Ottawa

Shake up the House

Bruce Hyer is resurrecting his October 2010 proposal to randomize seating in the House of Commons.

“We would no longer be sitting in hockey teams, with our coaches dying to send us over the boards for a brawl,” Hyer said. “We’d get to know them as people.” The MP, who is now free to speak and vote as he wishes, thinks the move would end the “mindless solidarity and tribalism” he sees around him and improve cooperation and decorum.

I am legitimately intrigued by this idea, even if I think there’s nothing particularly bad about the traditional setup. I think I’d just like to see what Mr. Hyer’s House would be like.

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