FREDERICTON (CNB) – The authors of the report on legislative reform in New Brunswick, Don Desserud and Cody Waite, presented their recommendations today at the legislative assembly in Fredericton.

"We believe that external reforms – in particular reforms of the province's electoral system – are necessary, long overdue, and essential if New Brunswick's governance system is to re-engage the province's citizens successfully," Desserud said. "However, we do not believe that the solution to these problems will be simple.”

While the report provides some specific recommendations, its chief purpose is to map out what direction the authors believe the legislative assembly and the provincial government should explore with a goal of improving the effectiveness of the legislative process and their ability to better engage the residents of the province.

The authors believe that the Westminster parliamentary model, with its fundamental constitutional principle of responsible government, is still the best and most appropriate system of government for New Brunswick.

"Whether such reforms are needed or are even useful, radically altering our legislative system would require complicated constitutional amendments that would task the resources of any province, not to mention a province trying to cope with other, perhaps more immediate, concerns," Waite said. "Therefore, we have focused our attention on what we believe are reforms that can be made simply and effectively but that remain within the province's constitutional structure. The current model functions well, but it can be improved."

The authors' recommendations include the following:

Review of legislative procedures

  • Appropriate committees of the legislative assembly should conduct a review of:

o   the point at which a bill is sent to the relevant committee;

o   the legislative assembly's order of proceedings; and

o   question period.

Review of the committee system

  • Appropriate committees of the legislative assembly should conduct a review of:

o   the overall structure of the legislative committee system;

o   the mandate of the legislative committees.

*  the legislative assembly should follow the lead of Parliament and provide standing committees to initiate, on their own, studies of government departments;

*  committees (standing as well as select) should be encouraged and provided with the appropriate resources to:

-  hold public hearings;

-  accept public briefs and interventions;

-  meet outside of Fredericton; and

*  the function and proceedings of the committee of the whole.

Referenda

  • An appropriate legislative committee should study the possible impacts of using referenda in New Brunswick with a goal of proposing a Referendum Act. Such a study must be comprehensive and detailed, and it must carefully consider the many problems that referenda pose.

Involvement of third parties on legislative committees

  • Several select committees should be struck with specific mandates, and these committees should be encouraged to appoint appropriate representatives from third parties.
  • The committee of the whole should consider the possibility of occasionally holding public hearings, and in so doing, inviting representatives from third parties or members of the public to make submissions and discuss pertinent matters.

Free votes

  • While the authors respect the sentiment behind the call for more free votes, they do not believe freeing up MLAs to vote according to their constituents' wishes or their conscience is realistic. The authors do not believe free votes will accomplish what proponents of this measure believe it will.

"Simply put, elected members are not voting with their parties because they have to do so; they are voting with their parties because they are enthusiastic members of their party," Desserud said.

Education and research

  • More must be done to provide MLAs and third parties with research support and to educate the public on the legislative process, including:

o   expanding the ability of the legislative library to provide research support for MLAs;

o   allowing registered third parties access to such research support;

o   instituting a legislative internship program, based on the program in the House of Commons and the Ontario provincial parliament. Well-qualified students would be paid to act as legislative assistants (primarily for research);

o   instituting a scholar-in-residence program; and

o   instituting a program of public education concerning the operations of the legislative assembly.

Use of "new" media

  • The provincial government and the legislative assembly should consult with experts in this field to explore and institute ways to better use information technology to provide for more open and accessible government.

Commission on Legislative Democracy

  • The appropriate legislative committee should review the Commission on Legislative Democracy's recommendations, with a particular focus on those dealing with the internal working of the legislative assembly. The legislative assembly should also consider the other recommendations offered by the commission.

"This report was written to begin a conversation; it was not meant to, nor could it be, comprehensive or definitive in either its research or recommendations,” said Waite. “It is simply a start, and we hope it is a useful start. There is much that needs to be done before meaningful reforms can be made. Before New Brunswick embarks on electoral reform, it needs to first reach some consensus on what it expects from its electoral system."

LINK:

 

03-06-11