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United But Not Agreed
As Canada moved toward confederation, it became obvious that a more
comprehensive record of debates was needed. But what form should it
take? Newspaper editors understandably liked the idea of a scrapbook
Hansard, a collection of hand-picked newspaper clippings
containing selected Members' speeches. John A. Macdonald, still a decade away from being Prime Minister, objected
to the scrapbook Hansard. He complained that it told an
incomplete story and that citizens would
have to read the contents of several newspapers in order to
understand both sides of a debate.
In the 1860s legislators managed to agree on one thing: the
Confederation debates were far too important not to be taken down. The
reporting work was done on a contract basis with inconsistent and
expensive results. The high cost and poor quality of the reports
gave fuel to those who were against publishing a complete record of
debates.
Resistance to a Hansard continued, even after Canada
became a country in 1867. In 1874 the Daily Globe ran an
editorial against the publication of a full-length Hansard.
The editor suggested that if Members of Parliament knew they were
being recorded in full, the parliamentary report would become a
platform for Members' egos. He also insisted that a Hansard
could never be produced as quickly as a newspaper's report of
debates. He would eventually be proven wrong.
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