Tragedy in the Commons: Former Members of Parliament Speak Out about Canada's Failing Democracy

August 3, 2024
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Book cover with the title "Tragedy in the Commons: Former Members of Parliament Speak Out about Canada's Failing Democracy" and background photography of the Parliament of Canada and it's elongated reflection below it like an iceberg.
Book cover with the title "Tragedy in the Commons: Former Members of Parliament Speak Out about Canada's Failing Democracy" and background photography of the Parliament of Canada and it's elongated reflection below it like an iceberg.

In Tragedy in the Commons, Alison Loat and Michael MacMillan, Samara's founders, draw on an astonishing eighty exit interviews with former Members of Parliament from across the political spectrum to unearth surprising observations about the practice of politics in Canada.

Loat and MacMillan ask: Just what do we want Members of Parliament to be doing? To whom are they accountable? And should parties be trusted with the enormous power they wield with such little oversight or citizen involvement?

With unprecedented access to the perspective and experience of Canada's public leaders, Tragedy in the Commons concludes by offering solutions for improving the way politics works in Canada, and how all Canadians can reinvigorate a democracy that has lost its way, its purpose and the support of the public it is meant to serve.

Click here to purchase a copy.

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MP Exit Interview

Join us as we speak with former Members of Parliament, to hear, in their own words, what this job is really like.

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Tragedy in the Commons: Former Members of Parliament Speak Out about Canada's Failing Democracy

April 15, 2014
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In Tragedy in the Commons, Alison Loat and Michael MacMillan, Samara's founders, draw on an astonishing eighty exit interviews with former Members of Parliament from across the political spectrum to unearth surprising observations about the practice of politics in Canada.

Loat and MacMillan ask: Just what do we want Members of Parliament to be doing? To whom are they accountable? And should parties be trusted with the enormous power they wield with such little oversight or citizen involvement?

With unprecedented access to the perspective and experience of Canada's public leaders, Tragedy in the Commons concludes by offering solutions for improving the way politics works in Canada, and how all Canadians can reinvigorate a democracy that has lost its way, its purpose and the support of the public it is meant to serve.

Click here to purchase a copy.

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