Almost 8 million words were spoken by MPs in the House of Commons last year, but some MPs had more to say than others.

Recent debates about the role of backbench MPs, including the Speaker's recent ruling on a question of privilege, have raised questions about who speaks in the...

Like many other 30-something women, I've started reading the latest treaty for the working gal, Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In. I'm now among the ranks of those who admire Sandberg's ability to leave the office on time and her gutsiness in contributing to a much-needed discussion on how North American's can...

When the editors of Huffington Post asked us to include this contest in my regular blog here, we were happy to. Samara started the "Best Moment in Canadian Democracy" contest in 2011, when the Arab Spring had just begun. Reflecting on these uprisings in the Middle East, an...

Just before the New Year, Samara asked for nominations for the Best Moment in Canadian Democracy in 2012. Below are the five finalists, and we hope you'll take a minute to vote for your favourite.

Despite the cynicism that we all feel from time to time, these five...

Elections are a critical time at which citizens connect to their politics. From the train station platforms in the early 20th century, today's campaigns reach directly into Canadians' homes through the telephone, TV and the internet.

As Canadians respond to allegations about the misuse of robocalls in the 2011 federal...

Election campaigns have always been fodder for journalists and media watchers to lament the state of political coverage in today's media. Usually, criticisms are levied on journalists' exuberance for the "horse-race" -- who's winning, who's losing -- at the expense of discussion on the issues citizens care about.

Recent...

Parliament resumes this week. MPs have returned from their 308 ridings rested, connected with their constituents and ready for another round of political gamesmanship.

We here at Samara thought it was a good time to revisit some of the ideas for Parliamentary reform put forward by those who've survived...

On Friday, the Manning Centre, an organization that supports people who "advance our vision of a free and democratic Canada guided by conservative principles," released their annual poll on Canadians' attitudes towards various policy issues and government's performance more generally.

The most sobering bits, for me anyway,...

A family divided by geography, a dying man without access to his insurance, an elderly person unable to get his old-age pension.

These are Canadians at their most vulnerable -- financially, emotionally and mentally at risk. So whose job is it to help solve these problems? The Canadian public service......

What do real estate agents, doctors, lawyers, engineers, musicians, farmers, businessmen, professors and activists have in common?

Most of us probably think, "Not much," but they are just a handful of the ways in which the 308 Canadians sitting in our House of Commons earned their living before becoming Members...

One of the defining images of Canada's new Parliament to date is a Globe and Mail cartoon of Jack Layton in the House of Commons surrounded by a group of kids, barely tall enough to see over their desks. One holds an NDP balloon, another squirms while Layton...