Canadian government MP Brent Rathgeber resigned late Wednesday night (June 5) from the ruling Conservative caucus, frustrated by his own government’s amendments to his private member’s bill. It was, as he put it, the straw that broke the camel’s back.
“When you have a PMO [Prime Minister’s Office] that tightly scripts its backbenches like this one attempts to do, MPs don’t represent their constituents in Ottawa, they represent the government to their constituents,” he told reporters the day after his resignation..
His bill sought public disclosure of expenses and salaries of government bureaucrats and of senior employees or managers of the public broadcaster CBC/Radio-Canada who earned more than $188,000 a year. Fellow Conservatives passed amendments that raised the level to $444,661.
Minutes after informing the party he was leaving the Conservative caucus he tweeted:
My decision to resign from the CPC Caucus is because of the Government’s lack of commitment to transparency and open government.
— Brent Rathgeber, MP (@brentrathgeber)
In a blog message explaining his decision to leave the Conservative caucus, Rathgeber wrote: “I joined the Reform/conservative movements because I thought we were somehow different, a band of Ottawa outsiders riding into town to clean the place up, promoting open government and accountability. I barely recognize ourselves, and worse I fear that we have morphed into what we once mocked.”
RCI’s Wojtek Gwiazda has a report.
More information:
Brent Rathgeber – Why I resigned from the Conservative caucus (blog) – here
CBC News – Rathgeber blasts Harper’s office over control of MPs – here
CTV News – Brent Rathgeber won’t step down as MP, says Tories don’t own his seat – here
National Post – ‘We’re not going to vote like trained seals’: Rathgeber urges MPs to take a stand as resignation riles Tory ranks – here
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