Jarvis, Turnbull recruited by PCO to support Democratic Inst

[Oscar]

‘They’re very solid,’ award-winning academics Jarvis, Turnbull recruited by PCO to support Democratic Institutions

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By DEREK ABMA PUBLISHED : Monday, June 13, 2016 12:00 AM

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Mark D. Jarvis and Lori Turnbull were co-writers, along with the late Peter Aucoin, of Democratizing the Constitution.
Lori Turnbull and Mark D. Jarvis, who worked together on the prize-winning book, Democratizing the Constitution, are now both at the PCO helping Democratic Institutions Minister Maryam Monsef.

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Two Donner Prize-winning co-authors are working in the Privy Council Office to support the minister mandated to deal with the politically explosive issue of electoral reform.

Mark D. Jarvis and Lori Turnbull are both working in the Privy Council Office. Mr. Jarvis is “on secondment” with the Privy Council Office as a policy adviser on democratic reform, according to his LinkedIn profile. His duties include supporting Democratic Institutions Minister Maryam Monsef (Peterborough-Kawartha, Ont.) on issues such as electoral reform, according to his profile, which also says he started the job in March.

PCO spokesman Raymond Rivet confirmed Mr. Jarvis’ employment within the organization, as he did with Ms. Turnbull, who(m) he said is a department assistant in the office of Ms. Monsef and acts as a “liaison” between the minister and the department. Democratic Institutions is a department that operates under the umbrella of the PCO.

The book Mr. Jarvis and Ms. Turnbull wrote together is called Democratizing the Constitution: Reforming Responsible Government, published in 2011.

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The mandate letter from Mr. Trudeau to Mr. Jarvis’ and Ms. Turnbull’s boss, Ms. Monsef, assigned her files such as reform of the electoral process and Senate appointments, amendments to the Canada Elections Act to make the elections commissioner more independent, repealing parts of the Fair Elections Act that make it harder to vote, and creating an independent commissioner’s position for organizing party leaders’ debates during election campaigns.

NDP democratic reform critic Nathan Cullen (Skeena-Bulkley Valley, B.C.) said he has no concerns about Mr. Jarvis and Ms. Turnbull working in the PCO and possibly influencing the process for electoral reform, adding that the government might even deserve some credit for appointing such acclaimed scholars.

“I don’t say these folks walk on water and I don’t say they’re a problem,” Mr. Cullen said.

He said he just hopes that anyone working on the issue of electoral reform is taking an honest approach to studying it and not coming in with a preconceived notion of how the voting system should be reformed.

“What I’ve said to the government from the first meeting is, ‘Don’t talk about good faith, don’t talk about being open, show me,’ ” Mr. Cullen said.

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dabma@hilltimes.com The Hill Times

Derek Abma is deputy editor of The Hill Times. can be reached at dabma@hilltimes.com. Follow on Twitter at @derekabma.