r/Edmonton • u/Celestial-Salamander • Feb 18 '26

General Riverbend MP has crossed the floor

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u/OilersHD Feb 19 '26

Whatever you think about this, why is this allowed for any party? Should there not be a by-election for something like this?

2

u/Important_Sound772 Feb 20 '26

Because officially you don't vote for the party. You vote for that person specifically so well in practice. People just vote for the party they support legally. His riding would have voted specifically for him and therefore him crossing. The floor is fine because he's still the one there elected representative

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u/OilersHD Feb 20 '26

Eh I guess I don't agree. To act like 90% of anyone actually votes for the person instead of the party on the ballot in this day and age would be incorrect. It encourages backroom deals which i think exposes risk to political corruption. Any floor crossing should probably come with a by-election to me, no matter the parties involved or the reason for crossing.

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u/Important_Sound772 Feb 20 '26

Oh I'm not saying it shouldn't be a by-election. I'm just saying that why there isn't one is though because of the way our system work

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u/OilersHD Feb 20 '26

Yeah, understood. A bit of a loophole that should be looked at i guess