Charlie Feldman
@ParlCharlie
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Lover of legislatures & law! Practicing parliamentary counsel here to follow scholarship on legislative institutions. Views are personal. President - @CSPG_GCEP
Joined January 2022
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Pinned Tweet
I’ve spent a lot of time looking at the Charter. I think it’s time to talk about the people. I have questions.
#lawtwitter
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Also, if any academic institution holds a conference on the convoy et al, may I suggest the title:
Researching, Analyzing and Mesuring Radical Assembles, National Crises, and Hardships
The acronym is RAMRANCH.
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Biden: Ottawa overnight?
Advisor: Obama reports good cookies there, sir.
Biden: Swell, but I’m more of a train guy
Advisor: *nervous*
Biden: Do they have a train there?
Advisor: *sweating*
Biden: Maybe a light rail I could ride or something?
Advisor: *faints*
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And now, a moment of Hansard zen from the Parliament of Victoria.
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Parliamentary staff are marching in Ottawa’s pride parade (I believe for the first time)!
Colleague: Any suggestion for a sign?
Me: How about “I love working with whips?”
Colleague: … I’m never asking you anything ever again
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Liz Truss is a great Halloween costume choice for introverts because when you leave early people will admire your commitment to the bit
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Feeling bad for whoever works the phones at the GG’s office tomorrow.
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Whenever I see a cheese plate I think about this moment from Canadian Senate Hansard - February 12, 1992
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Partial ranking of public service signs at Ottawa Pride:
Weak: “Cast a wider net at Fisheries and Oceans”
On point: “Transport Canada: For whichever way you go!”
On the line: “Your package, our priority: Canada Post”
Over the top: “GC Pay Centre: We do things in arrears”
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A little birthday present for you,
@RightsOfCanada
as you turn 40 today. Before you joined us, MPs had to debate and adopt a resolution about you. After the final vote on December 2, 1981, MPs sang O Canada -- here's the video :-)
(🔊 on for sure :p)
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One of my favourite
@RightsOfCanada
history stories is that Jean Chrétien said « merde » when the signature pen for the Charter broke, and this is why Her Majesty - who understands French - is heartily laughing and smiling in some of the photos.
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Still not over this translation, City of Ottawa… voyons donc…
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I'm just a boy
standing in front of ... everybody ...
kindly asking you to stop using parliament and government interchangeably
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In case you missed it, the House of Commons today adopted an honourary 🇨🇦 citizenship motion by unanimous cosnent re Vladimir Kara-Murza (
@vkaramurza
). His 2012 appearance before a House subcommittee (alongside
@Billbrowder
) can be read and watched here:
By unanimous consent, the
#HoC
adopted a motion regarding granting the title of honourary Canadian citizen to Vladimir Kara-Murza.
The full text of the motion will be available after adjournment later today in the Journals:
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Forty years ago today, the first woman was appointed to Canada’s Supreme Court (Bertha Wilson). In honour of that and in advance of International Women’s Day, I would like to offer the nerdiest thing I’ve come across regarding judicial gender parity in Canada (a small thread) 👩⚖️
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I’m not saying that I picked my dentist based on the name but I really trust that they understand the importance of a crown
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The Charter of Rights and Freedoms turns 40 next month! I am told the traditional 40th anniversary gift is ruby.
As I cannot afford any gemstones, I am hoping that
@RightsOfCanada
will accept a subpar performance of Ruby Tuesday by the Stones or a gift card to Ruby Tuesdays🍴
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The West Edmonton Mall does have everything, including a skating rink and … wait, did he just do a quad?
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Ottawa: Is that… a train horn? Never thought I’d miss the vuvuzelas…
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Posting some sad news just brought to my attention. Ruth Sullivan of “Sullivan on the Construction of Statutes” passed this week. Her texts are THE go-to references for so many of us in the Canadian drafting community and cited in countless decisions. /1
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Sometimes I dream that my full time job is to be
@SCC_eng
Amicus and I totally crush it at elementary schools in the costume by starting off “What has 18 hands, 9 faces, and can reach across the entire country?
… The Supreme Court of Canada!”
#AmicusEnvy
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Online dating, meeting for coffee. I say “I work at parliament” and usually someone asks if I’ve met so-and-so and what they’re like in real life.
This morning: “Oh! What do you know about parliamentary privilege?”
Me: Finally! It’s my time to shine!!
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A friendly reminder to 🎅 that Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act is specific about the number of sleigh bells required if traveling on a highway
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What game am I planning for the next meeting of the Canadian Study of Parliament Group? An INTENSE and THRILLING round of “Identify that legislature by its carpet” - good luck, nerds :p
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Did I miss a proclamation specific to this store in Ottawa?
