‘We need to take Parliament back to Magna Carta,’ Former PM Says

OTTAWA—In his only scheduled address to the Liberal Biennial Convention held in Ottawa until Jan. 15, former Liberal leader John Turner, who served a brief stint as the 17th Canadian Prime Minister in 1984, echoed a popular call heard in the convention halls: to be more responsive to the wishes and proposals of everyday Canadians.

“We need to take Parliament back to the Magna Carta,” he said.

The Magna Carta is a document that was imposed upon the King of England by his barons in 1215 which began the limitation of his powers by law.

“The English were smart. ‘Parliament’ initially comes from a Norman word that means ’to speak'. To speak, you must listen.”

Mr. Turner explained that Magna Carta led to the people voting for someone in their riding, and the assemblies of elected officials would then elect a prime minister. “It was a free organization.”

He advocated for similar free voting procedures in the House of Commons, except for the throne speech and budget where government policy requires MPs to respect party allegiance. That was the way of the past, and should be in the future.

“Members of Parliament could vote with their conscience,” he said. “They could go back to their riding and ask [their constituents]: ‘What do you think?’”

He suggested that the Liberal Party also observe such practices in allowing constituents to choose their own riding’s party candidate instead of the party leader imposing his choice.

“That is a more open and liberal party,” assessed Mr. Turner, on whom age and years of public service have taken their toll: once a track-and-field athlete in his youth, he now makes use of a wheel chair.

Earlier in the meeting, outgoing Liberal Party President Alfred Apps also voiced a similar approach to Liberal Party practices.

“The next year is to build an open [Canadian] society,” he said. It is by “becoming an open party, with an open nomination process, an open leadership” that the Liberal Party will “leapfrog.”

If such practices become the norm, it would mark a significant departure with how the party’s leadership has previously had the upper-hand in crafting the party’s direction and selecting its candidates for election.