As previous posts in this space have argued, philosophy is alive and well in Canadian public life, if you know where to look. And look you should, here, for the most thoughtful analysis of the reasons behind the federal Conservative government's recent decision to eliminate the mandatory long-form census,. Written by University of Ottawa political philosophy professor Paul Saurette, the piece se... [More]

Congratulations to the two winners of this week's Guess Who? contest! Matthew Pearson from Ottawa correctly guessed David Anderson as the quoted MP, and Saskatoon's André Gignac correctly guessed that Jean Chétien was the minister Anderson brought with him to the West Coast Trail (click to read the story). Contest winners receive a book of their choice from the list of Canada's Bes... [More]

Recently The Mark hosted a discussion with three people, myself included, on the public's engagement with our politics - where it's at and how it can be better. You can listen to the full tape here (we each speak for about 10 minutes), and I've included the highlights below. The first up was with Peter Loewen, a prof at U of T, whose articles are must-reads for anyone wanting to better understand... [More]

Today begins Samara's bi-weekly "Guess Who?" contest, where we'll reveal a quote from one of our MP exit interviews. Guess which of the 65 participating MPs spoke the words below before noon EST on Thursday July 22nd. We'll choose one winner from among the correct guesses, and send him or her a book of their choosing from the list of the Best of Canadian Political Writing. Below is a quote from o... [More]

A great many thanks to everyone who suggested books for the List of Canada's Best Political Writing.  We've compiled everyone's ideas here, and we'll continue to update it with any further suggestions, which you can add in the comments section here. On Monday, we're launching our "Guess Who?" contest, a bi-weekly opportunity for you to win one of the books from the Best Political Writing lis... [More]

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to our Best of Canadian Political Writing list, so far. The suggestions for books to add continue to rush in. We received a raft of responses the day before Canada Day, which was impressive considering how much work Canadians must have been trying to squeeze in before the long weekend. Over 80 books have been suggested through emails, tweets, posts on our... [More]

Initially, we had not included a category for Political Parties on our Best of Canadian Political Writing list. Since we received suggestions of books about politics from four provinces, we thought that was enough incentive to open a fifth category. So far, books from Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia have been recommended. Cameron, David and Graham White, “Cycling into Saigon... [More]

On our Best of Canadian Political Writing list, the least suggested books are, unsurprisingly, Political Fiction. Fewer pieces of fiction are written explicitly about Canadian political life. For instance, Terry Fallis' "The Best Laid Plans" is rather uniquely a story about an MP who accidentally lands in public life. (Sound familiar?) However, many other works include aspects of Canadian poli... [More]

On our Best of Canadian Political Writing list, we have received a number of suggestions for our Political Parties category. Given the prominence of parties in Canadian public life, we are surprised about the lack of diversity in these suggestions. While it might be a sign of the times, most of the titles on the list focus on the Conservative party. Of the 18 total suggestions, twelve are abo... [More]

On our Best of Canadian Political Writing list, the most frequently suggested books so far fall into our category, Culture and Practice of Politics. So far, the list is roughly split between journalists and academics, with a few politicians and civil servants rounding out the 34 titles. Bashevkin, Sylvia, "Women, Power, Politics: The Hidden Story of Canada's Unfinished Democracy" Carty, R Ke... [More]

On our Best of Canadian Political Writing list, the second most often suggested books so far are Political Biographies. The list is dominated by journalists but includes some academics and former politicians, too. Many associate books about politics with profiles of leaders and while most of the titles suggested up to this point are about prime ministers, we also have biographies of provincial le... [More]

Canadian Press recently reported that 151 of Canada's 308 MPs earn income above their parliamentary salaries, or have investments in businesses of various sorts, including rental properties.  While it's not stated directly, it can be read from the journalist's lede and subsequent framing that she holds some contempt for this prospect. The figures come from the office of Parliament's ethics c... [More]

Yesterday's Globe and Mail carried a thoughtful editorial reflecting on the findings in The Accidental Citizen? (and conveniently provides a fantastic 500 word summary of the report and its main implications for those who don't have time to read the whole thing). The Globe's piece rightfully points out that the report, which highlights the varied and often unexpected ways many MPs described their... [More]

On Canada Day most Canadians take a moment to reflect on their country and share a sense of pride while watching a parade, or if you're lucky, a fireworks display. And since it's a holiday, there's usually time for a little reading. Here at Samara, we're unabashadly interested inthe public life of this country and our reading often reflects that. So you can imagine our surprise when we learne... [More]

One reader of The Accidental Citizen? asked if our title was in any way a play on the W.H. Auden poem "The Unknown Citizen."  It's not, but the short poem, a comment on the role of an ideal citizen in the eyes of the modern bureaucratic state, is worth a read. If only we were so clever.

Last week we released the introductory report of Canada's first-ever series of exit interviews with former Members of Parliament. Our goal is ultimately to encourage a greater understanding of Canada's public life, draw attention to things that are working well and contribute to a constructive discussion on what can be improved. In that spirit, we were happy that the report generated some good d... [More]

We are pleased to share the introductory report of Canada's first-ever series of exit interviews with former Members of Parliament. It's called The Accidental Citizen?, and it sets the stage for a larger series of publications that will share the stories of the MPs who participated in the exit interviews. The title reflects the varied, and often unexpected, ways so many MPs described their journe... [More]

Many MPs said they came to federal politics accidentally. Is this what you would have expected? While on the one hand, anyone can run for political office, on the other, there’s no “farm team” in Canadian politics. Should we do more to develop a professional political class?

The MPs list a range of issues, local to national to international, that inspired them to run for federal office. What inspires your interest in politics? What would inspire greater interest?

The nomination is a crucial step in our electoral process, particularly for candidates in safe seats (a riding that is usually represented by MPs from the same political party) where it is akin to the election. Yet most MPs described the nomination process as confusing and uncomfortable. How can we improve the way our MPs are chosen?