Discussion · Government Orders
Scott Anderson Conservative
“Democracy depends on politicians acting fairly. Most people vote for a party, not a person, so it causes problems when members switch parties. Does the member think having too many candidates on the ballot also hurts democracy?”
“Mr. Speaker, parliamentary democracy is a loose framework and is only as good as the actors in it. If the actors use good ethics, then it works well. For example, when 93% of the electorate votes for the party customarily rather than for the candidate and when a floor crossing happens in a case like that, we can see intent of parliamentary democracy. I wonder if my colleague could expand on whether she considers the long ballot to be similarly detrimental to democracy.”
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Mr. Speaker, parliamentary democracy is a loose framework and is only as good as the actors in it. If the actors use good ethics, then it works well. For example, when 93% of the electorate votes for the party customarily rather than for the candidate and when a floor crossing happens in a case like that, we can see intent of parliamentary democracy. I wonder if my colleague could expand on whether she considers the long ballot to be similarly detrimental to democracy.