The Inhumanity of MMP

[Mike Kallies]

On 10/9/07, Evan Leibovitch <evan-ieNeDk6JonTYtjvyW6yDsg at public.gmane.org> wrote:
>
> OK, so the subject line was a bit extreme. But there's been something
> bothering me about this whole debate that I haven' t been able to put my
> finger on, and even here I'm not sure if I'm expressing it well. So I'll
> do my best and hope it makes some sense.
>
> Currently, MPPs are not robots. Sometimes they vote against party
> discipline. Sometimes they change parties in mid-session. Sometimes they
> force free votes on issues that transcend party politics. Sometimes they
> face local backlash when a province-wide initiative severely threatens
> their riding. Sometimes they advance local needs in caucus to provide
> context to province-wide programs. Sometimes they resign, or die while
> in office, and by-elections need to be called. Sometimes they may even
> be persuaded by debate on the floor of the legislature. And sometimes
> they may leave their party and sit as an independent.
>
> In other words, there's a human element to the system. Legislators have
> to balance personal, party and constituency accountability -- this is,
> to me, a Good Thing. Yet, under MMP,  all of that goes out the window
> for the 30% of the legislature to be selected by parties rather than
> directly from the public.
>
> The list members won' t need to justify themselves to the public, only
> to the party backrooms, where loyalty is the only talent that matters.
> Almost one-third of the MPPs -- some of whom could even find themselves
> in Cabinet -- will have their voting record dictated to them by party
> brass and generally stripped of individual thought, for they have no
> other accountability. I imagine that if one of the 39 dies or resigns,
> their party just appoints a replacement and the legislature doesn't skip
> a beat.
>
> To take this to its logical conclusion, why even appoint people to the
> 39 positions? Each party whip could simply deliver, by proxy, the party
> designated answer to each vote, proportioned according to the election.
>
> (Of course, one can argue that even the party-list MPPs are free to vote
> on their conscience and occasionally buck the party line. But if that's
> the case, it' s the party -- not the people -- who gets to decide their
> consequences. At that point, though, what's point of the promise of MMP
> if the party reps can vote against the party?)
>
> Is this what people really want? Is this worth making majority
> governments an aberration and reducing the influence of independents? I
> don' t want MPPs who are reduced to yes/no switches, with no public
> accountability and no need to bind with local constituents. These MPPs
> don' t need to campaign; the party can simply parade out smooth talkers
> -- who aren't even on the list -- to explain and attack, while
> appointing parliamentarians who can't relate to people.
>
> I understand the calls for fairness, I get the point proponents are
> making, and I do see some benefit of cold logic in the proposal.
> However, IMO what we lose from MMP is far more than what we gain. There
> are many other reasons to oppose MMP, but this is certainly a big one to me.

There's one thing which keeps this in check.  Just barely.

It is in the party's best interest to appear to follow a democratic
process, else nobody will vote for them with that second vote.

If this passes, I might just become a card carrying Liberal.... PC,
NDP, and Green.  That way I can have some say as to who is appointed
and as to whether or not the parties degrade into the state you
describe.

Personally I would rather see the candidates for the MMP placements
selected from the unsuccessful canidates with the highest number of
votes of all the party's ridings.  That way, the MMP candidate is not
selected by the party, but is selected by the people, but they're
answerable to the members of their constituency...

-Mike
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