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Many newly-elected parliamentarians have little or no experience with the day-to-day activities that occur in constituency offices. Setting up such an office and hiring and training staff likely entails on-the-job learning and a lot of trial and error. However, some incoming parliamentarians have previously worked as staff members in these types of offices. In this roundtable, the Canadian Parliamentary Review speaks with two parliamentarians who have gained experience as both a constituency office employee and employer. This unique perspective allowed them to better empathise with staff, provide them with effective training, and offer their parliamentary colleagues support when they had questions about starting up or managing these offices. However, both participants noted that it can be a challenge to delegate responsibilities they previously had as staff members. They conclude with a call for more non-partisan collaboration among parliamentarians to establish best practices or manuals for these offices.
They also suggest political parties should make a point to retain institutional knowledge by speaking to longtime parliamentarians and staff about their experiences to help other parliamentarians and staff from having to reinvent the wheel as there is electoral turnover.
