On Removing MPs from Caucus

With the Conservative leadership race over, many Liberal MPs are demanding that Erin O'Toole remove Derek Sloane from caucus. Meanwhile, former leader hopeful Leslyn Lewis says that voters should choose his fate.

Personally, I feel like this is a lose-lose-lose situation. Removing an MP from caucus doesn't take their seat away, they are elected officials. They remain in power until they retire or stop getting elected. But, in our hyper-partisan political system, voters are often voting for a party or its leader and not the individual which actually becomes an MP.

So, I would say that removing the party affiliation is the stronger move. That would actually be the correct way to let the voters decide Sloane's fate. By removing him as the Conservative candidate, people would be forced to vote for or against based on his own merits. But, even if the people DO support him, again the hyper partisan politics would likely see his Conservative successor take the seat instead.

Right now, he has a greater chance of being re-elected, even if the voters don't want him specifically, simply because ridings, unless they are swing ridings, will just tend to re-elect the representative from the same party it voted in last time. Change happens, but it is slow.

Removing him from caucus admits this flaw in the Canadian political system. It cements the fact that the party affiliation is more meaningful than the individual. Even though the party has no power to replace the individual. 

In these situations the ideal outcome is to convince the MP to retire. And, if that were truly an option (IE, the MP were willing), I think we would have seen that happen already.

Worse, I think everyone knows all of this perfectly well. It is at this point just political theatre.

My opinion; strategically speaking, O'Toole should remove him from caucus. Coming from a party which has supported demanding the resignation of both the PM and ordinary MPs over an ethics scandal. To then fail to remove your own MPs for their ethical violations is not a good way to start if you want to position yourself as a candidate which can unify more than just the Conservative base.

And while I accept that the ethics violations are of a totally different nature and that Sloane's aren't the sort that would merit an inquiry or any corrective actions. I nonetheless think that Sloane's actions, against the backdrop of Black Live Matters and #METOO and other recent movements make his transgressions MUCH more damaging to the party image in a potential voting cycle.

In short, he is too public a figure now for this sort of polarizing ethics faux pas. Had he not been catapulted to pseudo political fame thanks to the Conservative leadership race it might be less important to address. But, now many Canadian's know Derek Sloane and the reasons for wanting him gone.