Von Hinterbänklern wird erwartet, dass sie ihren Verstand oder ihren Mund benutzen, aber nicht beides
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-backbench-mps-caucus-unity-liberals-conservatives-erskine-smith/
Von Hinterbänklern wird erwartet, dass sie ihren Verstand oder ihren Mund benutzen, aber nicht beides
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-backbench-mps-caucus-unity-liberals-conservatives-erskine-smith/
4 Kommentare
I just find to hilarious how PP brings up NES as an example of utter chaos within the Liberal Back bench, when the man himself is known to be openly critical within his party, and despite he himself saying that there is a lot about the budget he agrees with.
Like I don’t expect anyone actually thinks he’s going to break party line to vote against the budget and destroy his own government. Even if he himself is hinting that he wants to back away from politics, doing it by forcing an election on your own party is one way to absolutely kill any chance of influence he’ll have going forward, whether that be if he makes a play to the OLP Leadership again, or just as a lobbyists and influencer.
But the media is acting as if this is some brand new relevation, just because PP is absolutely desperate to distract from his own failings as Conservative Party Leader. In fact it says more to how his leadership structure is one of ruling with an iron fist where there is absolutely no room for dissent, that he can’t even fathom that other parties might be more open to their own members being more critical of themselves.
As Robyn pointed out, this is pretty normal for Nate Erskine-Smith, so the partisans attacking him for not being a team player are behind the times on who he actually is.
It is also worth noting that Erskine-Smith did stick to the party line while he was in Cabinet. He endorsed Carney early, and helped other MPs in swing ridings during the election by showing up to knock on doors and encouraging his volunteers to do the same. He still managed to absolutely steamroll his opponents in his own riding, finishing as one of the Liberal MPs with the highest vote share in the entire country, even with less capacity.
For that loyalty and endorsement, he was not only demoted but put back on the back benches by Carney’s team who instead decided to promote a rookie MP to his Cabinet spot.
So why would Erskine-Smith change who he is by suddenly following the party line? If anything, it probably does not benefit him if he is considering a run for OLP leader. Carney and Ford seem to be best buds, so running against Ford as an establishment Liberal, the way Bonnie Crombie tried, looks like a losing strategy anyway.
Partisan solidarity is, unfortunately, valued to an unhealthy degree in this country. I think making MPs the stars of the PMO puppet show demeans everyone involved and the electorate, but Canadians seem to like it so it’s what we get.
Nobody gets punished by their local electorate for being a useless backbencher, but you sure get punished by your party for sticking your head up.
If I’m in a large work meeting and offer unsolicited and vocal criticisms of my boss, any part of my job that depends on maintaining positive working relationships is now compromised. So I really don’t buy the argument that NES’s maverick tendencies make him a GOAT-tier MP like the edgiest among us characterize him as.
Of course that doesn’t mean I can’t criticize my boss at all, I do that all the time and she appreciates it. We do better work for it. But we need to stop glorifying what is blatant attention-seeking behavior for personal political gain.