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From: smithsco@utflis.UUCP
Newsgroups: can.politics
Subject: Re: N.B. Elections
Message-ID: <1010@utflis.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 16-Oct-87 11:23:13 EDT
Article-I.D.: utflis.1010
Posted: Fri Oct 16 11:23:13 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 18-Oct-87 07:38:38 EDT
References: <1168@water.waterloo.edu> <1665@ubc-cs.UUCP>
Reply-To: smithsco@flis.toronto.edu.UUCP (Scott Alan Smith)
Followup-To: can.politics
Distribution: can
Organization: FLIS, University of Toronto
Lines: 36
Summary: 

In article <1665@ubc-cs.UUCP> acton@ubc-csgrad.UUCP (Donald Acton) writes:
# In article <1168@water.waterloo.edu> jmlang@water.waterloo.edu (Jerome M Lang) writes:
# }Well New Brunswick has done it again. It looks like there is NO OPPOSITION
# }at the provincial legislature 
# }My question is, how does a democratically elected government does its
# }work properly without an opposition?
# 
# To me this demonstrates one of the major problems of the party system in 
# Canada and that is if you don't follow the party line your life, in the 
# political sense, becomes miserable. It is my opinion that individual MPs, 
# MLAs etc. should be able to speak out against the party line without fear 
# of being banished to the political boondocks for the next millennium. (Witness
# the recent fall from grace of the NDP's Ian Waddell and several Liberals 
# for their stand on the Meech Lake accord.) When one joins a political party
# they do so because they agree with the fundamental philosophy of the that
# party. It is very hard to believe that an individual (not a sheep)
# could agree with 100% of a party's policies. Likewise in an election sweep
# like this it is hard to believe 100% of the Liberal policies are preferred 
# over those of the Conservatives and NDP by the people. Instead I am inclined  
# to believe that the electorate preferred more of the Liberal party's policies.
# It therefore becomes the responsibility of the elected Liberal's who 
# don't agree with specific policies to express their dissenting opinions 
# and in effect act as the opposition. It is too bad that the present party 
# system so strongly discourages such action.
# 
#   Donald Acton


Just think what this will mean for Question Period!!

Scott Smith.
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