Ottawa

See how they vote

Parliament’s website now includes voting records for each MP. Canadian Press explains how to find those and why they won’t always be terribly informative.

Unlike the U.S., Canada’s parliamentary system usually results in MPs toeing a party line, so votes in the Commons tend to be far less dramatic than in Congress.

One could wonder at what point—if ever—a tool such as this results in the level of public awareness necessary to regularly pressure MPs to break with the party line. Whether this could, in some small way, create MPs who are, at least in this context, something more than well-paid voting machines.

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