The voters chose a minority government and expected the parties to work together, and I don’t think it’s right for Carney and his team to try to undermine that,” said Kofman. “But then I think of Poilievre’s stupid little face being told about one floor crossing after another and I giggle for about 10 minutes.”
But also:
Kofman went on to acknowledge his concerns that a Carney Liberal majority could force through a Western pipeline without any environmental or Indigenous consultation, before dissolving back into giggles picturing Pierre Poilievre’s sad face becoming a popular reaction gif used to denote “whiny pouting” across the internet.
No, they are not required to do that.
I guess I don’t understand the system then.
Would you happen to know what it means when they say that the party allows a free vote?
[source]
Usually the party leader will demand their MPs follow party lines, but there is no law/rule to do so. Breaking party lines is a quick way to ensure they will forever be a back bencher however.
It would be like throwing your boss under the bus in a group meeting. You may not get fired, but it’s career suicide.
Right, that’s more or less how I understood it. I guess I didn’t communicate it well.
In any case, given that the voters understand that this is what they’re working with, the most sensible thing to do (and what everyone probably does) is to vote for MPs based on party position. Even if we wanted to vote based on their personal positions, there’s rarely enough information to make that possible.
You are right that the way you laid it out in your previous comment is the way it is in practice. Almost all votes are whipped. Local representation (federally) is mostly in name only.