Parliament and Parliamentary Reform: The Enduring Legacy of C.E.S. Franks.

• Author: Kaczorowski, Michael

In 2018 we lost one of the most significant voices participating in the study, discussion, and promotion of Canada's parliamentary democracy. C.E.S. Franks' was well known amongst scholars for his decades of work based at Queen's University; but he was also known among the Canadian public as an expert commentator frequently sought out by journalists who covered Canadian politics. In this article, the author pays tribute to Franks by highlighting his seminal work, The Parliament of Canada (1987), and explaining how its insights remain relevant to any debate on how and why Parliament could or should be reformed.

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The passing of Professor C.E.S. "Ned" Franks on September 11, 2018 truly marked the end of an era for students and practitioners concerned with the importance of understanding and appreciating the Canadian parliamentary system.

Over his 35-year career in the Department of Political Studies at Queen's University and through his many published works, Professor Franks provided a clear-eyed and critical understanding of Parliament and the legislative process. For reporters seeking comment on parliamentary proceedings, Professor Franks was always quotable, mixing expert analysis with wry observations on the very human nature of life on the Hill.

Professor Franks' seminal work, The Parliament of Canada (1987), remains not only the most accessible, yet thoughtful and scholarly examination of Parliament written since that time, but serves as an invaluable reminder of the enduring strengths of the Westminster model which is the foundation of the Canadian system of representative and responsible government.

Take, for example, the simple but critical fact that in our parliamentary system the executive branch of government--the Cabinet--and the legislative branch--the House of Commons--are deliberately fused together rather than separated as is the case in the United States. In this way, Ministers are held to account and must answer for their decisions in the day to day conduct of government business. Such is the essence of responsible government.

Yet it is in explaining such basic tenets of the Canadian system that Professor Franks made an even more important contribution. He reminds us that only by examining how Parliament works in the Canadian context can we properly assess prescriptions for change.

Such ideas, as often as not wrapped in the rhetoric of "freeing" MPs, are as Franks notes all too frequently based on a flawed...