- View the Live Stream of the Oval on Oversight discussion
Friday January 8, 2016 – 10:00 a.m. - View the Live Stream of the Public Lecture on Parliamentary Oversight and Scrutiny
Tuesday January 5, 2016 – 5:00 p.m.
Overview
A key component of the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago’s 2013-2018 Comprehensive Strategic Plan is the modernizing of the scrutiny and oversight systems of the Parliament. Several outputs were achieved including the creation of nine (9) new sector-specific Oversight Committees to examine and report on issues of public concern and to engage with stakeholders. In addition, the Parliament is seeking to strengthen the PAC, the PAEC and the new PAAC with the creation of a Parliamentary Budget Office. The modernizing process has reached a critical juncture and several initiatives are being planned, commencing in January 2016, geared towards promoting public awareness on the importance of parliamentary scrutiny and oversight, deepening knowledge on the roles, functions and benefits of the Oversight/Scrutiny Committees within our Parliament and the training of Members.
Activities
To this end, The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago will be hosting a live Public Lecture by Professor Fredrick Stapenhurst on Tuesday 5th January, 2016. Professor Stapenhurst is a Professor of Practice at the Institute for the Study of International Development at McGill University in Canada. Further details will be forthcoming on the week of activities from Monday January 4th to Friday January 8th, including two days of workshops for Members of Parliamentary Committees, as well as a media workshop and a round-table discussion with influential persons on the issue of Parliamentary Oversight. These and other activities are being done under the rubric "Parliamentary Oversight – A model for small States"
The Oval on Oversight
The Oval on Oversight is a panel discussion with 16 influential persons looking in depth at the issue of Parliamentary Oversight.
Our panellists are:
- Former Independent Senators Anthony Vieira, Dr. Eastlyn McKenzie and Martin Daly, SC
- Trevor Sudama, Former Member of Parliament
- Dr. Selwyn Ryan, Social Scientist
- Dr. Sheila Rampersad, Columnist
- Dr. Winford James, Political Analyst
- Kern Tyson, Radio Personality
- Rhoda Bharath, Social Commentator
- Sunity Maharaj, Columnist
- Dr. Justin Robinson, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, UWI Cave Hill Campus, Barbados
- Professor Frederick Stapenhurst, Expert on Parliamentary Oversight
- Senator the Honourable Christine Kangaloo, President of the Senate
- The Honourable Bridgid Annisette-George, Speaker of the House
- and the Clerk of the House, Jacqui Sampson-Meiguel
The discussion will be moderated by Dr. Jeannine Comma of the Cave Hill School of Business
Report on the Committee System
The following link is to a report by Professor Stapenhurst outlining his findings on the committee system within the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago. In addition to the Parliament’s website and social media platforms, copies of the report will also be made available at the nation’s libraries.
- View the Report
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