Make party flippers pay: PQ
Parti Québécois wants to discourage switching sides
The Parti Québécois government is pondering a law that would force members of the National Assembly who switch parties mid-term to go back to the voters in a byelection — at their own expense. “Voters sent you to the National Assembly because you represented a party,” the democratic institutions minister says. Average cost of a byelection: $600,000.
At $600,000 a pop, it might make a turncoat politician think twice about crossing the floor.
And that is exactly the kind of deterrent the government wants to create.
Democratic Institutions Minister Bernard Drainville Wednesday confirmed the Parti Québécois government is exploring the idea of presenting legislation to discourage MNAs from switching sides during the course of a normal electoral mandate.
The new law would impose two options on an MNA who is unhappy with the party he was elected with and wants to make such a move. The first would be to sit as an independent for the remainder of his or her mandate and then run under the new banner in a regular election.
The second, for an MNA who does not want to wait that long, would be to oblige the person to return to his or her voters in a byelection. And the byelection would be paid out of their own pocket. The average cost of a provincial byelection in Quebec is $600,000.
“It’s an act of political integrity,” Drainville said in an interview with The Gazette in defending the hardline approach. “It’s a question of respect to voters.
“Voters sent you to the National Assembly because you represented a party. If you decide to change parties, it’s not only your decision. It’s also up to voters. They sent you to Quebec it’s up to them to decide if they accept the new party you want to be in.
“The first word and last word belongs to the voters.”
The defection issue has been kicked around Quebec’s political parties for years. The PQ was recently burned itself when three PQ MNAs jumped ship to join François Legault’s Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ).
A few years earlier, it was Action démocratique du Québec MNAs hopping in with the Liberals to save their political skin as their old party sank.
Given a chance, voters are usually pretty hard on politicians who act this way. Of the three PQ MNAs who quit to sit as CAQ MNAs, only one survived in the Sept. 4 election last year.
But Drainville said such behaviour has only fuelled the voter skepticism toward politicians.
“The idea is to continue to take actions to reduce the cynicism of citizens and let them build up their confidence (in the system),” Drainville said.
He said the same logic is being used in a bill he tabled before Christmas to abolish fat severance packages given to politicians who leave before the end of their mandates.
“When you run for office, you make the commitment to represent them for four years,” Drainville said. “If you leave before the end, we won’t compensate you. You won’t get the money.”
But it’s unclear whether Drainville’s bill on defections can be ready before the next election.
In a minority situation, he needs the support of the Liberals and CAQ.
But the longer the PQ sits in power, the less co-operation it will get.
“I hope they will support us,” Drainville said.
“We’re going to act on it in 2013. Exactly what form it will take, we don’t know yet but it’s certain we will have to do it with the other parties.”