Deputy Clerk of Tynwald Mr Jonathan King has returned from a parliamentary officers’ study programme hosted by the Parliament of Canada at its seat in Ottawa.
Mr King joined other senior officers from foreign legislatures and Canadian jurisdictions in the two-week programme aimed at offering an insight into the functioning of the Parliament of Canada and extending access to senior Canadian parliamentary officials.
The programme involved the three partners of the Parliament of Canada: the Senate, the House of Commons and the Library of Parliament.
Mr King explained: ‘The study programme was highly structured and included sessions with Members and the Canadian parliament’s two Speakers, the Hon Noël Kinsella and the Hon Andrew Scheer MP. We were also able to observe proceedings in the two chambers and in a number of committees.’
Mr King went on to say that the programme had been ‘a real eye-opener’. He said that of particular interest was discovering how many jurisdictions had appointed second chambers, representatives from a number of which - Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, Jordan and Trinidad and Tobago -were among the delegates.
The programme also provided Mr King an opportunity to promote the Isle of Man and its parliament. During a 10-minute presentation he explained the significance of Tynwald Day, provided an overview of Tynwald’s tricameral system and outlined the Hansard voice recognition system, the latter attracting considerable interest from officials of the Canadian Senate and provincial legislature of Newfoundland and Labrador. Mr King added that representatives from the Parliament of Uganda had indicated some of its Members might be interested in visiting the Isle of Man to learn more about the Manx parliamentary system.
He concluded: ‘Participating in what was a very well organised programme was valuable, not only to learn how the Canadian parliament operates but also to share experiences with parliamentary officials from so many different jurisdictions. Among points to be considered from a Tynwald perspective is how we may be able to improve our administrative practices, in addition to which experiencing the study programme from a delegate’s point of view will help in the planning of any future visits we may host.’
