RADICAL DEMOCRACY ON UA'S AGENDA

Final Policy Proposal: Resolution Would Bind Mps To The Will Of Their
Constituents

OTTAWA - Reformers and Tories planning to launch a new conservative
political party are considering a controversial policy that would
virtually eliminate party discipline by obliging MPs to always vote
the views of their constituents -- above conflicting personal or
partisan beliefs.

Delegates to this month's United Alternative convention will be asked
to endorse a resolution that would make it an MP's "responsibility" to
side with clear public opinion in their riding "over party or personal
views" -- an idea that bucks Canadian parliamentary tradition and
which critics say would turn federal politicians into non-thinking
voting machines.

The proposal, included in the final Declaration of Policy to be
debated at the Jan. 27-29 UA convention in Ottawa, has caused so much
disagreement among organizers that they have included a second, less
restrictive proposal. It would give MPs in a new party the discretion
or "freedom" to follow the party line or vote their personal
conscience on major issues.

"There is a huge debate within Reform and within the UA movement about
the proper role for an MP," said a conference organizer, who requested
anonymity. "What we need to sort out on the floor of the convention,
as a wonderful spectacle for everybody watching, is whether an MP is
obliged to follow their constituents' wishes when there is a
divergence of views between the party whip, the party line and the
voters."

The National Post yesterday obtained a copy of the final UA policy
proposals, which are being mailed to about 1,000 delegates this week.
The delegates will decide at the convention whether to create a new
right-wing party through a formal merger with the Reform party of Canada.

The idea that MPs should not be blindly loyal to the party line has
been a central plank in Reform policy for years. The party's 1997 Blue
Book policy bible states that Reform MPs must vote with their party
caucus except on designated issues of personal conscience or unless
they can demonstrate that a majority of constituents oppose the party
position.

In practice, Reformers have largely voted as a block on issues
designated by the government as free votes, with even more conformity
than the Liberals.

But many Reform MPs -- particularly those who have opposed Preston
Manning, the leader, in his attempts to initiate the UA and launch a
new party -- have begun to bristle recently over the imposition of
party discipline.

An initial draft of the UA policy document released in September did
not include any reference to voting rules for MPs. That was added
after Reformers raised the issue during public meetings last fall.

While some UA organizers believe fervently in the supremacy of
constituents, another group believes just as strongly that MPs must be
allowed to use personal discretion when voting on major issues.

They argue it is almost impossible -- or at least prohibitively
expensive -- for members of Parliament to accurately determine the
will of constituents on complicated legislation.

"What you really want to do is reinforce the MPs' freedom to use his
or her judgment ... So you give them the freedom to depart from the
party line, weighing constituent wishes and the party platform against
each other to come up with a position," the UA source said.

The issue of MP voting rules is one of only two substantive additions
to the United Alternative policy proposals since the draft version was
released last fall.

The other, equally controversial issue, concerns a proposal to
legalize marijuana. The "optional" policy resolution states that a
United Alternative party would "investigate the advisability of
decriminalizing possession and use of marijuana by adults."

The UA policy committee -- headed by Diane Ablonczy, a Calgary MP, and
Kevyn Nightingale, a Toronto Tory fundraiser -- "supports the proposal
as worded." But the policy declaration includes a footnote that says
organizers held "strongly differing opinions" about the merits of
supporting legalization.

The bulk of the policy document sticks close to Reform policy, with
slight variations. It calls for:

- - Mandated balanced budgets, legislated paydown of the $570-billion
federal debt and an amendment to the Charter of Rights to include
private property rights.

- - Immediate reductions in personal income tax.

- - Reform to the health-care system to allow Canadians "greater freedom
of choice" in medical treatment and facilities.

- - An elected Senate with additional changes that includes the
"distribution of Senate seats on an equal basis" following
negotiations with the provinces.