Pandemic Parliaments: Canadian Legislatures in a Time of Crisis

Abstract

Canadian legislatures’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have raised questions about whether and how parliaments should continue to meet during the pandemic (Reid, 2020; Thomas, 2020a). The purpose of this research note is twofold: (1) to document how Canadian legislatures have changed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and (2) to assess the effect of these responses on legislatures’ ability to fulfill their core functions. Through an analysis of parliamentary records from all elected federal, provincial and territorial legislatures in Canada, we find that the role of parliaments as sites of citizen representation has suffered the most, whereas the scrutinizing and legislative functions of parliaments have tended to be preserved, albeit in a significantly truncated form. We argue that patterns in legislatures' varied responses to the pandemic reveal which aspects of parliamentary functioning these bodies de facto prioritize and which are at risk of being eroded.

Canada’s legal preparedness against the COVID‐19 Pandemic: A scoping review of federal laws and regulations

“…During the early phase of the pandemic, legislative activity focused on—1) the passage of regular fiscal measures and 2) the passage of COVID‐related emergency legislative changes. The pandemic also restricted the legislature’s ability to scrutinize and authorize executive actions (Rayment and VandenBeukel 2020 ). Some scholars argue the pandemic paved the way for the federal minority government to be less accountable to the parliament by limiting the parliament proceedings and debates.…”

COVID-19 Policy Response and the Rise of the Sub-National Governments

“…At the state/province level, Canada and the United States seemed to differ in which branch of government took the lead in policy-making. In Canada, provincial legislatures continued to meet virtually or in a hybrid semiin-person manner (Rayment and VandenBeukel 2020). Meanwhile, nearly all U.S. state the importance of the subject matter, and the rapidly changing nature of the topic, the accepted version has been released.…”

“…legislatures decided to close their legislative sessions, deferring policy-making leadership and responsibilities to the state governor, opting not to continue to meet and legislate. The judiciary branch in both countries continued to conduct businesses and hear cases virtually, albeit at reduced capacity (Malloy 2020;Puddister and Small 2020;Rayment and VandenBeukel 2020).…”

Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected MPs’ Representational Activities?

“…The COVID-19 pandemic has necessarily affected the operation of Canada's Parliament and, thus, the activities of Members of Parliament (MPs) (Malloy, 2020; Rayment and VandenBeukel, 2020). Here, we explore how the pandemic has affected the representational activities of individual MPs.…”