CTV News Staff
Opposition members are wondering where Paul Martin has been for nine years. They say his plans for reinvigorating democracy in the House of Commons could have been implemented during his long tenure as minister of finance.
Martin told a Toronto audience Monday evening that it's time to attack "the democratic deficit" in Parliament. The Liberal leadership hopeful said MPs have steadily lost their power in the Commons while too much control has been placed in the Prime Minister's Office.
Canadian Alliance Leader Stephen Harper says Martin never complained while in cabinet, but does now because he's outside of the inner circle. Harper called Martin's speech a "shtick" designed to win leadership support among Liberal backbenchers.
"But, it's nice to see that someone in the government supports democratic reform," Harper said after question period. "We'll hold his feet to the fire to see if it's actually done."
Tory leader Joe Clark said Martin's comments that real power depends on "who you know in the PMO,'' are odd because he never complained before. "He had nine years to give effect to these changes and he did nothing about them," Clark said.
Martin conceded that he was part of the government that created the problems he wants to fix.
"There's no doubt that we could have done more, and that's really why I think it's so important to lay out what I believe we should be doing going forward," Martin said.
Alliance House leader John Reynolds called Martin's proposals hypocritical and accused him of taking his cues from the Opposition who proposed many of his ideas before.
"In reality, he voted against most of the items at one stage or another,'' Reynolds said. "I don't mind anybody changing their mind, but at least give us credit for the fact that in 10 years we've talked about these issues.''
In his first major policy statement since being ousted from cabinet last June, Martin told an audience at York University that Parliament is trapped in "a morass of mindless adversarialism." He proposed six changes to reform the House:
Loosen the hold on party members by adopting the British "three-line" whip system whereby MPs would be allowed more leeway to vote independently on bills that don't deal with government confidence. Martin calls the current system "government by coercion;
Send more bills to committee after second reading to stimulate more non-partisan debate and speed their passage;
Allow more private members' bills to be introduced and voted on in the House. Currently, only 10 bills based on a lottery are introduced and few ever become law;
More independent Parliamentary committees to debate issues;
A new process whereby Parliamentary committees would debate and approve government appointments;
An independent ethics commissioner who would report directly to Parliament, not just to the PM.
With a swipe at the rival he hopes to replace, Martin said most MPs continue to make a remarkable contribution "but do so in spite of the system." He pointed to recent drops in voter participation rates to prove the "increasing disengagement of the Canadian population" in the political process.
Liberal leadership campaign
Martin is the only Liberal leadership contender actively campaigning to replace Chretien. Other expected candidates are currently serving as federal ministers and were told by the prime minister last spring to stop campaigning or risk expulsion from cabinet.
However, Liberal Party president Stephen LeDrew told CTV's Question Period on Sunday that he expects Chretien to lift the ban on campaigning once the date and location of the Liberal leadership convention is confirmed and as soon as ground rules for campaign fundraising are resolved within the party.
LeDrew said the convention will almost certainly be held the week of Nov. 10, 2003, with the final vote coming on Nov. 15. Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver are vying to hold the convention.
Martin, who is seen as the frontrunner to replace Jean Chretien when the prime minister retires in February 2004, said he wants a "dynamic" leadership campaign with "a lot of candidates."
"I am already campaigning and I would like to have others out there to debate issues," Martin told reporters after his speech.
Opposition members are wondering where Paul Martin has been for nine years. They say his plans for reinvigorating democracy in the House of Commons could have been implemented during his long tenure as minister of finance.
Martin told a Toronto audience Monday evening that it's time to attack "the democratic deficit" in Parliament. The Liberal leadership hopeful said MPs have steadily lost their power in the Commons while too much control has been placed in the Prime Minister's Office.
Canadian Alliance Leader Stephen Harper says Martin never complained while in cabinet, but does now because he's outside of the inner circle. Harper called Martin's speech a "shtick" designed to win leadership support among Liberal backbenchers.
"But, it's nice to see that someone in the government supports democratic reform," Harper said after question period. "We'll hold his feet to the fire to see if it's actually done."
Tory leader Joe Clark said Martin's comments that real power depends on "who you know in the PMO,'' are odd because he never complained before. "He had nine years to give effect to these changes and he did nothing about them," Clark said.
Martin conceded that he was part of the government that created the problems he wants to fix.
"There's no doubt that we could have done more, and that's really why I think it's so important to lay out what I believe we should be doing going forward," Martin said.
Alliance House leader John Reynolds called Martin's proposals hypocritical and accused him of taking his cues from the Opposition who proposed many of his ideas before.
"In reality, he voted against most of the items at one stage or another,'' Reynolds said. "I don't mind anybody changing their mind, but at least give us credit for the fact that in 10 years we've talked about these issues.''
In his first major policy statement since being ousted from cabinet last June, Martin told an audience at York University that Parliament is trapped in "a morass of mindless adversarialism." He proposed six changes to reform the House:
Loosen the hold on party members by adopting the British "three-line" whip system whereby MPs would be allowed more leeway to vote independently on bills that don't deal with government confidence. Martin calls the current system "government by coercion;
Send more bills to committee after second reading to stimulate more non-partisan debate and speed their passage;
Allow more private members' bills to be introduced and voted on in the House. Currently, only 10 bills based on a lottery are introduced and few ever become law;
More independent Parliamentary committees to debate issues;
A new process whereby Parliamentary committees would debate and approve government appointments;
An independent ethics commissioner who would report directly to Parliament, not just to the PM.
With a swipe at the rival he hopes to replace, Martin said most MPs continue to make a remarkable contribution "but do so in spite of the system." He pointed to recent drops in voter participation rates to prove the "increasing disengagement of the Canadian population" in the political process.
Liberal leadership campaign
Martin is the only Liberal leadership contender actively campaigning to replace Chretien. Other expected candidates are currently serving as federal ministers and were told by the prime minister last spring to stop campaigning or risk expulsion from cabinet.
However, Liberal Party president Stephen LeDrew told CTV's Question Period on Sunday that he expects Chretien to lift the ban on campaigning once the date and location of the Liberal leadership convention is confirmed and as soon as ground rules for campaign fundraising are resolved within the party.
LeDrew said the convention will almost certainly be held the week of Nov. 10, 2003, with the final vote coming on Nov. 15. Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver are vying to hold the convention.
Martin, who is seen as the frontrunner to replace Jean Chretien when the prime minister retires in February 2004, said he wants a "dynamic" leadership campaign with "a lot of candidates."
"I am already campaigning and I would like to have others out there to debate issues," Martin told reporters after his speech.
