CANADA
Changes in the House of Commons In May, Patrick Brown MP, Conservative Member for Barrie in Ontario, resigned following his election as Leader of the provincial Progressive Conservative Party. Mr. Brown was first elected to the House of Commons in 2006.
Leadership of the Bloc Québécois
On 1 July, the Bloc Québécois (BQ) chose its former leader, Gilles Duceppe, as its leader once again. Mr. Duceppe, who was first elected to the House of Commons in 1997, was defeated in the 2011 election, after which he resigned as leader of the BQ. He was replaced by Mario Beaulieu. During 2014, two of the four BQ members left the caucus. In June, Mr. Beaulieu invited Mr. Duceppe to return as leader. Mr. Beaulieu will stay on as BQ president and is running in the next election.
Sentencing of a former Member
On 25 June, former Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro was sentenced to one month in jail and four months of house arrest for exceeding the spending limits set out in the Canada Elections Act, for failing to report a personal contribution to his campaign and for submitting a falsified document. He resigned as MP in November 2014.
Security in the Parliament Precinct
With the passage of Bill C-59, Economic Action Plan 2015 Act, No. 1, on 23 June, the new Parliamentary Protective Service was established. Led by the RCMP, it includes the former Senate and House of Commons security services. Long-expressed concerns about the lack of coordination
between the different security services came to a head in October 2014 when a lone gunman entered the Parliament Buildings, where a Canadian soldier was shot dead.
Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
Over 150 years, 150,000 Aboriginal children were removed from their homes, often against their parents’ wishes and sent away to residential schools. There, they were dispossessed of their language and their culture. Many were subject to horrific forms of abuse and at least 6,000 died while at school. A successful class-action lawsuit by former residential school students led to the the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. In addition to providing compensation, the agreement called for the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) with a mandate to learn the truth about what happened in the schools and to inform all Canadians of its findings. In 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered a formal apology in the House of Commons to former students (80,000 of whom are still living), their families, and communities. In 2009, the TRC was established under the chairmanship of Justice Murray Sinclair. On 2 June 2015, the TRC released its findings and calls to action. The TRC said that by trying to dispossess Aboriginal people of their culture, Canada had pursued a policy of cultural genocide. The TRC’s 94 calls to action revolved around preserving language and culture, promoting legal equity and educating Canadians on the residential schools and their impacts. Justice Sinclair said these calls to action are a first step toward reconciliation.
Prince Edward Island Election
In the 5 May provincial election in Prince Edward Island, Premier Wade MacLauchlan led the Liberal Party to its third consecutive win, albeit with a reduced number of seats. The Liberals took 18 of the 27 seats in the legislature (a loss of two), while the Progressive Conservative Party (PC) won eight seats (a gain of five) and the Green Party won its first ever seat. At dissolution, there was one independent and three seats were vacant. In addition to the changes in the distribution of seats, there were sizable changes in the parties’ share of the popular vote. The Liberals dropped from 51% in 2011 to 41% and the PCs fell from 40% to 37%. On the other hand, both the Green Party and the New Democratic Party (NDP) saw large increases in their share of the popular vote since 2011, going from 3% to 11% and 4% to 11% respectively. Of these two parties, however, only the Green Party was able to translate this increase into a seat in the legislature.
Alberta Election
In a stunning upset, on 6 May, the NDP led by Rachel Notley won a majority in the Alberta provincial election, bringing the PC’s 44 years in power to
an end. The NDP, which had never won an election in Alberta, took 53 of the 87 seats in the legislature (a gain of 49) and the Wildrose Party took 21 (a gain of 16) to become the official opposition. The PCs, which held 70 seats at dissolution, were reduced to 10 seats. The Liberal Party and the Alberta Party each took one seat. This was the latest event in a momentous year in Alberta politics. In August 2014, Premier Allison Redford resigned over allegations of lavish spending. She was replaced by former federal cabinet minister Hon. Jim Prentice.
In October 2014, Ms. Notley became leader of the NDP. In December 2014, the Leader of the Wildrose Party, Danielle Smith and eight other members crossed the floor to join Mr. Prentice’s government. In the run-up to the election, however, Ms. Smith lost the nomination to run as a PC candiate. Shortly before the election, the Wildrose Party chose former Conservative MP Brian Jean as its Leader; he is now Leader of the Official Oppositon. Mr. Prentice won a seat in the election, but resigned it and left public life shortly after the PCs were defeated.
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