All that whinging last week of how overpaid MPs are leading to a Parliament of political lifers, not to mention earlier concerns that some MPs earned income above their parliamentary salaries has me wondering how MPs have fared, salary-wise, over the ages. At the time of Confederation, 1867, MPs were paid a measly $6 per day, up to a total of $600 annually (the CBC and this book differ slightly i... [More]

Congratulations to the winners of the latest Guess Who contest! If your guesses were any indication, this week was a toughie. We had more incorrect guesses than correct ones, so an extra-special congratulations to Dilip Andrade, of Montreal, who was chosen from among those who correctly identified The Honourable Anne McLellan as the quoted MP (click here to read her quote). Contest winners recei... [More]

Our poor politicians. They just can't win.  One day, we're complaining that our MPs are a bunch of know-nothings, political amateurs unschooled in the way of Parliament and our government, and the next, we're upset that they're a bunch of lifers who have little experience beyond that of the partisan mud pit of our politics. According to Jeffrey Simpson's recent national affairs column in th... [More]

Today is the fourth edition of Samara's bi-weekly "Guess Who?" contest, where we 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 September 2nd. We'll randomly 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 ... [More]

As is always the case, so many interesting things to read.  To follow-up on the brain candy, journalism-style, post of two weeks ago, here's one on politics for y'all.  Happy Friday. 1. The FT reviews Donald Savoie's new book, Power: Where is it?, and made me want to read it (it's yet to have been nominated for our list of Best Canadian Political Writing - any takers?). A wide survey on... [More]

Some of the discussion about The Accidental Citizen?, including that which occurred over at Maclean's, raised a bunch of questions on the backgrounds, demographics and tenures of our Members of Parliament - what they are, how they've changed, and what implications that may have on our politics.  So we promised to do a little digging and get back to you. Our first post was on the general ... [More]

Congratulations to the winners of the latest Guess Who contest! Alice Funke (known to many politicos for her invaluable Pundits' Guide) from Ottawa, ON was chosen from among those who correctly guessed The Honourable Bill Graham, a Liberal MP who represented Toronto Centre, in Ontario, from 1993-2007 as the quoted MP (click here to read his quote).  For those inquiring minds, the "tiny pe... [More]

The response to the essay I posted yesterday has been fascinating. From the comments on the Samara blog to those on Aaron Wherry's Beyond the Commons post and all places in between (well, just Twitter, really), I've read the reactions of supporters, detractors and those who've used my argument as a point of departure. I thank anyone who's jumped in for their contributions. This is an importan... [More]

On his blog yesterday, Aaron Wherry reports on an amusing interview between Scott Payne and David Frum, which included an exchange on declining voter turnout in Canada. In his remarks, Frum attributes this to changes in society of a Robert Putnam-esque sort (i.e., we're not joining stuff anymore and corresponding social ties fray). Wherry then illustrates that Canada's pathetic voter turnout plac... [More]

As coverage of the debate over the long form census continues into its second month, media dialogue appears to have reduced the matter to the old tried-and-true narratives, in lieu of a more substantive public discussion on why the census is important and what it says about our country and the citizens who live here. Below is a three-part essay that summarizes the media discussion to date, highli... [More]

Today is the third edition of Samara's bi-weekly "Guess Who?" contest, where we 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 August 19th. We'll randomly 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 Polit... [More]

Even before all the census shenanigans, Samara readers showed themselves to love their statistics. Some of the discussion about The Accidental Citizen?, including that which occurred over at Maclean's, raised a bunch of questions on the backgrounds, demographics and tenures of our Members of Parliament - what they are, how they've changed, and what implications that may have on our politics. Tha... [More]

An accumulation of some interesting things from the world of journalism: 1. Wikileaks: Unless you've been trapped under something heavy, you've no doubt heard about this anonymous leak-publishing site and its publication of multiple gigs of classified information on the Afghan mission. Tons of fascinating questions for transparency, war in the information age, journalism in general and the Afghan... [More]

Congratulations to the winners of last week's Guess Who contest! Ilana Ludwin from Hamilton, ON, was chosen from among those who correctly guessed The Honourable Monte Solberg, a Reform MP who represented Medicine Hat, Alberta from 1993-2008 as the quoted MP (click here to read his quote). Contest winners receive a book of their choice from the list of Canada's Best Political Writing.  Ila... [More]

In the wake of last week's discussion between Max Fawcett and me on the nature of political and quasi-political participation among Gen Yers, an interesting piece on volunteerism that sheds some light onto the important connection between volunteerism and political engagement. The article centres on a study on 500 American high schoolers who were engaged in community service, either of their own ... [More]

Earlier this month I participated in an interesting discussion, via The Mark Radio, on the public's engagement with politics - where it's at and how it can be better.  In response, Max Fawcett penned a thoughtful post, rightfully pointing out that engagement in traditional politics is only one way of engaging in public life. In theory and in practice, this is true. As a university instruc... [More]

Today is our second 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 August 5th. 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. This week, ou... [More]

Thank you very much to Taylor Gunn and the crew at Student Vote for including us in their Democracy Boot Camp, a three-day workshop for high school teachers that featured new ways to engage students in our democracy.  We had a great time sharing the results of The Accidental Citizen? (captured below for posterity), and of course had to remind/warn the teachers that nearly 25% of the MPs we in... [More]

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]