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Canada deserves to know.
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3 articles
Every recorded division in the House of Commons is published on the official record — Hansard for the debate, and the LEGISinfo + ourcommons.ca portals for the vote tallies. This article teaches readers how to navigate those records: how to find a specific vote, how to identify each MP's position, how to interpret "paired" and "absent" labels, and how to cross-reference a vote against the MP's prior public statements. The skill is the foundation of accountability journalism — and any citizen can do it.
The Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) was created in 2006 to provide non-partisan, independent analysis to Parliament on the federal budget, economic projections, and the financial implications of legislation. The PBO is led by an Officer of Parliament appointed for a seven-year term and reports directly to Parliament rather than the government of the day. This article walks the PBO's mandate, the reports they publish, what the "independent" designation actually means, where they have publicly contradicted government numbers, and why every serious civic conversation about federal spending should start with the PBO's estimates rather than the government's.
Federal legislation in Canada moves through a defined sequence: introduction (first reading), debate (second reading), detailed clause-by-clause review (committee stage), final amendments (report stage), final debate (third reading), the same sequence in the other chamber (the Senate, almost always), Royal Assent, and proclamation. This article walks every stage in plain English: what happens, who participates, what can derail a bill, and where the public can still influence the outcome before it becomes the law of the land.