Unrest in the Conservative party has some Tory MPs asking Bruce Hyer what it’s like to serve in the House of Commons without a party.
Tory British Columbia backbencher Mark Warawa stirred up controversy in the House Tuesday when he accused his party of preventing fellow MPs from speaking.
National media reported that Warawa was expected to make a statement last week but at the last minute, he was pulled from the speaker’s list because his topic wasn’t preapproved.
Alberta MP Leon Benoit later echoed Warawa’s complaints.
Hyer (Ind., Thunder Bay – Superior North) said he found humour in the situation, adding that Conservative MPs frequently ask him about the pros and cons of being an independent.
“Political parties have way too much control over Parliament,” he said. ”It’s not the house of lords. I have a lot of freedom now but I work alot harder.”
Hyer wouldn’t name names when it came to specifics about the MPs questioning him about independence.
“Few are interested in what it’s like to be an independent and are a little envious. The problem is they would immediately lose a lot of their privileges and perks.”
He said pulling statements from the speaker’s list at the last minute is a common practice.
Too often his statements were pulled when he was with the NDP and that became one of the reasons why he left the party.
Mudslinging and hyper partisanship, which Hyer also attributes to party politics, was another reason for the Thunder Bay MPs departure from the New Democrats.
Tbnewswatch.com attempted to contact MP Greg Rickford (Con. Kenora) but he was unavailable for comment on this story.
