May 19, 2005

The way it should be

uncharted (email) at 10:17 AM

According to the Kitchener-Waterloo Record, Carolyn Parrish based her decision to support the Government in today's vote on (*gasp*) what her constituents told her.

No longer bound by party ties, Ms. Parrish took it upon herself to poll 9,000 of her constituents to find out exactly what they wanted, in stark contrast to the 300 or so other House of Commons MPs who will be blindly voting along party lines today. Chuck Cadman, the second of three independent MPs, also polled 600 of his constituents to find out that they, too, didn't want an election.

Elected officials doing what their constituents tell then to? How refreshing.

Quotes from The Record article:
(Full text is available by signing up on The Record Site...or by emailing me)

-- Cadman said his riding constituents indicated in a poll that they don't want an election -- and said he must listen to them. "(It) is a major factor because I have to represent the views of my constituents.''

He said the poll of 600 eligible voters in his Surrey North riding, taken May 15 to 16, indicated two-thirds of respondents didn't want an election. He specified that 53 per cent of respondents didn't want an election this spring, 13 per cent didn't want one in the foreseeable future, and only 23 per cent wanted one immediately. The poll is considered accurate to within plus or minus four percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

-- Toronto-area Independent Carolyn Parrish has already said she will vote with the Liberals, her former party. But she was also upset about Stronach's instant promotion.

"It disgusts me. Absolutely. I can't believe how low we as Liberals will go to hang onto this government,'' she said.

Nevertheless, she said she'll vote with the government because a poll of 9,000 constituents in her riding suggested an overwhelming 72 per cent didn't want an election now.

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