On Monday Sept. 17, Leona Alleslev the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aurora-Oak Ridges- Richmond Hill in Ontario crossed the floor, leaving the Liberal party and joining the Conservative party. She cited many concerns including “large amounts of capital investment leaving Canada while tax structures, federal infrastructure problems and politics prevent us from getting goods to market, deter companies from expanding and undermine our competitiveness.” “Beyond our borders, our position remains vastly diminished. Our foreign policy is disconnected from our trade relationships and our ability to deliver on our defence commitments is undermined by politics.” Yikes. Those comments from a former Royal Canadian Air Force captain certainly got my attention. For me, the remarks had more of a whistleblowing tone and substance than just a purely political move. It’s the reason that is stated for leaving the Liberal caucus and joining the Conservatives that makes me wonder if our political system is in need of a major revamp. She explained that, “The government must be challenged openly and publicly, but for me to publicly criticize the government as a Liberal would undermine the government and, according to my code of conduct, would be dishonourable.” And that’s the problem with political parties. Canadians have elected 338 Members of Parliament. All of these people have qualities, experience and views that gave voters confidence in electing them to make decisions that can impact our lives. Apparently the abilities that each MP brings to the table do not matter. The only views that matter are the thoughts of the leader of the political party they are a part of. Why do we pay for 338 MPs to represent us when only the leaders are allowed to think? Personally, I believe that we would get better decisions from the House of Commons if the MPs we elected were allowed to make decisions based on what they believe to be in the best interests of their constituents. Being tied to whatever the key message of the day is from their political party leadership makes the MP role irrelevant.
