As soon as a candidate becomes a member of a political party, their individuality and the rights and concerns of their constituents ends.
The party’s agenda comes first, the party’s survival second and the people last and it’s not just me saying this.
It’s the MPs themselves, well, the ones on the back bench, whose hair has turned grey after just one year in government through banging their heads against the wall trying to fight the system. In fact, more time and energy is spent by these political parties arguing amongst themselves than there is on governing the country.
We need to throw out the party system completely and go back to independent representation. And the only thing stopping that is the money a candidate has to come up with to run, and it’s been engendered that way, to keep the good guys out.
What we need is to curtail spending on government expenses and perks and use that money to fund elections. Then elected candidates, as independents, could vote as their constituents want them to.
Mary St. John
Parksville
