Foreword

• Author: Gregory Tardi, DJur
• Profession: Editor, Understanding Canada series
• Pages: 7-9

Page 7

Foreword

In its 2005 ruling entitled Canada (House of Commons) v Vaid, the Supreme Court of Canada qualiied the House of Commons as “the grand inquest of the nation” and indicated that it had unquestioningly pre-eminent importance in the public life of the country. What do these high-sounding labels really entail? As residents of Ottawa walk in front of Parliament Hill to admire the architecture, or as other Canadians see the Parliament buildings from afar on their nightly newscasts, they are surely tempted to pose searching questions. What really goes on there? Who writes the laws and how? What role does politics play in contributing to the good governance of the country? How is the House of Commons the focus of Canadian democracy?

In this book, Rob Walsh provides the necessary answers to such inquiries. He comprehensively sets out the fundamentals of the origins, evolution, and especially the current functioning of the institution that is the central...