Democratic Reform on the Menu in Newfoundland and Labrador.

• Date: 22 March 2018
• Author: Marland, Alex

What should democratic reform look like in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador? In advance of the provincial government's plan to strike an all-party committee to study this question, two Memorial University professors used a public engagement grant to create a first-of-its kind, independent grassroots initiative in hopes of supporting this committee's work. The Democracy Cookbook explores many options for better democratic governance in a way that is accessible to the public and in a manner that promotes greater public awareness of the committee's mandate. In this article, the authors inform readers about how this initiative was designed, why it may be an effective model for other small jurisdictions, and some of what people will find in the open-source publication that resulted.

Conversations about democratic reform are stirring in Newfoundland and Labrador. In 2015, the provincial Liberal Party's election platform made the following commitment:

A New Liberal Government will form an all-party committee on democratic reform. This committee will consult extensively with the public to gather perspectives on democracy in Newfoundland and Labrador and make recommendations for ways to improve. The committee will consider a number of options to improve democracy, such as: changing or broadening methods of voting to increase participation in elections, reforming campaign finance laws to cover leadership contests, and requiring provincial parties to report their finances on a bi-annual basis. (1) Similar language appeared in the ministerial mandate letter issued by Premier Dwight Ball to government House leader Andrew Parsons in December 2015 and again in December 2017. During the Spring 2018 session, (2) the government intends to strike an all-party committee on democratic reform.

To kick-start the committee, we recently led an innovative, independent grassroots initiative called The Democracy Cookbook. The project represents a collective effort to sort out what changes to institutions, processes and rules can turn Newfoundland and Labrador from a democratic laggard into a democratic leader. To our knowledge, it is the first grassroots initiative of its kind and the first to support a parliamentary committee of this nature.

The systemic problems that characterize politics in Newfoundland and Labrador have been well-documented in Canadian Parliamentary Review. (3) The province is currently mired in a financial slump that is dominating public...