Free votes
would undermine democracy, critics say OTTAWA — Free votes might seem more democratic, but they could actually make a government less responsible. "Right now, you know where the buck stops. With free votes, you can't tell what the government's position is," University of Toronto political science professor Nelson Wiseman says. Letting MPs vote their consciences is a key plank in the Canadian Alliance election platform. "We believe it would restore democracy to the House of Commons," says Alliance MP Ted White, the party's critic for democratic issues.
"It would restore real debate to the House," White says. "As it is, everybody knows days in advance what the outcome will be. And you don't get debate, you get speeches. "We proposed 2,000 amendments to the Nisga'a treaty and not one of them passed. Not one. Legislation is never that perfect, but the Liberals wanted to exercise absolute authority." A free vote releases MPs from the bonds of party discipline, so they can vote whatever positions they wish on a bill. Traditionally, a free vote can be declared only by the governing party. "Even in Mr. Trudeau's day, they had free votes," says White, who is running for re-election in North Vancouver. "There were fewer under the Mulroney government. And under Mr. Chrétien, I don't recall any." Under unwritten parliamentary convention in Canada, if the governing party loses a vote on one of its bills, it is considered to have "lost the confidence" of the House of Commons. The prime minister must resign and ask the Governor General to call an election. "Mr. Trudeau used to lose free votes all the time, and he never considered them a matter of confidence," White argues. Because members of the ruling party don't have to vote with their party during free votes, the chance of the government being defeated increases. "If they win, the Alliance can introduce free votes, there's no doubt about it," Wiseman says. He says Stockwell Day, were he prime minister, could simply declare the confidence rule inapplicable. "A stricter interpretation applies only to money bills, such as the budget," Wiseman says.
The Alliance's free-vote promise does not extend to budgets or to confidence votes — votes taken not on legislation, but specifically to determine whether the government has the support of a majority of MPs. Joe Clark's 1979 government fell when it lost a vote on its own budget, after miscounting the number of Tory MPs in the House. "It raises the question of taking responsibility for the business of governing," Wiseman says. "Do they believe in their policies? If the party says it believes in something and is elected, it should feel an obligation to fulfil its promises." Under Chrétien, there have been free votes on private members' bills and legislation proposed by the Opposition, but not on Liberal bills, Wiseman adds. Bob Rae's NDP government proposed gay-rights legislation in Ontario, based on one of its 1990 election promises. Rae called for a free vote, and despite the NDP's large majority, the bill was defeated. Critics said it was a way of technically fulfilling his promise without really standing behind it. "A government with a mandate from the people shouldn't shy away from exercising that mandate," Wiseman says. Free votes used for different reasons Ted White cites the British example. "In the U.K., every vote is given a priority by the government, an assessment of how important it is ... depending on the degree of discipline the party expects," White explains. Governing parties are never in favour of free votes, he argues.
"When one party gets 38 per cent of the popular vote in an election but can exercise 100 per cent of the power of Parliament, of course free votes don't appeal." Day was once house leader in Ralph Klein's Alberta government. He was responsible for shepherding government bills through the provincial legislature. Among other things, he decided when and how to hold votes. During Klein's tenure, Alberta has had no free votes. Not even on last spring's controversial private-health-care bill. "I remember there were a number of free votes in Ontario in the last days of the Rae government," Wiseman says. "I recall appearing on a television show with a Conservative MPP, someone who is now a senior cabinet minister in the Mike Harris government. And he said, 'The genie's out of the bottle. Free votes are here to stay.' "Well, I haven't noticed that Mike Harris calls a lot of free votes now. Other people in Stockwell Day's position, people who support him now, have pushed free votes and then not lived up to them." Liberal House Leader Don Boudria could not be reached for comment, and officials at the Liberal campaign headquarters on Ottawa did not return phone calls. For more information, please visit: The Canadian Alliance
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