We live in a country of partisan politics where drama within and between political parties garners almost as much news coverage as the politics and legislation themselves. In elections, Canadians typically vote not merely for an individual as a member of parliament, but for the political party that person represents. The differences between Conservative, Liberal, NDP, Bloc, and Green are firmly entrenched in the minds of the Canadian voter.
Why is it, then, that in this political climate where parties are everything, MPs can move from one to another with little consultation with their constituency, few penalties, and no by-election?
Recently, Mississauga MP Wajid Kahn fundamentally changed the dynamic of our current parliament by crossing the floor to sit on the benches of the Conservative Party, leaving behind the Liberals who had brought him to power. While it’s respectable that Khan is principled enough to stick to his guns against Stéphane Dion’s ultimatum regarding Khan’s position as special advisor to the prime minister on the Middle East, he betrayed everyone who voted for him by switching to the party they voted against.
By crossing the floor, Khan broke his most fundamental election promise-his promise that he was a Liberal. Party ties were particularly crucial during the last election, when cries of “anyone but Harper” and “anyone but Martin” were heard across the country. Khan’s constituents were certainly voting with partisan mindsets.
Yet we in Canada have a long and colourful history of this sort of behavior. Let us not forget David Emerson, the Vancouver MP who switched from the Liberals to the Conservatives less than a month after winning last year’s election. He did all this for a cabinet seat-something he wouldn’t be able to have as an opposition MP. Emerson’s riding is a traditionally left-leaning one, according to Elections Canada, where the heated battle is typically one between the Liberals and the NDP, with significantly fewer votes going to the Conservatives. Now the riding is represented by a party that less than a fifth of its constituents voted for. Emerson essentially campaigned on a lie-the lie that he represented the values of the Liberal Party.
Belinda Stronach was lured to the Liberal party in 2005 with the promise of a cabinet position, just as Emerson would be one year later. Stronach did, however, prove that she could win her riding as a Liberal-but not until several months later.
In each of these cases, the wrongdoing is not just that of the MP who crossed the floor. Party leaders also are to blame for allowing these MPs to turn their backs on the people who sent them to parliament in the first place.
Mr. Khan, Ms. Stronach, and Mr. Emerson all were voted into office on the coattails of their original political parties. They received funding from these parties and donations from constituents who supported their original parties. They campaigned on the ideals of these parties, and were publicly against the ideas of their opponents in other parties. With Emerson in particular, being elected as a member of one party and then switching to another is like thievery and deception, particularly since floor-crossers remain in uncontested power.
This behavior is an abuse of the voting rights of Canadians. Constituents are upset and, especially in the wake of Khan’s defection, the government seems to be taking notice.
Conservatives have recently ordered public consultations on the state of our democracy, to be held starting in March. Hopefully this open-ended project will come to one obvious conclusion: a by-election is the only legitimate way for those who cross the floor to stay in their new parliamentary seat.
For now, both Khan and Emerson will sit comfortably as members of the government. However, you’ve got to wonder how often a floor-crosser would win a by-election immediately after leaving the party that their riding supported. Betrayal doesn’t often breed votes.
