The Monarchist 1.0
Defending the British Crown Commonwealth and the English-Speaking Peoples
[+] HONOURING OUR PATRON, SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL, VICTOR OF THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING PEOPLES
[+] HONOURING OUR QUEEN, ELIZABETH THE SECOND, ON THE 80TH YEAR OF HER BIRTH (1926 - 2006)
[+] HONOURING OUR KING, SAINT EDWARD THE CONFESSOR, ON THE 1000TH YEAR OF HIS BIRTH (1005 - 2005)
[+] HONOURING OUR HERO, LORD NELSON, ON THE BICENTENNIAL OF THE BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR (1805 - 2005)
[+] HONOURING OUR SONS, THE QUEEN'S COMMONWEALTH SOLDIERS KILLED IN THE 'WAR ON TERROR'
Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard, 46, Royal Canadian Regiment, Nov 27, 2006 (Afstan)
Staff Sergeant Sharron Elliott, 34, Intelligence Corps, Nov 12, 2006 (Iraq)
Private Jacob B. Kovco, 25, Royal Australian Regiment, April 21, 2006
[+] HONOURING OUR VETS ON THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE VICTORIA CROSS (1856 - 2006)
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Crossing the Floor
Aeneas the Younger at Red Tory Glory has a good post on MPs who cross the floor. Although several have done this in the past couple of years (mostly shake-your-head Tories crossing over to sit with the Liberals), there's been quite a kerfuffle in Canada over the latest MP to do this. Namely British Columbia MP David Emerson, who won his Vancouver riding as a Liberal minister, and who now sits in Prime Minister Harper's Conservative Cabinet. Astonishing given his recent election victory speech declaring that the Tories would represent a society where "the weak die". Apparently the weak will have a chance now, now that said self-proclaimed voice of moderation has a seat at the table of Conservative neanderthals.
In any event, ATY quoting from Edmund Burke has some good points as to why we shouldn't be clamouring to change our Westminister system, the system that allowed - let us never forget - Churchill to cross the floor in his day:
"Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion."
"Parliament is not a congress of ambassadors from different and hostile interests, which interests each must maintain, as an agent and advocate, against other agents and advocates; Parliament is a deliberative assembly of one nation, with one interest - that of the whole - where not local purposes, not local prejudices, ought to guide, but the general good, resulting from the general reason of the whole. You choose a member, indeed; but when you have chosen him, he is not Member of Bristol, but he is a Member of Parliament."
Very good, Burke. Very good. It's interesting that for all Harper's desire to reform our Parliamentary democracy, he is on the record of not wanting to allow this particularly practice to be legally forbidden. Who knows, perhaps he instinctively agrees with Burke.
POSTED BY: The Monarchist AT 2:33 p.m. | LINKS |
Aeneas the Younger at Red Tory Glory has a good post on MPs who cross the floor. Although several have done this in the past couple of years (mostly shake-your-head Tories crossing over to sit with the Liberals), there's been quite a kerfuffle in Canada over the latest MP to do this. Namely British Columbia MP David Emerson, who won his Vancouver riding as a Liberal minister, and who now sits in Prime Minister Harper's Conservative Cabinet. Astonishing given his recent election victory speech declaring that the Tories would represent a society where "the weak die". Apparently the weak will have a chance now, now that said self-proclaimed voice of moderation has a seat at the table of Conservative neanderthals.
In any event, ATY quoting from Edmund Burke has some good points as to why we shouldn't be clamouring to change our Westminister system, the system that allowed - let us never forget - Churchill to cross the floor in his day:
"Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion."
"Parliament is not a congress of ambassadors from different and hostile interests, which interests each must maintain, as an agent and advocate, against other agents and advocates; Parliament is a deliberative assembly of one nation, with one interest - that of the whole - where not local purposes, not local prejudices, ought to guide, but the general good, resulting from the general reason of the whole. You choose a member, indeed; but when you have chosen him, he is not Member of Bristol, but he is a Member of Parliament."
Very good, Burke. Very good. It's interesting that for all Harper's desire to reform our Parliamentary democracy, he is on the record of not wanting to allow this particularly practice to be legally forbidden. Who knows, perhaps he instinctively agrees with Burke.
POSTED BY: The Monarchist AT 2:33 p.m. | LINKS |
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