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Home > Spotlight > Liberal
Backbencher Revolt |
Liberal Backbencher Revolt
On November 5th, 2002, a motion was passed in the House of Commons to
allow the election of parliamentary committee chairs and vice-chairs by
secret ballot. The Opposition parties and 56 Liberal Members of Parliament
supported the motion. Prime Minister Jean Chretien did not support the
motion.
The vote was important for two reasons. First, it exposed the continuing
rift within the Liberal Party, with Paul Martin and Liberal backbenchers
on the one side, and the Prime Minister and his cabinet on the other.
Second, it brought the issue of parliamentary reform to the forefront
of Canadian politics. Both the Canadian Alliance Party and Paul Martin
have been pushing for reform to parliamentary procedures to increase the
power of members of parliament and reduce the Prime Minister's power.
This Spotlight will examine some of the issues surrounding the vote.
Topics examined include:
A brief summary of the events surrounding the vote and when they occurred
Motion approval provides for less party discipline in parliamentary procedure. This section examines what party discipline is.
The motion provided for a change to procedures for electing committee chairs and vice-chairs. This section examines what parliamentary committees
are.
This section examines how the vote will change parliamentary committees.
This section examines the continuing rift in the Liberal Party.
This section examines other parliamentary reforms being pushed by Paul
Martin and the Canadian Alliance Party.
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