A Very Bad Idea

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In response to Ms. Stronach's decision to cross the floor (a decision whose merits or lack thereof have been much debated in this house and elsewhere), the Member for Simcoe-Grey and the Member for Elgin-Middlesex-London have submitted Bill C-408.

This Bill is intended to require floor-crossers to submit to a by-election such that voters have the opportunity to approve or reject the individual's new party affiliation. This is stupid, obviously, since under the parliamentary system voters elect people, not parties (and we should all, Mr. Speaker, be most thankful for *that*).

But it also leads to some interesting implications, not the least of which is the fact that, if this Bill were to pass, party leaders, through their effective power to remove Members from parties, would develop the capacity to force any of "their" MPs to contest by-elections. The ability of MPs to defy party leadership on points of principle and in the service of their constituents would be all but lost. Even for those misguided souls who view the party system as the best and most effective route to democracy, this Bill is bad news: the internal debate and ferment which party advocates claim leads to parties being effective vehicles of change would be badly stifled.

It doesn't stop there, though. As Mustafa pointed out to me, employing his stories ability to detect the absurd in any piece of proposed policy, what happens if parties merge? We would, it seems to me, have seen a rather spectacular series of by-elections during the last Parliament after each Member of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservatives was forced to justify before the voters of his/her riding her/his decision to sit as a member of the new Conservative Party (or, in some cases, as a Liberal or Independent). In fact, such a possibility would inevitably serve to discourage party mergers.

This Bill, Mr. Speaker, proposes to retain and emphasize the many weaknesses of the party system, while abandoning its few strengths.