Canadian Parliaments Respond to COVID-19.

• Author: Morden, Mike

In May 2020, the Canadian Parliamentary Review surveyed table clerks at all Canadian legislatures, with support from the Samara Centre for Democracy. In this article, the author summarizes the responses (and adds updates) to provide a rich account of the state of parliamentary democracy in Canada during the early pandemic and into the late spring and early summer. The picture that emerges is one of rapid adaptation in some cases, stasis in others, and legislative staff everywhere working hard to accommodate a new logistical and political reality. Most striking is the deep variance between legislatures in Canada--from those that have not met at all since the pandemic arrived, to those that have carried on with only minimal changes, to those that have radically adapted to incorporate remote and virtual proceedings.

Introduction

When the pandemic arrived in Canada, in the first weeks of March, thousands of workplaces across the country underwent radical, almost instantaneous change. Parliament and the legislatures were no different.

But legislatures are not like other workplaces. They are centres of political deliberation and decision-making, which grow rather than diminish in importance in the face of crises. Rapid change is also harder, both practically and philosophically. Legislatures carry the weight of centuries of custom, convention, and tradition. The rules are meant to be enduring, so they can't be gamed for short-term benefit. The pandemic is not totally unprecedented--the Spanish Influenza closed Canadian legislatures for prolonged periods in 1918-19--but unusual enough that governments, speakers, clerks, and members were operating wholly without guidance from experience.

In short, the very crisis that made public decisionmaking so uniquely consequential, made legislative life nearly impossible at the same time.

How did Canadian institutions respond? In May 2020, the Canadian Parliamentary Review surveyed table clerks at all Canadian legislatures, with support from the Samara Centre for Democracy. The responses provide a rich account of the state of parliamentary democracy in Canada during the early pandemic. These responses have been updated to reflect changes that took place in the late spring and early summer. The picture that emerges is one of rapid adaptation in some cases, stasis in others, and legislative staff everywhere working hard to accommodate a new logistical and political reality.

Most striking is the deep variance between legislatures in Canada--from those that have not met at all since the pandemic arrived, to those that have carried on with only minimal changes, to those that have radically adapted to incorporate remote and virtual proceedings.

Locking Down: Responding to the pandemic's arrival

On March 11, the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic. Over the course of that week, COVID-19 infections began to accumulate in North America and schools and businesses began to close. By the week of March 16, many parts of the country had instituted or were moving toward public health orders, which dramatically curtailed movement and contact between Canadians. The lockdown caught the legislatures under different circumstances, which were reflected in subsequent decisions about how to proceed.

Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Nunavut were not sitting in mid-March; Nova Scotia and Nunavut had recently completed sittings and passed budgets, and Prince Edward Island had not sat yet in 2020. All three extended their existing hiatuses indefinitely.

Most of the other legislatures suspended or rapidly brought to a close their spring sittings. Some--Ontario, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, the House of Commons and Senate--returned for one-day emergency sittings later in March and again in April. The Alberta legislature maintained the most typical proceedings, continuing to meet, albeit with limitations on how many Members were present, and a modified schedule.

Sitting Days and Proceedings

There has been deep diversity in how often Canadian legislatures have convened for Chamber business since the pandemic arrived. Alberta sat the most in the spring and summer by a wide margin. The legislatures of Nova Scotia...