Making laws in Canada: a simulation

This simulation exercise is meant to give students a sense of the complexities and steps involved in turning a public policy priority into law. Even though it simplifies an often lengthy and multi-faceted real life process, the simulation will nonetheless be a challenge both to the students and teacher alike.

The exercise is best undertaken by a senior class that has already studied government and parliamentary processes at some length. Some suggested resources are provided, but the teacher will want to augment them as he or she sees fit. Because the simulation takes place in several discrete ‘chunks’ involving different students in the class at different points in time, the overall debriefing exercise at the end is particularly important.

The teacher should stress that this activity is a simulation only and that not all of the details around the making of public policy and law can be captured. At the same time, students should be encouraged to do their best, based on their research and inclinations, to make the simulation as ‘real’ as possible.

The teacher should scan Canadian media sources to determine a current public issue that lends itself well to the simulation exercise. It should also be an issue that has generated differences in policy positions among the political parties in Parliament, and among stakeholders or opinion leaders.

The teacher should divide the class into three groups; one representing the lead government department responsible for the policy issue, one representing the cabinet, and one representing the House of Commons (for the purpose of this exercise, the parliamentary process will be captured by the House of Commons only and will not involve the Senate or Governor General as such).

Each group will conduct its work on its own, following the sequence of events that begins with the department developing proposed or draft legislation, the Cabinet then reviewing and blessing it, and last, the House of Commons debating and passing the bill (which becomes law).

The teacher should choose a current issue where the lead federal department can easily be identified. For example, a new policy on Aboriginal Peoples would be led by the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. A new policy on subsidies for Canadian publishers would be led by the Department of Canadian Heritage, while a new policy on air quality would be led by Environment Canada.

With reference to how the issue is being portrayed in the media (i.e., what is going on? Why is this in the news? What has the government said? Why does the government need to react? What is the opposition saying in Parliament? What do the stakeholders outside government have to say?), the teacher should instruct the students in the Government Department group that they are to draft a proposed policy along general lines. The direction to students should give them only the broad parameters of the new policy, as it will be their job to produce something more specific.

Before sitting down to draft a policy, students should be advised to first:

• Research the background to the issue.

• Research the general nature of the department that they represent.

• Research the government’s position on this issue.

The result of the students’ work should be a minimum two-page ‘Cabinet document’ that is organised as follows:

• Issue (i.e., what is the public policy issue at hand?).

• Background / Context (i.e., any necessary background that will help the Cabinet understand the policy that is being proposed, including the nature and scope of the problem, and the views of stakeholders).

• Recommendation (i.e., the legislation the government should enact to deal with the policy issue).

For the purposes of the exercise, the Cabinet will consist of:

• the Prime Minister

• the Minister sponsoring the legislation produced in the previous exercise

• the Minister of Finance

• three other Ministers of the teacher’s choosing (these should be chosen with a view to bringing their divergent and perhaps conflicting views to bear on the proposed legislation)

The teacher should create short, two-paragraph scenarios that will guide each role the students will play in the Cabinet. For example, perhaps the Prime Minister campaigned on the issue and is a strong supporter of the proposed legislation. On the other hand, most of the Cabinet Ministers around the table are highly sceptical of the approach being proposed. These scenarios should be given some ‘real-life’ context if possible.

All of the students should prepare their own speaking notes in advance of the Cabinet meeting that will guide their positions in Cabinet. Of course, the Minister sponsoring the legislation will have the Cabinet document to work from. The students should be advised that their notes should not limit their discussion, merely serve as its foundation.

The Cabinet Minister proposing the legislation should present it to Cabinet, after which it is to be discussed and decided upon. It is the Cabinet’s job to review the proposed legislation and make any necessary changes before it is presented to Parliament.

For the purposes of the simulation, the Cabinet should be advised that the legislation should go forward, with amendments if necessary. In real life, however, not everything goes through Cabinet first time around!

Because this exercise simulates a meeting, the teacher will be required to observe it first hand in order to evaluate the students’ work. For this purpose, the evaluation rubric below is available.

The teacher should divide the group into the government party and the opposition. If numbers are sufficient, the opposition can be divided further to reflect the current party representation in Parliament.

• The students should be presented with the proposed legislation that was approved by Cabinet.

• Each opposition party, in preparation for the debate in the House of Commons, should research the issue of concern, the legislation being put forward by the government, and determine the position of their party.

• For the governing party, these students should brainstorm the likely approach the opposition will adopt in reaction to the legislation in order to be prepared to respond effectively.

• In the classroom, the desks should be arranged so that the opposition members face the government members, as is the case in the House of Commons. Those students not participating as Members of Parliament should view the proceedings from the wings, with one of them acting as Speaker to moderate the debate.

• The teacher should set a time limit for the debate, which should begin with an opening statement by the Minister sponsoring the legislation. The Speaker can then oversee questions from the opposition, in the style of Question Period.

• Once the allotted time has passed, a vote should be taken.

All of the students should prepare their own speaking notes in advance of the debate in Parliament. These notes will guide their arguments in the House of Commons. The students should be advised that their notes should not limit their discussion, merely serve as its foundation.

For the benefit of the teacher, an evaluation rubric is available below for this section of the simulation.

Since only the final section of the simulation was witnessed/experienced by all, the students in the Government Department and Cabinet groups should share with the class their views on their particular group’s experience. For example:

• What did they enjoy about the simulation? What did they not?

• What did they learn about making public policy that surprised them?

• What was the most difficult part of the task they had?

The group as a whole should discuss:

• Was this an effective way to learn about making public policy?

• What are the necessary elements to successful public policy?

• If you were given a chance to do another simulation like this, are there things you would do to improve it?

• Did the simulation change your views about how public policy is made in Canada and the people involved?

Parliament’s fact sheet on how a bill becomes law (http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/
process/info/ParliamentFAQ01-e.htm)

Role of the Cabinet
http://pm.gc.ca/default.asp?Language=E&
Page=thecanadiangovernment&Sub=RoleofCabinet

How Canadians Govern Themselves (4^th Edition) 
http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/
process/library/forsey/fedinst-e.htm

Role of the opposition in Parliament
http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/
library/PRBpubs/bp47-e.htm#INTRO

Structure of the Canadian Ministry
http://pm.gc.ca/default.asp?Language=E&
Page=thecanadiangovernment&Sub=StructureoftheMinistry

Canada Site
http://canada.gc.ca/howgoc/cab/cab-com_e.html