidelines state that the pre-consultation period “apply as soon as an election for the House of Representatives is announced or three months before the expiry of the House of Representatives, whichever occurs first”. During the estimates hearing, Sen. the Hon. George Brandis, MP, asserted that as the Prime Minister on 30 January had announced the election for 14 September, the opposition, in accordance with DPC’s guidelines was now entitled to receive preconsultation briefings.

However, this point was disputed. The Deputy Secretary of DPC Ms Renee Leon stated that “the Prime Minister announced in a speech to the National Press Club that she intended to advise the Governor-General to call the election on or around 12 August with the election to be held on 14 September. But she has not yet formally announced the election. That will occur on or around the time that the Prime Minister advises the Governor-General to dissolve the House of Representatives”.

Senator Brandis responded that “the Prime Minister did not on 30 January announce that she intended to advise the Governor-General in the manner you have described.

She actually announced the election date and those were her words”. Senator Brandis insisted that Ms Leon read back the exact words used by the Prime Minister on 30 January. Ms Leon complied and read out the Prime Minister’s statement: “So I today announce that later this year I will advise the Governor-

General to dissolve the House of Representatives with writs to be issued on Monday 12 August for an election for the House and half of the Senate to be held on Saturday 14 September.” Senator Brandis insisted that this was the announcement of the election whereas Ms Leon argued that the Prime Minister expressed herself in the future tense with the operative words “I will advise”.

Internal inquiries in the Australian Customs Service The Senate Legal and Constitutional Legislation Committee examined the Australian Customs Service (ACS) about allegations of infiltration by organized crime.

The Chief Executive Officer of Customs, Mr Mike Pezzullo noted in his opening address that “the committee should expect more arrests of Customs and Border Protection officers as a result of ongoing investigations”.

Mr Pezzullo reported that “on 20 December last year, the Minister for Home Affairs, the Commissioner of the Australian

Federal Police and I announced the results of an investigation into corruption and criminal conduct at Sydney international airport, including, regrettably, by a number of Customs and Border Protection officers”.

Mr Pezzullo advised that two Customs and Border Protection Officers are facing charges which “include conspiracy to import a commercial quantity of border controlled drug precursors, abuse of public office and receiving a bribe”.

Mr Pezzullo noted that the investigation is ongoing and “further arrests will be made, including, as I said earlier, of other Customs and Border Protection officers”.

He stated that “this committee can be assured that the service is committed to securing our borders and taking strong, resolute and urgent action to deal with those amongst us who have not upheld the required standards”.

Senator Gary Humphries asked if “organized crime, has “obtained a toehold in this organization”.

Mr Pezzullo responded that “just referring to nothing more than the statement of facts and matters that have been alleged in public criminal hearings: the conspiracies involved in the importation events involved activity not just between Customs officers but between Customs officers and outside associates who themselves are engaged in criminal activity. Whether they meet the definition of serious and organized crime or organized criminality or whether they are opportunistic, I do not want to go to, per se. That is a matter for the Federal Police, essentially, to pursue. You asked whether organized crime has a toehold.

Certainly some criminal elements have been associating with some of our officers in a manner that is unacceptable, and those officers are being dealt with”.

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CANADA

REFORMING THE CANADIAN SENATE The reform of the Senate has been one fundamental element of the Conservative government’s platform since its election in 2006.

The government introduced, and reintroduced session after session legislative proposals aimed at reducing the term of Senators to a limited number of years, eight or nine years, and to put in place election, or popular consultation, for the appointment of Senators.

Currently, Senators are appointed

Hon. Tim Uppal, MP

by the Governor General, on the advice of the Prime Minister, and serve until they reach the age of 75, regardless of their age at appointment.

Questions have, however, arisen as to whether the changes contemplated would go beyond the power of the federal Parliament, and that provincial consent – through a formal constitutional amendment, would be required. In 2007, the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs had recommended that then

Bill S-4, an Act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867 (Senate tenure), proposing to reduce to eight years the tenure of Senators be not proceeded until the Supreme Court of Canada had ruled on the constitutionality of the proposal. The Senate, then liberal by an overwhelming majority, had concurred into the recommendation, and, as a result, the study on the bill ceased as the government refused to submit the question to the Court. In the subsequent, the government reintroduced on many occasions its proposals on limiting the tenure and electing senators, but the bills did not make progress in Parliament.

In 2012, the Government of the Province of Quebec decided to submit to its own Court of Appeal the constitutionality of the Conservative Senate Reform.

In February 2013, the federal Minister of State for Democratic Reform, Hon. Tim Uppal, MP, unexpectedly announced that the federal Conservative Government would seek a decision from the Supreme Court as the constitutionality of the reform of the Senate. The question for the Court would be to determine whether the changes proposed affect “the powers of the Senate and the method of selecting Senators” in which case the consent of at least seven provinces representing 50 per cent of the Canadian population would be required in accordance with the Constitutional Amendment formulae.

