By MPP Bobbi Ann Brady
One of the very best aspects of being your provincial representative is meeting new and different people and learning new things all the time. The creative, innovative problem solvers of Haldimand-Norfolk constantly feed my mind; however, this week, two American politicians gave me a great deal to think about as I attended Queen’s Park to meet with a delegation of parliamentarians from the United States.
I spent most of my time chatting with Arkansas State Representative (Rep.) Jack Ladyman and West Virginia House of Delegates Rep. George Street. Time flew by as we exchanged and compared notes on our two very different but democratic government systems.
Canada is a constitutional monarchy, whereas the United States is a federal republic. I am not even going to pretend to understand everything about the American government or politics, but for the sake of this column, let’s talk about provinces and states.
All our provinces are unicameral (single legislative chamber) elected legislatures in Canada. In the US, all states except Nebraska are bicameral (two houses or two legislative bodies, such as the House of Representatives and the Senate, that are separate in deliberation from one another). Are you confused yet? If you are, you’re not alone because even Representatives Ladyman, Street, and I were scratching our heads.
As the conversation ensued, I was asked questions about who sets the rules of the House. Who sets the agenda of the House? Who determines the composition of government committees responsible for dissecting bills? The answer I gave to most of the questions was “the Government House Leader.” Both men were shocked to learn that the House Leader can also be a cabinet minister and that the Speaker of the House does not set agendas.
One of the representatives caught on quickly and said: “So a Party is running the chamber?” Ding ding ding!
Rep. Ladyman is in his fifth term in the Arkansas House as a Republican. I will put it bluntly – Rep. Ladyman is a real spitfire and has the critical thinking skills and institutional knowledge to back up his passion and spirit. Given his personality, I asked him how he copes with voting for bills he isn’t comfortable supporting. He looked at me as if I had three heads and proceeded to tell me he would not support Republican bills if he didn’t feel they were in the best interest of his constituents. I suggested he remain a representative in the US because he wouldn’t last long in a Party here in Canada, where refusing to tow the Party line will have you booted from the caucus in the blink of an eye.
Both representatives could not understand why an elected official could not act genuinely on behalf of the people who elected them. The three of us agreed that the preoccupation with re-election is a representative’s primary goal when it should be how to represent best the people we serve.
Interestingly, both Ladyman and Street, despite committing full-time hours, are renumerated based on a part-time position. The pay is meagre—so meagre that it’s tough to find those who can actually afford to do the job.
As the night wore on, we traded legislative ideas, and I hope those conversations will continue well into the future. Despite all that is different between our system of governance and that of the US, it was heartening to speak with two politicians who are all in for the right reasons and share my passion for doing the right thing and representing taxpayers honestly and genuinely.
As I write, I’m packing for the Association of Municipalities of Ontario convention in Ottawa, where I hope to get that same feeling.
Bobbi Ann Brady is the MPP for Haldimand-Norfolk