The following conversations occurred the day of the vote to give Doug Ford the power to extend the Emergency Orders to December 2021
These conversations confirm All MPP's were legally allowed to vote/represent you and their responses to questions of why they abstained were a manipulation of the truth.
Choosing to adhere to an informal agreement with other parties is not the same as not permitted/allowed.
Early on in the day (after the vote) my wife was questioning our local MPP Rudy Cuzzetto (PC) as to why so many abstained and whether they were allowed to vote.
Rudy clearly confirms there were 30 minute windows for All MPP's to vote:
This is confirmed by the document Chelsea Smith (@chillie2) shared:
I came across Sandy Shaw (NDP Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas) claiming she “wasn't permitted to vote” so I called on multiple MPP's to clarify who was being dishonest
I began receiving responses from Jasmine Attfield (who is "Legislative Affairs @OntarioNDP”)
She was sending responses and led me to an article to confirm the voting restrictions without realizing I'd find the truth there:
This article showed:
So I quoted “The NDP says the additional members….”
Shortly after @jattfield deleted most of her comments:
One of @jattfield's comments included this very important statement:
Do you think they should have violated their informal agreement with other parties to better represent their constituents?
After this interaction I started to receive responses from John Vanthof (NDP Timiskaming-Cochrane)
He refers to an agreement between parties where the “majority should be respected” this cohort agreement apparently supersedes the importance of representing their constituents accurately (nothing outside the agreement between parties prevents them from legally voting)
As I was talking with John (NDP), Rudy (PC) returned to the original conversation I initially took screenshots of and echoed effectively what John (NPD) was saying and then apologized:
(Note: “although it's not always honored” cheers Rudy)
Rudy did not originally explain this and it wasn't omitted from the original screenshot
Rudy had returned to the original Facebook conversation at the time his comments were being disputed by Jasmine and John (NDP)
He blatantly lied and was attempting to perform damage limitations.
I found it strange that John actually voted No yet continued to manipulate the truth, he didn't do it to save himself but to give his party members that abstained an out.
Surely they must have known what the outcome of the vote would be if they adhered to their informal agreement??
Since the results of the vote many NDP members have publicly stated they would have voted No but didn't:
Judith Monteith-Farrell, Paul Miller, Kevin Yarde, Sara Singh, Laura Mae Lindo, Wayne Gates, Peggy Sattler, Percy Hatfield, Gilles Bison, Chris Glover, Sandy Shaw, Peter Tabuns, Monique Taylor, Jessica Bell, Doly Begum, and Rima Berns-McGowan
If they had Chosen not to adhere to their informal agreement with other parties (“that isn't always honored”) and instead Chose to represent their constituents there would have been a majority vote for No.
It seems they all wanted to extend until December but this approach enables the NDP's to point back to this and claim they were against the idea but unable to vote (without upsetting other parties)
I have screenshots of most of MPP's pushing the idea that they were “unable to vote" this is simply not true.
At the end of the day they chose honoring their informal agreement over representing you.
Sadly, I believe that the principles of politicians representing their constituents is long gone from Canadian politics. We called Alistair McGregor, BC's provincial MP, over our concerns with bills such as Bill C-10.
Before we even got through listing our concerns, he argued with us and tried to call into question our understanding of the bills we were concerned about. He asked, "Where did you get your information about these bills?" He was momentarily deflated when we informed him that we had read the bills completely. Then he switched to saying, "Well, I read them too and I didn't see that." It was impossible at that point in the conversation to make any progress because he could not fathom questioning his perception of reality as a definitive source.
It was a bizarre experience that made it very clear that he didn't see himself as our representative. He saw himself as our superior—an unquestionable authority entirely unto himself. These people don't have any concept of "consent of the governed;" they see an electoral victory as recognition of their absolute power to rule.
It's a shame, but we must not delude ourselves into thinking that we still have a representative government in Canada. We now have something more akin to an oligarchy.
Wow, glad I don't live in Ontario!
Sadly, I believe that the principles of politicians representing their constituents is long gone from Canadian politics. We called Alistair McGregor, BC's provincial MP, over our concerns with bills such as Bill C-10.
Before we even got through listing our concerns, he argued with us and tried to call into question our understanding of the bills we were concerned about. He asked, "Where did you get your information about these bills?" He was momentarily deflated when we informed him that we had read the bills completely. Then he switched to saying, "Well, I read them too and I didn't see that." It was impossible at that point in the conversation to make any progress because he could not fathom questioning his perception of reality as a definitive source.
It was a bizarre experience that made it very clear that he didn't see himself as our representative. He saw himself as our superior—an unquestionable authority entirely unto himself. These people don't have any concept of "consent of the governed;" they see an electoral victory as recognition of their absolute power to rule.
It's a shame, but we must not delude ourselves into thinking that we still have a representative government in Canada. We now have something more akin to an oligarchy.
What a shit show. Disgusting. One of the most important votes in the history of this province.