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See Khan Run
Since yesterday, its been known that Toronto MP Wajid Khan would be crossing the floor, leaving behind his Liberal party for a back-bench seat with the Conservatives.
Crossing the floor is nothing new. We've seen high profile crossers like Belinda Stronach (C>L) and David Emmerson (L>C) in the last two years. Heck, back in the day Winston Churchill crossed the floor to change parties three times!
But it raises a lot of important questions. Namely, what about the voters? They elected Mr. Khan not only on his own merits, but also on the party he represented. An MP's job, believe it or not, is to represent the voices and concerns of the citizens that elected them.
But how can you be representing your voters when you switch parties? According to the CBC article, it seems even some of his staff were caught off guard (not to mention the Liberal leadership).
Voters in Mississauga-Streetsville need to take a long hard look at their representative. I encourage you to use the comments section below to let everyone know how you feel. Can your MP continue to represent you as a Tory? Is leaving the party you were elected under for another on a whim fair? Tell us what you think.
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No - in my opinion if someone wants to change the party, they should call for by-election within 30 days to ask voters who elected them first! Majority of people vote along party lines not a person itself. I think there need to be a new law in place to reflect on situations like that.
Hell, there's a bigger NDP presence here than Conservative. There is no way Khan's representation is appropriate for this town. But, of course, we're just going to grumble about it instead of actually doing anything.
More importantly,Mr. Kahn campaigned on the basis that he was the Liberal candidate, and therefore a better choice.
Mr. Kahn should not waste his time running in the next election, because we will not waste our votes on him again.