A former Okanagan Member of Parliament has been working to improve democracy and the parliamentary process in other parts of the world.
Jim Hart served as the Member of Parliament for Okanagan-Similkameen-Merritt from 1993 to 1997 and for Okanagan-Coquihalla from 1997 to 2000.
During his time as a federal Member of Parliament, he was part of the Reform Party of Canada, and was one of 52 new members of that party elected in the 1993 federal election. During his time in federal politics, he had roles as the Reform Party’s justice critic, national defence critic and veterans affairs critic.
In 2000, he stepped down and MP Stockwell Day, then the leader of the party, won the Okanagan-Coquihalla riding in a by-election.
After leaving parliament, Hart has been active in international efforts to strengthen democracy.
Since 2004, has worked in numerous countries serving as a parliamentary advisor, managing programs to strengthen the parliamentary process and observing elections.
Hart said his work in the Republic of Georgia, Iraq, Indonesia and elsewhere has been in countries seeking to improve their system of government.
In 2004, shortly after the Rose Revolution in Georgia, Hart was involved as an advisor to Nino Burjanadze, speaker of the house in the Georgian parliament.
At the time, the country wanted to make improvements to their parliament, but did not want something that mirrored the congressional model used in the United States.
“There was a parliament in Georgia, but it was a Soviet-style parliament,” Hart said. “They had lived under that system for a very long time.”
Hart said decisions in the Georgian parliament were historically made behind closed doors, without much transparency. His work involved making the government process more accessible to the public.
After his time in Georgia, Hart did democracy work in Iraq. There, the parliament was not enthusiastic about bringing in measures to improve democracy.
He said the Iraqi parliament would pass legislation, but the legislation would then need to receive approval from the Sharia council, part of the Islamic tradition of religious law, before it could take effect. Some changes were stopped at that level, with no communication back to the parliament.
In addition, conditions in Iraq were violent while he lived there. He and other international workers lived in a secure compound, which Hart described as being like a prison. Bombings occurred several times a week, he said.
Later, he worked in Indonesia, where his work involved making the public informed about what the government was doing, in order to improve transparency.
He has also spent time working in Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Jordan and Ukraine, in numerous roles.
He said efforts to participate in democracies come at a high price in some part of the world.
In one election in Afghanistan, after voting, the voters would have an index finger dipped in purple ink, to show they had voted and to ensure they could not vote again in the same election. However, after that, Taliban militants would seize voters and cut off their finger, as a way of punishing them for having voted. Further threats were also issued.
In the following election, Hart saw numerous voters who had four fingers on one hand instead of five.
“They were literally risking their lives so they could have the opportunity to vote,” he said. “Not only do I know this; I actually saw it.”
Because of his time in parliament in Canada, and because of his time in other parts of the world, Hart has an appreciation for the government system in place in Canada.
“I have a deep respect for the institution of parliament,” he said.
Since returning to Canada, Hart served as a full-time member of the Pacific Regional Division of the Parole Board of Canada from 2013 to 2018 and today he is a full-time member of the Ontario Parole Board.
