- cross-posted to:
- canada@lemmy.ca
- cross-posted to:
- canada@lemmy.ca
Ontario MP Michael Ma announced Thursday that he is leaving the Conservative caucus and joining the Liberals.
The MP said in a statement that he made the decision after listening to his constituents in the riding of Markham-Unionville in the Greater Toronto Area.
“This is a time for unity and decisive action for Canada’s future,” he wrote.
“In that spirit, I have concluded that Prime Minister Mark Carney is offering the steady, practical approach we need to deliver on the priorities I hear every day while door-knocking in Markham-Unionville.”
Really disrespecting the voters. It’s a liberal-conservative coalition alright.
We shouldn’t dismiss or ignore the fact that floor crossing is an essential element of a healthy parliamentary democracy, as much as it’s maligned as often as it is praised. It’s based on the principle that MPs represent constituents, not just parties, that they have a free mandate vs imperative mandate (eg conscience votes, dissent, etc.) and that responsible government is based on confidence not party purity.
We may not live up to the ideals of the system, but we should at least try.
I’m not sure I agree with your claim that ‘floor crossing is an essential element of a healthy parliamentary democracy…’
Leaving a party that no longer represents the constituents should be alliwed, but I’d be happy if MPs were required to sit as independents for the rest of the term.
Implementing and enforcing a rule like that would punish the constituents of the riding. If the principle is that an MP should first and foremost do what’s best for his or her riding, then joining a party is far superior to sitting as an independent. It gives them a seat in caucus where decisions are made, input into policy positions, a chance to chair committees and potential cabinet or secretary roles. A party MP can walk into ministers offices and lobby internally for local projects. Independents don’t get these benefits. This ignores all the other benefits like campaign funding, etc. For a riding as influential as Markham/Unionville this is a substantial gain for the Liberals and they will no doubt be willing to support and listen to the constituents, and treat them quite favourably.
The Canadian body politic should have learned and should recognize that we vote for MPs, not specifically for parties. The parties are political associations, not constitutional actors. If you want the best results for your riding, you probably don’t want an independent. Sitting with a party maximizes impact, sitting as an independent maximizes moral autonomy.
Your points are well taken, but it also incentivizes abandoning a losing party after an election - even if that party still represents the interests of the constituency.
The broader solution is to deeply gut the party system, starting with true proportional representation. Banning whipped votes would be ideal, but not possible to implement.
The cons are so weak they kept pp in power. You want that with any measure of power? They are pathetic.