Conservatives On Brink Of Majority, Polls Say

[ham_ahoy]

if the conservatives win i'm moving to sweden

[ecnarf]

So, if the Tories come two or three seats short of a majority, who thinks a few Liberals will cross the floor?

The interesting and key question is: Would the Tories allow Liberals to cross the floor considering their recent condemnation of the Stronach incident and their plans to reform the process to make doing that illegal.

 

I would say no. They have to continue pretending to have ideals for at least a term or they'll go the way of the PC's fast.

The Tories want to make crossing the floor illegal?

 

Woah.

 

I suppose they'll also want to make becoming an independent illegal as well, because there's no reason why any MP couldn't become an independent and just support the conservatives all the way or something.

 

EDIT: Derek, the allegation that the conservatives made that the liberals had stacked the supreme court was made before 2004, which explains why I had read that there were more Conservative appointees on the court.

Edited January 21, 2006 by ecnarf

[no yu begin wher i end]

So, if the Tories come two or three seats short of a majority, who thinks a few Liberals will cross the floor?

The interesting and key question is: Would the Tories allow Liberals to cross the floor considering their recent condemnation of the Stronach incident and their plans to reform the process to make doing that illegal.

 

I would say no. They have to continue pretending to have ideals for at least a term or they'll go the way of the PC's fast.

The Tories want to make crossing the floor illegal?

 

Woah.

 

I suppose they'll also want to make becoming an independent illegal as well, because there's no reason why any MP couldn't become an independent and just support the conservatives all the way or something.

 

EDIT: Derek, the allegation that the conservatives made that the liberals had stacked the supreme court was made before 2004, which explains why I had read that there were more Conservative appointees on the court.

Fair enough.

 

I read on the NDP website that they want a by-election whenever an MP crosses the floor, so that their constituents can approve or disapprove of the switch.

[ecnarf]

I think that might be a bit of a waste of time. I don't know, really.

 

For all technicalities, we vote for the individual who will represent our regional interests, not for the party or for the leader. There's no reason why an individual MP shouldn't have the right to switch parties or become an independent as they see fit at any point during the parliamentary. Imagine a PC MP becomes disillusioned with the new conservative party and wants to switch to the liberal party who he feels is more in line with his personal views. Or a liberal MP because disillusioned with the liberal party, etc etc. On the other hand, that also runs a risk of opportunism. I hate to be a conspiracy theorist, but what if some of the people running as liberals in Toronto/conservatives in Alberta have been planted there to cross the floor at convenient times? Yikes.

 

The way I see it, if someone doesn't want to be a member of a party anymore, they should become an independent, vote as they please, and not put their names under another party's banner until the next election is called.

[no yu begin wher i end]

I think that might be a bit of a waste of time. I don't know, really.

 

For all technicalities, we vote for the individual who will represent our regional interests, not for the party or for the leader. There's no reason why an individual MP shouldn't have the right to switch parties or become an independent as they see fit at any point during the parliamentary.

I agree, although to be fair to the NDP, a lot of people d0 vote with the party or leader in mind and not the local candidate. Thus it's reasonable to have a by-election called. If the constituents still want that MP to represent them, they will elect him or her again.

 

As for being a waste of time, I don't think it would be all that much of a hassle. It doesn't happen all that often so as to be an inconvenience.

[Moonlight_Graham]

i'm voting Bloc. They probably won't be jumping parties.

[ecnarf]

But it would definitely hold up the government. If we had to go through a by-election with Belinda Stronach, that whole "topple the government" thing would have been delayed by a considerable amount of time while all the candidates got their shit together and had debates and polling stations/volunteers organized and such.

[Matt]

Our current system works, so many bills would be delayed for so much longer otherwise, there's no need for a change.

 

Elections are costly things, so why waste money on by-elections like that...

[Cherry Poppin' Daddy]

Matt: What if the Conservatives get a majority? As a Liberal, will you still offer the same praise to a system that let's politicians "get things done."

 

Governments should be constrained as much as possible. Any action it makes should be extremely slow and deliberate.

[strummer]

i'm glad its almost over.

[Dan #2]

fuck you, liberals. way to lose it, you shitheads.

 

The US is going to have to add another star onto it's flag now.

[ecnarf]

As much as I know that both Stephen Harper and the (strangely quiet) socially conservative side of the party just can't wait to have a sleepover at the White House, I think the rest of Parliament will be capable of keeping them at bay.

[josiegross]

oh i hope so!

[Russell]

I think that might be a bit of a waste of time. I don't know, really.

 

For all technicalities, we vote for the individual who will represent our regional interests, not for the party or for the leader. There's no reason why an individual MP shouldn't have the right to switch parties or become an independent as they see fit at any point during the parliamentary. Imagine a PC MP becomes disillusioned with the new conservative party and wants to switch to the liberal party who he feels is more in line with his personal views. Or a liberal MP because disillusioned with the liberal party, etc etc. On the other hand, that also runs a risk of opportunism. I hate to be a conspiracy theorist, but what if some of the people running as liberals in Toronto/conservatives in Alberta have been planted there to cross the floor at convenient times? Yikes.

 

The way I see it, if someone doesn't want to be a member of a party anymore, they should become an independent, vote as they please, and not put their names under another party's banner until the next election is called.

I agree that the system should vote for the candidate and not for the party. However, so long as we continue to place such importance on the party we should have rules preventing floor-crossing like Stronach pulled.

 

 

Matt: If the system didn't allow floor-crossings, we simply wouldn't have such bi-elections as nobody would try to do it.

[ecnarf]

But stopping floor-crossings altogether mid-session just doesn't sound right. Now, if an MP were to become an independent and wait until the next election for their cabinet post, I'd definitely agree to that, as it is inherently more democratic. Imagine if your liberal MP decided to cross the floor and immediately received an important cabinet post to save the Harper government. You'd be pretty freaking pissed. Now, if they didn't receive the cabinet post but voted that way as an independent, you'd still be pissed, but the lack of a cabinet position makes you feel better.

[Russell]

But stopping floor-crossings altogether mid-session just doesn't sound right. Now, if an MP were to become an independent and wait until the next election for their cabinet post, I'd definitely agree to that, as it is inherently more democratic. Imagine if your liberal MP decided to cross the floor and immediately received an important cabinet post to save the Harper government. You'd be pretty freaking pissed. Now, if they didn't receive the cabinet post but voted that way as an independent, you'd still be pissed, but the lack of a cabinet position makes you feel better.

No, I do agree that leaving a party is alright, so long as they don't join another.