Marilyn Gladu – Member of Parliament for Sarnia—Lambton—Bkejwanong – has crossed the floor from the Conservatives to the Liberals:
Gladu’s move means the Liberals will have a majority following the April 13 byelections if they win the two deep-red Liberal ridings recently vacated by Chrystia Freeland and Bill Blair, lowering the stakes in closely-contested Terrebonne.
We need politicians with their own minds, not drones
Every party loves floor crossings when the floor crossing is in their direction, and hates floor crossings when it’s going the other way, so there is little point in considering the inevitable lamentations of the Conservatives, just as the celebration of the Liberals is of little intellectual value here.
However, what must be stated is that whether you agree with individual floor crossing decisions or not, the ability of MPs to cross the floor must be protected. Our political system is built so that we elect individuals, not a party, and this is profoundly important because it ensures that those we elect have their own minds. The individual mind is the only real kind of mind there is. There is no ‘group mind’ or ‘collective mind.’ When we hear talk of the ‘group mind’ in a political context, what we are really talking about is the mind of a leader with unchecked power who can impose their will on a large swath of people who have been transformed into drones, and then hide that fact by claiming the ‘group’ is deciding.
Were Canada to ban floor crossing, we would be suppressing the individual minds of those we elect, and further concentrating power in party leaders. As things stand now, floor crossing protects independence and keeps pressure on leaders to treat their colleagues well lest they watch those colleagues head elsewhere. Floor crossing – and the threat of it – protects us from a system where those we elect turn into mindless drones serving nothing more than the centralized will of ‘the leader.’
So, whether you agree with Gladu’s decision or not, it is essential to protect the right of MPs to cross the floor. The individual mind is the most precious resource we have.
Spencer Fernando
Image – Twitter
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