West Block, 2040: the case for a second Chamber with a round seating plan

Our parliamentary traditions, while nostalgic, are far from modern. While Canada has had countless procedural changes over the years, it has shied away changing the room itself. Let's make a second House Chamber—and make it a circle.

Members of Parliament prepare for a meeting of the Special Committee on the COVID-19 Pandemic in the House of Commons on May 13, 2020. Let’s allow ourselves a second Chamber to reflect who we are today, writes Jonathan Ferguson.The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Opinion

BY JONATHAN FERGUSON

July 26, 2023

“If we don’t want to be consigned to the past, we must stop living in it," said Lord Kevin Shinkwin during the Parliamentary Internship Program's study tour to the United Kingdom in March 2022. The COVID-19 pandemic had pushed legislatures around the world to a...

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