Canadian Universities: Emerging Hubs for International Parliamentary Research and Training.

• Author: Stapenhurst, Rick

Canadian universities have recently emerged as important centres in applied parliamentary research and training, joining universities in Australia, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. This article reviews the growth of these research and training programs at three institutions--McGill University, Universite Laval and the University of Ottawa--over the past five years. It also points to possible future areas of work, which will allow parliaments elsewhere to learn from Canada's experience, and vice versa.

It has long been recognized that, as Lord Philip Norton wrote some 25 years ago, parliaments matter. (1) Research has established that effective parliaments enhance democracy, (2) increase government accountability and reduce corruption, (3) encourage peace and development (4) and thus more generally promote good governance and socio-economic development. (5)

Over the past half-decade or so, Canadian universities have begun to emerge as global players in applied parliamentary research and training, joining universities in Australia, the United Kingdom and elsewhere; see Table 1. Two universities in Quebec --McGill University and Universite Laval--and one in Ontario--the University of Ottawa--have recently facilitated global knowledge exchanges and 'communities of practice,' undertaken rigorous research on parliamentary oversight around the world and have developed cutting-edge professional development programs for both Members of Parliament and parliamentary staff. In all these endeavours, the universities have developed strategic alliances, both among themselves, with global organizations (such as the World Bank, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA)), with universities outside of Canada (principally, the University of Westminster and the University of East Anglia, in the United Kingdom) and with national organizations (such as the Canadian Audit and Accountability Foundation and the African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs). A cross-cutting theme of both the research and training is the exchange of experience and lessons learned in Canada with other countries, and vice versa. Parliaments in other countries are learning about Canada's practices while Canadian legislators and staff are able to appreciate practices in other countries and consider their applicability here. (This is not to diminish the significance of specialized programs elsewhere; the universities of Athabasca and Tasmania, for example, offer specialized programs on legislative drafting; the University of Witwatersrand offers a Commonwealth-wide course for newly elected MPs from around the Commonwealth and the University of Hull offers degree programs in parliamentary studies. Rather, we wish to highlight the integration of more general training for MPs and staff with applied research programs and the development of global parliamentary networks at McGill University, Universite Laval and the University of Ottawa). This article reviews the growth of these types of research and training programs over the past five years, and points to possible future areas of work, which--it is hoped--will enhance parliamentary democracy in Canada and abroad.

Professional Development Programs--Parliamentary Staff

Over the period 2008-10, the World Bank, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and l'association des secretaires generaux des parlements francophone (ASGPF) undertook a comprehensive needs assessment for parliamentary staff for countries in developing and developed countries alike. They found that there was a patchwork of basic training courses, offered by developed country parliaments to their own staff (although Canada and Australia, in particular, offered places in these courses to staff from developing countries, too) and by various nongovernmental organizations to parliamentary staff in developing countries. Around the same time, Joachim Wehner (6) completed an assessment of organizations working globally to strengthen parliaments for the UK's Department for International Development. As Table 2 demonstrates, the number of such organizations was rather small, and mainly dominated by international and US-based organizations; the only university listed was the state University of New York. Since the time of Wehner's study, the parliamentary world has evolved: The World Bank Institute has been disbanded, the UNDP has massively cut back on its global program and the US government has reduced spending on development assistance in general and on parliamentary strengthening, in particular. At the same time, both CPA and IPU are expanding their collaboration with universities around the world and new actors, such as International IDEA and Greg Power and Associates, as well as McGill University and Universite Laval, have emerged.

The ASGPF-CPA-World Bank study further found that there was substantial overlap between courses offered, with one African committee clerk from Kenya stating that: "You [foreign organizations] all offer the same thing: four or five days intensive training, going over the same materials as the others use." What was needed, respondents said, was "a higher level, university-certified program that went 'beyond the basics'." As a result, the World Bank and CPA collaborated with McGill to develop such a program for English speaking countries while the World Bank and Quebec's National Assembly collaborated with Laval to develop a similar program for French speaking countries. These universities have sought to address...