The Senate, however, came recently under fire not because of the method of appointment or tenure of Senators, but rather because of certain travel and residential expenses of Senators were questioned. Senators living more than 100 kilometers from Ottawa are entitled to claim expenses for secondary residence in the national capital region. It would appear that some Senators residing in the national capital region have declared their secondary outside the national capital as their primary residence in order to claim the residential allowance. Senators Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin, Patrick Brazeau, and Mac Harb are under investigation and their files have been referred external auditors.

The Senate Administration and the Standing Senate Committee

Hon. Vic Toews, MP

on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration is conducting a review of the expenses of all Senators. Meanwhile, in February, Senator Brazeau was expelled from the Conservative caucus

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CANADA after charges of assault and sexual assault were laid against him by the Quebec Police, and suspended with pay during the legal proceedings. Senator Brazeau pleaded non-guilty to both offences.

Legislation On 27 November 2012, Hon. James Moore, MP, Minister of Canadian Heritage, introduced Bill The Senate of the Parliament of Canada.

Hon. James Moore, MP

C-49, the Canadian Museum of History Act. The purpose of the bill is to replace the existing Canadian Museum of Civilization with the Canadian Museum of History by focusing the mandate of the institution on Canadian culture and history. On the day Bill C-49 was introduced, Mr Moore said: “This year marks the start of the five-year countdown to Canada’s 150th birthday in 2017. It offers us an unprecedented opportunity to celebrate our history and those achievements that define who we are as Canadians,” he said.

“Canadians deserve a national museum of history that tells our stories and presents our country’s treasures to the world.”

On 11 December 2012, the Hon. Vic Toews, MP, Minister of Public Safety, introduced in the House of Commons Bill C-51, the Safer Witnesses Act. On that day, he stated: “Through the Safer Witnesses Act, our government is improving the federal Witness Protection Program by making it more effective for those it’s designed to protect while being

responsive to law enforcement needs.” The proposed changes are aimed at improving the processes to obtain secure identity changes for witnesses, to broaden prohibitions against the disclosure of information, and to extent the amount of time emergency protection may be provided.

On 31 January 2013, Hon. Rob Nicholson, MP, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, introduced Bill C-53, the Succession to the Throne Act, 2013. The purpose of the bill is to express the consent of the Canadian Parliament to a British legislative proposal to change the rules of succession to the Throne by making succession no longer dependent on gender and to end the disqualification resulting from marrying a Roman Catholic.

The Canadian and British legislative proposals are aimed at implementing an agreement reached at Perth, Australia, on 28 October 2011, among the Commonwealth Heads of Government whose country share Her Majesty the Queen, Elizabeth II, as Head of State.

Bill C-54, the Not Criminally Responsible Reform Act, proposes amendments regarding the mental disorder regime which deals with accused persons who were found unfit to stand trial or not criminally responsible.

The new legislation would create High-Risk Designation

R. v. Tse Act, introduced on 11 February 2013, the government proposed new provisions aimed at addressing the reasons why the previous provisions had been declared invalid.

Other government bills recently introduced before Parliament include:

for accused persons found not criminally responsible who committed a serious personal injury offence and who present a substantial likelihood for further violence that would endanger the public. Those accused person would not be able to be

Hon. Rob Nicholson, MP

discharged, or go unescorted in the community Another criminal law legislative proposal relates to a recent decision of the Supreme Court in R. v. Tse. In this case, the Court held declare unconstitutional provisions of the Criminal Code dealing wiretap interceptions as there was no after-thefact notification requirement to persons whose private communications had been intercepted. The Court suspended the declaration of invalidity for one year, to give time to Parliament to adopt new rules. With Bill C-55, the Response to the Supreme Court of Canada Decision in

• Bill S-14, the Fighting Foreign Corruption Act, which would strengthen the provisions of the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act by increasing maximum sentences of imprisonment applicable to the offence of bribing a foreign public official, and create new offences under the Act; • Bill S-15, the Expansion and Conservation of Canada’s National Parks Act, which would establish Sable Island National Park Reserve of Canada and propose other amendments with respect to national parks in Canada; • Bill C-48, the Technical Tax Amendments Act, 2012, proposing technical and housekeeping amendments Tax statutes; • Bill C-52, the Fair Rail Freight Service Act, which would require a railway company, on a shipper’s request, to make the shipper an offer to enter into a contract respecting the manner in which the railway company must fulfil its service obligations to the shipper. The Bill also proposes to put in place an arbitration process in case no agreement can be reached.

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