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Audio
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| BARRY
DEVOLIN
ON CHANGING THE NATURE OF PARLIAMENT |
Mr. Barry Devolin (Haliburton - Kawartha Lakes - Brock, CPC):
Mr. Speaker, my question has to do with reform of this place and there were comments made about changing the nature of Parliament. It is a topic that I have had a personal and professional interest in for a long time.
There are two concerns I have always had with proportional representation that I would like the member to comment on. First, under our current system any citizen of Canada has the right to run for this place directly and to represent their peers as a member of Parliament. Under a proportional representation system that would not exist any more. As an individual one would have to go through a party which would actually determine who would be here.
This raises my second point which is if it is a list system in a proportional representation legislature, who determines who gets on the list? These two points are connected. I know as a member of Parliament in my riding I feel responsible to my constituents for what I do and there are many Saturday mornings that I roll out very early to head off for a full day of events because it is my riding and they are my constituents. I think people elected in a proportional representation system would be much less likely to do that.
Two parts of one question: First, how do we resolve this issue that individuals actually cannot run for Parliament, it is up to parties to decide who would sit in this place? Second, how would we convince voters that they would be better served by members of Parliament who are not directly connected to them or not directly elected by them and consequently have no responsibility back to them, but will be less accessible to them because it is not their own constituency per se?
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