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Reforms, of course, have unintended consequences. That was the case with the 1974 law. MPs did not realize it would diminish them. Changes bring risk but without them, the decline of Parliament and MPs will likely continue. Self-respecting MPs should addr
TORONTO—MPs, especially government backbenchers, are on the whole an ineffectual, passive, and deferential lot. Those who exhibit some independence, such as former Conservatives Garth Turner and Bill Casey, are expelled from their party's caucus or are denied their party's nomination by their party leader. It was not always so. Parties, and especially party leaders, have become more powerful over time while MPs, more than in the past, appear as political dwarfs.
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How to empower MPs...(maybe)
Reforms, of course, have unintended consequences. That was the case with the 1974 law. MPs did not realize it would diminish them. Changes bring risk but without them, the decline of Parliament and MPs will likely continue. Self-respecting MPs should addr
TORONTO—MPs, especially government backbenchers, are on the whole an ineffectual, passive, and deferential lot. Those who exhibit some independence, such as former Conservatives Garth Turner and Bill Casey, are expelled from their party's caucus or are denied their party's nomination by their party leader. It was not always so. Parties, and especially party leaders, have become more powerful over time while MPs, more than in the past, appear as political dwarfs.
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