I am a socialist liberal.
I believe in social justice and the rights of the LGBTQ community.
I believe in social welfare because everyone has the risk of needing it at one point, ergo it needs to be available.
It political terms, I call myself a leftist.
However, I will be the first to call out my hypocritical ways.
I see it with everyone in the political discussion no matter where they are on the political spectrum.
We are not always quick to hold those who share our views accountable and this is a problem that is holding back our ability to make decisions.
We are quick to call out the follies of those who do not think like us but what about those we have voted in?
Just because we vote a certain way does not mean we cannot disagree with what they do. It does not make us any less of a supporter.
I would be the first one to rip up the political pamphlets of opponent MPs in our district but really, what did I gain from doing it besides morbid satisfaction.
On a grander scale, Parliament does this as well.
When members of Parliament are forced to vote a certain way when voting for legislation, that takes away the voice of their constituents and replaces it with the voice of the party.
The way the system works, each member of Parliament has one vote.
In 2013, the Globe and Mail mapped how many times the MPs voted with or against their party when their own party brought forth new legislation.
According to the data, Conservatives were more likely to vote against a party legislation than Liberal or NDP.
It is not like these MPs are rebelling against their party and there is no party unity whatsoever. The person that voted against their own party the most was NDP MP Bruce Hyer and he only voted against NDP legislation 3 out of a possible 135 times between June 2, 2011 and Jan. 28, 2013.
Now take this anyway you like.
Voting with the party can mean greater party unity but again, can mean that they are not exercising their democratic freedom.
Every time someone votes with their party does not mean that the party “whipped their caucus” or coerced their MPs in any way.
To me, it does question the freedom of political thought within the House.
Not every point of a party platform is going to be something that every member of the party agrees with.
No one should feel like they cannot disagree.
Like I have said before, we can all have mature conversations to discuss our difference of opinions.
More mature conversations are needed to actually get some work done.
