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    Canadian Political Science Association
    2020 Annual Conference Programme

    Confronting Political Divides
    Hosted at Western University
    Tuesday, June 2 to Thursday, June 4, 2020
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    Presidential Address:
    Barbara Arneil, CPSA President

    Origins:
    Colonies and Statistics

    Location:
    Tuesday, June 2, 2020 | 05:00pm to 06:00pm
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    KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
    Ayelet Shachar
    The Shifting Border:
    Legal Cartographies of Migration
    and Mobility

    Location:
    June 04, 2020 | 01:30 to 03:00 pm
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    Keynote Speaker: Marc Hetherington
    Why Modern Elections
    Feel Like a Matter of
    Life and Death

    Location:
    Wednesday, June 3, 2020 | 03:45pm to 05:15pm
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    Plenary Panel
    Indigenous Politics and
    the Problem of Canadian
    Political Science

    Location: Arts & Humanities Building - AHB 1R40
    Tuesday, June 2, 2020 | 10:30am to 12:00pm

Canadian Politics



A08(a) - Historical Views on Parliament and Political Careers

Date: Jun 3 | Time: 08:45am to 10:15am | Location:

Chair/Président/Présidente : Duff Conacher (University of Ottawa)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Duff Conacher (University of Ottawa)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Elizabeth McCallion (Queen's University)

The Personalized PMO: Revisiting Brian Mulroney’s Legacy on Cabinet Government in Canada, 1984-1993: J.P. Lewis (University of New Brunswick)
Abstract: In Peter Aucoin’s 1986 article, “Organization Change in the Machinery of Canadian Government: From Rational Management to Brokerage Politics”, Aucoin examined the change in executive style and approaches to cabinet government from Pierre Trudeau to Brian Mulroney. In my paper I continue this examination with a closer focus on the Mulroney government and the impact Mulroney had on the evolution of Canadian cabinet government. Mulroney’s leadership style stood in stark contrast to Trudeau’s and this case study will consider Mulroney’s executive style, his approach to cabinet composition and institutional innovation. As the Mulroney governments can be placed in a larger historical context in comparison to both his predecessors and successors in the office, it is useful to revisit the role his years as prime minister played in the development of cabinet governance. Using a newly uncovered set of archived interviews, political memoirs and media reports and new semi-structured interviews, I examine this era with special attention to centralization of power, formalization of cabinet institutions and continuation and development of ministerial and ministry norms.


Chretien’s “Court”: Revisiting Jean Chretien’s Legacy on Cabinet Government in Canada, 1993-2003: J.P. Lewis (University of New Brunswick)
Abstract: In Donald Savoie’s landmark 1999 book, Governing from the Centre, the author takes straight aim at the Jean Chretien and his role in the first mandate and a half of his time as prime minister in centralizing power in the prime minister’s office and marginalizing the influence of cabinet ministers. While Savoie argues that these developments began in the early Pierre Trudeau years, he stresses the impact of changes in central government processes and the pressures of globalization had on the operation of cabinet in the 1990s. In my paper I continue Savoie’s examination into the Chretien years and the impact the prime minister had on the evolution of Canadian cabinet government. In the ten years that Chretien was prime minister his government faced enormous governance challenges from national unity threats to the introduction of new communications technology – factors that placed new demands on cabinet government. Using semi-structured interviews, memoirs and media reports, I examine this era with special attention to centralization of power, formalization of cabinet institutions and continuation and development of ministerial and ministry norms.


Parliamentary Government in the Age of Populism: Michael Kaczorowski (Retired Federal Public Servant)
Abstract: Legislative institutions as instruments of democratic representation, governing and the public good are under increasing pressure in an age of populist appeals which seek to undercut the norms of the democratic process. Canada's system of parliamentary responsible government is not immune from this assault. Throughout his academic career, the late Professor C.E.S. Franks offered a critical understanding of Parliament and the parliamentary system - both its enduring strengths and the potential for reform. Some thirty years after its publication, Professor Franks' The Parliament of Canada (1987) remains a timely and necessary work to remind us of the critical role political institutions play in shaping public perceptions of the health of the Canadian political process. At a time when "populism" (e.g. Great Britain, the United States) has increasingly been used as a vehicle to end-run legislative institutions in the name of the "public will", Parliament's necessary role as a safeguard of democratic values has never been more important.


Backbenchers Are Treated Like Shit: Jean-François Godbout (Université de Montréal), Christopher Cochrane (University of Toronto), Florence Vallée-Dubois (Universtié de Montréal), Jason VandenBeukel (University of Toronto)
Abstract: “Backbenchers are treated like shit. Until they rebel. Then they get respect” (Mullin 2011: 172). So commented former Labour MP Chris Mullin in his memoirs. How does this situation compare to Canada? We have known for many years now that backbenchers have lost most of their influence in the legislative process. Once able to amend government bills and hold the executive to account, ordinary members today are almost always expected to follow the party line in the House. Even the last bastion of independence, legislative speeches, are closely monitored by party leaders who get to decide who can speak, in what order, and on what topic. In this paper, we explore how parliament came to be that way. We are especially interested in understanding what factors determine the number and the length of individual legislative speeches in parliament, and how this may have been affected by procedural rule changes over time. We base our analysis of legislative speeches on the data from the Linked Parliamentary Data Project (www.lipad.ca), which includes all of the recorded debates from Hansard between 1901 and the most recent Parliament. Our analysis confirms that government backbenchers intervene the least during the debates, and that this trend really began with the arrival of third parties in the 1920s. By transferring some of its speaking time to the front bench of these new opposition parties, the government was able to limit the expression of dissent within its ranks and increase partisan conflict across the aisle of the House.


Political-career Lessons from Joe Clark’s Big Blue PC Tent: Louise Carbert (Dalhousie University)
Abstract: This paper presents a study of the political career trajectories of delegates to the 1976 Progressive Conservative Leadership convention. Since the convention was delegated by riding, the attendees constituted a large nation-wide ensemble of potential candidates, who shared some important common characteristics. Coinciding roughly with the peak of the second-wave women's movement, it featured a then-unprecedented number of women delegates, as well as a sense of excitement over Flora MacDonald's credible bid for the leadership. With the benefit of four decades of hindsight, we can follow the younger delegates - women and men, loyal Tories and turncoats, persisters and quitters - through their entire political careers, in an effort to gain understanding of enduring patterns that transcend the cultural and demographic changes that have occurred since then.




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