It was not quite as earth shattering as people had made it out to be, but Garth Turner just held a press conference in Ottawa where he announced, amongst other things, that he is resigning from the Conservative Party of Canada.
A few weeks ago he was suspended from Caucus, which means he is no longer allowed to sit as a conservative MP, but he was not actually removed from the party. Party membership is open to anyone, including you and me, should they want to align themselves with the values and policies of the party.
So what exactly prompted this move, and what are the other topics that Garth spoke on today?
Well let me step back even a bit more than he did in his statement today and give a quick rundown of how someone gets elected in Canada.
- A local riding association is formed, and is aligned with the party of their choice (in this case the Conservative Party of Canada)
- Members of the riding association (mostly volunteers) nominate candidates for election in their area, eventually one person is chosen to run as “the conservative candidate for Halton”.
- Volunteers work to raise money for the party and for the candidate in preparation for an election.
- When an election is called, the riding association is the local group who works to get their candidate elected.
- Once elected, that person becomes a member of parliament and is responsible to represent all constituents in their riding.
- Lather, rinse, repeat.
What happened in the case of Halton is that after being elected, the unelected party officials in Ottawa chose to remove Garth Turner from the conservative caucus. This was done without input, consultation, or even communication with the local riding association. Not only was he removed from his immediate role in Ottawa, but he had already been chosen by the local riding association to be the next conservative candidate for Halton; that nomination was retroactively quashed by the party brass.
If I can put myself in the position of the riding association for a moment, I would be mighty ticked off. I went through a ton of work to get this guy elected, fought tooth and nail to get him propped up for the next election, and raised alot of money based on the name of the candidate that we’ve been backing. Not only do you pull my guy, but you tell me that you don’t have to share with me your reasons? You just do it on a whim and don’t even talk to me? There’s an election likely coming within the next 12 months and I’ve got to start from scratch while wiping the egg off of my face that got there through no fault of my own because you felt like it!?!! Yes, I’d be a little upset if that were me.
Back on topic now… Garth Turner today registered his disgust with the way things went down. It is up to the people of the riding to choose a candidate, it is up to the people of the riding to get that candidate elected, and it is up to the people of the riding to bust their humps for no money and little appreciation. If the people can have their will overturned by some faceless guy in Ottawa, then what’s the point? Is politics for the people or not? The position of Garth Turner is that under the existing system the answer is clearly “it’s not”.
So where do we go from here? Garth Turner has cited examples of his effectiveness as an independent MP for the last few week, and will refocus on making sure that all independent MPs have a chance to be effective. This includes changing some of the rules of the house, bringing these topics to the top of mind across the country, and doing the best indpependent job he can in the remaining months.
As for me, my thought is that all of these changes would require the votes of people who are happily aligned with parties already and democratic reform coming from the mouth of one person isn’t going to amount to much. HOWEVER I do think that with a whole country to solicit it might be possible to get a new political party started, The Independent Party whose sole mission is to get independent candidates elected, supported, and backed by the things that make a political party powerful in Ottawa. Instead of trying to beat them, join them and show the country how party politics can really be played.
Update: I just read the transcript, and Garth will be launching a new forum which will help to move forward this agenda. It’s called Promises Kept, and will be located at http://www.promiseskept.ca.
There was a party, called the Reform Party, whose platform supported/protected individuals within the party whose ideas on a particular issue may not coincide with party policy. That party is no longer, against my wishes, absorbed and contaminated by the Conservative Party, which was the reason for the formation of the Reform Party in the first place. So 4get about your new party, support Garth as an independent, even if it means no receipt 4 your income tax.