What are we doing here? - Macleans.ca

What are we doing here?


Samara has released its second report based on exit interviews with former members of parliament.

The MPs acknowledged arriving in Ottawa feeling largely unprepared for what lay ahead. They recall their initial orientation to Parliament as hurried, slap—dash or altogether absent. They had little initial sense of where to focus and their assignments seemed to be allocated at random … Perhaps more worryingly, the MPs that we interviewed held often—conflicting ideas regarding the role and purpose of a Member of Parliament. Their interviews revealed that they didn’t agree on what they were elected to accomplish or what the essential purpose of their role was intended to be.