Today's ejection of Garth Turner MP from the Conservative caucus, surely encouraged (at least) by the Prime Minister's office, confirms the Conservative caucus is deaf to all notions of parliamentary reform.
Turner's no parliamentary genius. He proclaims he's in Parliament to serve his constituents but has not yet grasped the implications of that. He likes being a loose cannon and chafes under the restraints of leadership, but he will probably never grasp the larger principle of leadership accountability.
For MPs seriously to serve their constituents, they have to ensure that their leader serves them -- that is, that the leader is accountable to the caucus. Parliamentary democracy can function no other way.
It's sad that no Conservative MPs can be expected to stand up against Turner's expulsion. Turner's leakiness probably has irritated his colleagues. He's not likely to build a team. But driving out a caucus member for any trivial hint of individuality can only coerce even greater conformity from those not yet centred out for loyalty tests. The spinelessness of the Canadian MP knows no limits.
Sadder still, the democratic reform claques across the country will be equally useless on this issue. Most of them support measures -- PR, recall, referenda, citizens' forums -- that would enhance authoritarian leadership and handcuff parliamentarians even more completely. None of them seem to have a clue about the potential of the backbench in genuine democratic reform.