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Today in Parliamentary History - February 23, 1981: MP Knowles raises a VERY SERIOUS question about the mysterious black spots forming in the House of Commons Chamber near the vents... (first Hansard image)
YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT! (second Hansard image)
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Suggestion: Stop Ottawa doomscrolling for a minute and post something you love about our city. For me, it’s the Canadian Tulip Festival. (Photo: May 6, 2021)
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10/ If you or someone you know might have knowledge of the origin of the Charter people, please let me know. I NEED CLOSURE!
Thanks in advance :-P
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Since it's already past midnight in Atlantic Canada... HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY, Constitution Act, 1982 (including the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (
@RightsOfCanada
))!
Time to eat some constitutional birthday cake *notwithstanding* that I'm on a diet! :p Bonne fête !
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At this point they should just start Congressional rock-paper-scissors aka gavel-mace-hopper
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2/ OF COURSE THERE IS SOMEONE PLAYING HOCKEY. Or is it lacrosse? It’s not clear from the visible back foot whether there’s a skate on it. Do they just bring that stick with them everywhere? What Charter rights are they concerned about? I have questions.
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1/ The parliamentary archives never cease to amaze me.
Back in the day, Parliament was where you went for a divorce.
What I did not know until this week was how the committee dealt with one particularly ... touchy ... subject. Enter: Mary Matilda White.
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The 🇨🇦 Charter turns 40 in a few weeks and there will be celebrations / conferences abound!
But, can we take a moment to remember what was proposed alongside the Charter?
Here’s a short thread nobody asked for re the oft-forgotten Statement of Aims of the Canadian Federation!
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Worst Ottawa party game: Applying the Access to Information Act to Christmas carols…
You know ███ and ███ and ███ and ███. ███ and ███ and ███ and ███. But do you recall, the most famous ███ of all?
███ the ███ ███, had a very █ █████
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Have been set up on a blind date later today. I’m a little rusty but have questions ready if there’s a lull in the conversation - “If you could undo any prorogation, which parliamentary session would you extend?” “How do you approach reconciling competing Charter rights?”
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To make it Twitter official, today is my last day with the Senate as I’ll be embarking on a new adventure within the public service starting next week.
I’ve been reachable through a “” email at some point in each of the last 16 years… 1/5
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5/ On the right there’s a whole new set of people. But what is the smaller one near the middle? A child in a hoodie? A goblin? Why are there no visible hands on any of these people? Are they even really people?
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Dear folks for whom every part of a law is a “section”, there is in fact a Canadian federal structure - see image below!
(I’ll be honest, I didn’t see this until after law school.)
Now, go forth and make that writing more precise! You can do it!
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Happy anniversary to the Access to Information Act, first introduced on July 17, 1980. It received royal assent on July 7, 1982.
To mark this occasion, I will █████████████ and then [EXEMPTION - SECTION 20] and maybe also ███████████.
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‼️Attention everyone - this is not a drill. Dust off your CV and surf on over to the GIC appointments website to apply for the top Senate and House jobs - they’re up!
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Please send your legislative and legislation memes, I am running low
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3/ It was beyond innocent and quite sweet — the apple slices dipped in honey (as simple as that!) were particularly delicious that evening :)
That said, I did have questions about their Internet search skills… :p
Shana tova to those who celebrate! 🍎 🍯 🍏
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Happy Valentine’s Day to all the parliamentarians who find themselves living the dream today :p
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On this day parliamentary history (1873) - Sir John A Macdonald resigned as Prime Minister by simply telling the House of Commons that the government resigned. Reportedly (and I find this part amazing) the opposition just calmly switched desks with the government mid-sitting.
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Agnes Macpahil, Canada’s first female MP, speaking in the House of Commons 100 years ago this month:
“I think that what women really want to-day is perfect equality with men”
“I think women just want to be individuals, as men are individuals—no more and no less”.
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4/ What is the person on the left holding? A newspaper? A weapon? Are they a firefighter? Next to them is Gwendolyn in the fashionable hat. I like her. Next to her is Dave, his goal is to leave Saskatchewan and make it big in Hollywood. I asked.
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@_MarkSutcliffe
No vehicle went by me on this street for 2.5 minutes until this “train” showed up.
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8/ Anyhow, the whole point of this is to draw attention to what remains a mystery I want to solve: WHAT IS THE STORY OF THE CHARTER PEOPLE? Nobody seems to know! How did they get there? Who picked them?
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📢 New from me: "You can't print that in Hansard: Surveying Hansard Expungements in 🇨🇦 🇦🇺 🇳🇿"
What kinds of speeches have been deleted in whole or in part? Find out in this fun read in the new hot-off-the-press issue of Australasian Parliamentary Review:
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On this day in parliamentary history - November 19, 1867: Introduction of the bill that became the first law enacted by the Parliament of Canada!
Introduced by the PM, the first federal enactment was the Interpretation Act. Many of its provisions remain in the law today.
