Responsibilities of an MP

So just what are the responsibilities of an MP?

Here we have (currently) 308 men and women elected to parliament in their respective ridings, often with less than a majority of the vote, paid $150k per year (more if they serve on committees or have a cabinet post), fairly sizable living allowances and travel expenses and office budgets.

And what are they there to do?

Certainly an MP is first and foremost to represent his riding in Ottawa, not just those that voted her in. And I think that there’s also a regional element to it, so that they represent their province, or the north, or urban, or rural, etc. And I also think that Garth Turner has it right. MP’s are also there to represent Canadians across the country. This is even more important than regional representation, in my opinion, as provinces already have governments of their own and federal MP’s can serve to balance the demands of individual regions.

In case you’re wondering, I started thinking about this as Garth is planning a bit of a cross country tour for a series of his town hall meetings, to talk to Canadians in a variety of places. He’s been getting a lot of flack about it from various parties, most notably the Conservative Party members. They either feel that the trip is not justified on the taxpayer dime (he was elected in Halton after all, not Manitoba.) I won’t get into details as you can read it on his blog.

Certainly no one can accuse Garth of ignoring his responsibilities to his own riding. He has had more meetings with constituents since elected than most other MP’s put together, I’d wager. And his blog, including the MPTV feature, are providing a fresh look into the workings of Parliament Hill and also provide a quick, easy accessibility for his constituents. I’ve go so far as to guess that Garth is currently the most accessible MP in Canadian history.

And now he wants to hold a series of meetings across the country. Imagine an MP wanting to go out and engage people to see what their priorities are? What could he possibly be thinking?

One question was posed to Garth that intrigued me though. Is there a difference in his approach or responsibility if a riding elected a Conservative, Liberal or NDP member last time out? I would think not, just has he must represent those in his own riding who did not vote for him.

And what of the other nominated candidates in the riding? What role should they play?

A nominated Liberal in a Conservative riding or a nominated Conservative in a NDP riding certainly has the ear of the government or at least their party leadership with other members in the house. So they too can have influence on your behalf, particularly if your MP is not accessible. So couldn’t the nominated Liberal talk to the people in the riding and feed that back to the Liberal Party, rather than Garth travelling the country? Perhaps.

And then there is me, and the role that I think I have. With no Green MP’s, it’d be hard to claim that I could have any influence in Ottawa right now.

I do have a responsibility to my Party, certainly, to help people to understand the Green Party philosophy and platform.  But I think, as the nominated candidate for the Green Party in Newmarket-Aurora, I also have a responsibility to the voters in this riding.

I have to do the above, and I also have to share with my party the feedback that I get.  Is that a responsibility to the voters or the Party or just self serving? I don’t really know, maybe all, but in the end it amounts to the same thing and makes no difference to what I do.

This kind of  back and forth feedback with your MP and with nominated candidates can result in better policy, a better understanding of the candidates come election time, and a better understanding of the parties you are being asked to choose between.

It is, after all, your democracy, and you have a variety of ways available to make it work for you.

And so you should.