Representing the people

Abraham Lincoln ended his famous Gettysburg Address with the line "that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." Many cite this as the epitome of what modern democracy is all about. A government made up of the people, chosen by the people and working for the people. It is the ultimate of political representation, expression and responsibility.

Unfortunately too often our modern governments, while claiming democratic hearts, shy away from such principles. One might look to the current situation in the European Union.

Greece will hold a controversial referendum on a European bailout plan in early December that European leaders said Wednesday will determine whether or not it stays in the eurozone. 

Greece won't get any new international loans until then, European leaders said after heaping pressure on Greece's prime minister at emergency talks Wednesday. "The referendum ... in essence is about nothing else but the question, does Greece want to stay in the eurozone, yes or no?" said German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a press conference. 

The statement, echoed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy at her side, was the clearest acknowledgement to date that pulling out of the eurozone is a possible outcome.

How dare Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou give the people of Greece the right to say whether or not they support a plan that would provide the Greek government with money at the cost of extensive and long lasting austerity measures that the people of Greece will need to bear?

What the leaders of France and Germany are saying is that if we give you money then we call the shots not the people of Greece. All this in the birth place of democracy. How ironic, but I guess it should come as no surprise that it is France and Germany leading the un-democratic charge as both countries have a history of autocratic regimes seeking to impose their will on other countries.

In Canada "a private member's bill that seeks to ban Members of Parliament from crossing the floor is being debated Wednesday." This is, in my opinion, a good thing and helps to support democracy as Lincoln famously espoused it.

Controversial floor-crossings have taken place on Parliament Hill in past. Notably, Belinda Stronach made waves in 2005 when she ditched the Conservatives for the Liberals and received a cabinet post in Paul Martin's government. 

A year later, David Emerson outraged many after he made his defection from the Liberal party known when he appeared at the ceremony for Prime Minister Stephen Harper's new Conservative government.

In Canada's 'first past the post' parliamentary system of governance featuring five major national parties, one candidate getting the majority of the vote is uncommon if not unheard of. In addition, Canadian's don't get the opportunity to vote directly for who will lead the nation. That is determined by the individual parties in selecting a party leader. If their party wins the majority of seats, that party's leader is the new Prime Minister. So it is not uncommon for people to vote for a particular party in order to influence who will be the Prime Minister of Canada.

Canadian democracy has enough problems without having people running for election under one party and then changing parties while elected. There are rarely any free votes in the House of Commons and so the people's elected representatives are encouraged through the auspices of the party whip to vote along party lines even if it might conflict with the will of their constituents. One is forced to place the will of the people at odds with their own political ambitions. So in effect its simply four people, the heads of the parties holding seats in the House of Commons, that can and often do dictate the policies and actions of the Canadian government.

Very undemocratic.

However, I do think that there should be a way for a person who is at odds with their party to leave and if so desired switch parties.

If a person elected (for the sake of this scenario) as a Liberal wants to leave the Liberal party while serving a current term in office, they should have two options.

The first option is to declare their intention to leave the Liberal Party and sit as an independent. This would trigger a referendum in their riding with a simple question to determine whether or not the people of their riding support the switch. If the vote is in favor, the move is made and the person sits out the rest of their term as an independent. If the vote is against, then it would trigger a by election.

The second option is to declare their intention to leave the Liberal party and to switch to a different party (for the sake of this scenario), the Green Party. This would automatically trigger a by-election with the incumbent running for election under their new Green Party banner. This would ensure that the people's will is protected and enforced, at least when it comes to the party affiliation of the riding.

Democracy is dying and we must struggle to keep it alive as best we can.


Aside:

His announcement also sparked a rebellion among his governing Socialist lawmakers. A crucial test of party loyalty will come during a vote of confidence on Friday in parliament, where the Socialists have a two-seat majority.

Shocking that the socialists in the government would be against the referendum. They have worked so hard to invest power in themselves and their socialist brethren in the EU, to have it so flippantly given away is absurd. Don't worry they are looking after the people's interests, they simply know better than the people themselves what is best for them.

Update: Wow, those on the left simply hate democracy it would seem.

Two Thunder Bay-area New Democratic Party MPs have been punished for voting in favour of the abolition of the long-gun registry. 

Thunder Bay-Superior North MP Bruce Hyer and Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP John Rafferty will not be allowed to make statements or ask questions in the Commons chamber. They were also removed from their critics' roles. 

The term of their discipline is unknown but Rafferty said it will last until the gun registry issue has been dealt with in Parliament. 

The two went against the NDP's official position and voted with the government this week during the second reading of the bill to abolish the controversial long-gun registry.