Tragedy in the Commons

Former Members of Parliament Speak Out About Canada's Failing Democracy

Author  Alison Loat and Michael MacMillan
Tragedy in the Commons

In Tragedy in the Commons, Alison Loat and Michael MacMillan, founders of the non-partisan think tank Samara, draw on an astonishing eighty exit interviews with former Members of Parliament from across the political spectrum to unearth surprising observations about the practice of politics in Canada.
 
Though Canada is at the top of international rankings of democracies, Canadians themselves increasingly don’t see politics as a way to solve society’s problems. Small wonder. In the news, they see grandstanding in the House of Commons and MPs pursuing agendas that don’t always make sense to the people who elected them.
 
But elected officials make critical choices about how this wildly diverse country functions today and how it will thrive in the future. They…