45 173.  In  Canada,  Roderick  A.  Macdonald,  President  of  the  Law  Commission  of Canada,  has  attributed  the  decline  in  law  commissions  to  “shifting  cultural tendencies  creating  scepticism  as  to  the  value  of  law  reform”.⁴⁸    Roderick Macdonald hypothesises as follows (at 833): My  immediate  ambition  in  this  article  is  to  cast  a  critical  light  on  the  notion  of expert Law Reform Commissions, primarily with a view to defending them against their  two  most  evident  enemies:  cost  cutters  and  ideologues.    Much  of  the recent criticism of expert Law Reform Commissions has, ostensibly, been budget- driven.  At a time of shrinking government resources, they are characterised as a luxury that can no longer be afforded.  But the real critique has been overtly ideological. Some erstwhile academic supporters have suddenly discovered expert Law    Reform    Commissions    to    be    elitist    and    undemocratic    institutions. Commissions are stigmatised as not responsive, either in their make up or in the projects they undertake, to the diversity of gender, race and class in Canada.  For other critics, expert Law Reform Commissions are no more than havens for self- indulgent,  naïve,  spend-thrift,  left-wing  social  engineers  whose  ideas  have  been discredited  as  impractical  everywhere  else.    Obviously,  I  reject  these  several critiques, although I too confess to a certain unease about the expert Law Reform Commission  project,  especially  as  it  is  promoted  in  most  professional  and  some academic circles today. [Emphasis added] 174.  The  abolition  of  law  commissions  has  often  left  a  significant  vacuum  in  the knowledge  and  legal  resources  available  to  the  Government  and  public  in relation to law reform.  As a consequence, in many of the Countries, States or Provinces where the law commission has been abolished, some other form of law reform machinery has been established to fill the vacuum. 175.  The  re-established  and  new  law  reform  agencies  are  outlined  in  the  section below. Law Reform Bodies that have been Re-established in the 1990s Canada 176.  The Law Commission of Canada (“Canadian Commission”) is the most recent example looked at of the creation of an independent law reform agency (in this case  a  ‘departmental  corporation’)  set  up to  “provide  a  critical  perspective  on Canadian law”.   177.  The  Canadian  Commission  was  re-established  on  1  July  1997  under  the  Law Commission of Canada Act 1997.                                                    48   “Recommissioning Law Reform” (1997) 35 Alberta Law Review 831.