I was going to make this a comment in response to Mike's comment on the previous post. But I think it's worth a whole post.
Mike wrote:
...Maybe the solution is introducing the ability for the public to petition for a non confidence by-election if they feel their MLA, or MP for that matter doesn't represent them correctly. This has been a long standing, and successful practice in the Swiss parliament.I have no desire to blog about the three-ring circus that is the California recall election, called because petitions were filled with the signatures of a whole bunch of people who didn't like the original result in the first place. Suffice it to say that's not an aid to democracy. But I'll add that there are lots of opportunities to avail oneself of one's democratic rights in Canada, and people are neither as involved nor as considered as I'd like with the opportunities they have.
Want a recall process that might be reasonable? Make the signatories sign that they were voters in favour the candidate they now wish to recall. Or at least check them against the voting list to make sure they voted at all - reinforce the bumper-sticker logic: no vote means no right to complain. Make the signatories foot the bill for the reenumeration and by-election, and see how committed they are to the recall.
Ultimately, years of voting the party lines, doing little, and being a barely adequate legislator will never get you recalled. But vote your conscience on some hot-button issue, and watch the clipboards fly. No thanks.
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