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2023 was a wild ride - I changed jobs twice, visited many parliaments and legislative drafting offices around the world (meeting wonderful people along the way!) ... and I posted way too often on here :-P
I also published some "extremely boring" work per anonymous reviewer 2...
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One is a parliament nerd. The other one is too! Greetings from the Standing Orders summit :p
@pejthomas
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Waitress: Where are you visiting from?
Me: Canada!
Waitress: Wow! Canada?! Your English is so good!
… Happy Canada Day from central Florida, y’all :)
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They say it’s Ontario’s best hike but there was no wifi so I couldn’t read Hansard on my phone and instead had to watch my step. 2/10
I kid, I kid… :p
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6/ Third from the right is Brian. He has a briefcase. It’s actually a prop. He’s unemployed but puts on appearances for the kids. Specifically, the goblin kid looking at him all suspicious. He knows, Brian.
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The one thing that truly brings together parliamentarians from all sides: A flight to Ottawa :p
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Okay Internet sleuths, the vault door in the East Block of Parliament Hill has a painting on it of unknown origin. I’m posting with permission to ask - Might anyone have an idea what the scene is, who the artist was, or why this image might have been chosen? The door is original.
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In what appears to be a huge miscommunication, I understood my friend had tickets to see “senators in action” and I didn’t ask more questions
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Valentine’s Day is near, but where are the parliamentary rom-coms?
*When Hansard met Statute
*How to lose a bill in 10 days
*Sleepless in subcommittee
*You’ve got motions
*Something’s gotta gavel
*The prorogation bride
*Four committees and a filibuster
*While you were adjourned😂
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Looking forward to being the only Canadian at this parliamentary conference in Australia because our parliament is never in the news and surely nobody will want to talk to me about any goings-on they may have read about :p
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With Rosh Hashanah upon us, a moment I smile at: A few years back I was dating someone not Jewish, had an awful day at work running late (with the holiday starting at sundown) and our plans needed to be scrapped.
“Don’t worry, just come over and I’ll make something for dinner”
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New Canadian book alert! Written by two people I greatly admire :)
Check out the entire series here: it includes books on the Senate, House of Commons, federalism, and political law
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Excited for my first day in the core public service — thanks to the friend for the very helpful acronym flashcard set to get me started. I would have never guessed that GC means Glenn Close, TBS means Treble, Bass, Snare and ATIP means the Artist That Is Prince.
#BePrepared
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Had a blast presenting on everyone’s favourite topic — marginal notes and headings! People stayed awake for a whole two hours… I don’t know how :p
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Off to committee to tell them about the delicious bass I caught - it was thissssss big!
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How many criminal law classes/exams just got a new award show fact pattern?
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In law? Apply to be an articling student at the House of Commons!!
I can’t tell you how cool of an opportunity it is or how great the office is … because that information is subject to solicitor-client and/or parliamentary privilege :p
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🎶 Hansard the snowman /
was a parliamentary soul /
with a Journals pipe /
and a Debates nose /
he counts the ayes and noes 🎶
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I don’t get why people say law is hard to understand — “Any reference in these Regulations to a Regulation is a reference to a Regulation contained in these Regulations” is poetry to my eyes…. 🤣
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Legend has it that when a rainbow appears over downtown Ottawa, it means a backbencher has read through the entire Standing Orders 🤩
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Today's history post is easy -- on this day in 1982, Bertha Wilson became the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada!
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3/ This trio. Cowboy hat or sombrero on the left? Bell-bottoms in the middle? What’s up with the leg on the fat right? So many questions.
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Whereas I’m begging you to look at the rest of the text…
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Scaffolding on the Supreme Court? I guess they’re engaging in some *puts on sunglasses* statutory construction!
… I’m so sorry.
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Excited to cross another parliament off my “parliaments to visit before I die” bucket list :p
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Today’s Parliament is the Parlement Bretagne, a parliament under the Ancien régime that today serves as the most gorgeous Court of Appeal I’ve ever seen…
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Still don’t know why they did the Magna Carta here
(Yes, I make this same joke whenever I’m in Toronto :p)
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Remember the guy who was an MP, Minister, Senator, and Lieutenant Governor of Quebec but got fired from that last role because he arguably attempted a coup d'état?
For no reason other than early Canadian history is fascinating, let's talk about Luc Letellier de Saint-Just. 🧵
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Received from a friend - sharing for all you “natural justice” folks :p
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The story of Princess Margriet (🇳🇱)’s birth in Ottawa (🇨🇦) is fascinating. Currently on display at City Hall: Copy of George VI’s proclamation declaring her birthplace in Canada as extraterritorial and copies of the birth announcement as handwritten by the Counsel General. 🌷
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If every Canadian woman to serve as an MP gathered in the current House of Commons, you would fill it once and need 38 extra chairs (376).
If every Canadian male MP ever gathered there, you could fill the House 12 times over and would still need extra chairs (4197)
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