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Savoie notes that Parliament is no longer supreme, as the courts shape policies and even programs to an extent that was unimaginable a generation ago.

The Cabinet has become little more than a 'focus group' for the prime minister, Savoie says

The House of Commons has lost its way as the body that gives voice to “the sentiments, the interests, the opinions, the prejudices, the wants of all classes of the nation”, in the words of 19th century English writer Walter Bagehot.

“Today, the Commons falls short in pursuing these functions,” says Savoie. The House has “been relegated to little more than providing democratic legitimacy for decisions made elsewhere”.

Neither does it fulfil its role in holding government to account on budget matters, allowing the Supply and Estimates process to become “an empty ritual”. Savoie contends the “deck is stacked against accountability” as MPs with little interest and no competence are bamboozled by the bureaucracy.

In this, he is overly pessimistic. The introduction of the Parliamentary Budget Office as part of the Harper government’s accountability reforms has created a tremendous resource for parliamentarians to call on when faced with impenetrable banks of numbers. He is overly critical too of the offices of the Auditor-General and Ethics Commissioner for playing to the press gallery. Both have offered a much needed challenge function to the governing party in recent years – a development that should be welcomed, rather than regretted.

He should also be somewhat cheered by the Trudeau government’s Senate reforms, which have seen the emergence of a “new non-partisan, merit based process” to advise the prime minister on Senate appointments. Savoie served on the advisory board for appointments in New Brunswick, which he says worked as intended. Given the problems with reforming the Senate, or even abolishing it, Trudeau’s initiative seem like the most practical solution, even if its impact remains uncertain.