Just published this column in the Calgary Herald giving some more perspective on my decision to cross the floor - hope youll give it a read. Ive also posted the full text below: calgaryherald/opinion/columnists/anderson-why-i-chose-to-cross-the-floor Crossing the floor is an excruciating decision. The worst part is knowing your character and integrity will be questioned in a very personal way by the media, constituents and even friends. So why do it? Why volunteer for such heartache and mental anguish? In my case, what would possess a husband and father of four to inflict this upon his family not once, but twice? I hope that sharing my perspective will help those with an open mind to better understand the recent decision by myself and a majority of Wildrose MLAs to join the Jim Prentice Government. I will first address the oft heard accusation this decision was somehow motivated by personal gain. This is simply not accurate. Leaving what were widely considered safe Wildrose seats to dive head first into an uncertain situation with a new party and caucus goes against every instinct of self-preservation a politician possesses. Furthermore, there was no increase in pay or benefits for any of the involved MLAs (for some there was actually a pay cut), and the Premier provided absolutely no promises of perks or position. Another commonly recited argument suggests MLAs owe some sort of absolute allegiance to the political party they were elected under; and that by leaving that party an MLA is being disloyal to his constituents. I wholeheartedly disagree. In our parliamentary system an MLA is elected to represent the interests of his or her constituents, not their party. An MLA campaigns on a set of principles and policies, and it is his duty to do all he can to advance those policies on their constituents’ behalf. The function of a political party to organize and bring together candidates and a leader of similar policy beliefs is important, but secondary. In my view, I was voted in twice with two different parties largely because I put advocating the policies and principles I campaigned on ahead of party loyalty. In 2010 that meant leaving the PCs as I felt the leadership at that time had deviated far too widely from the policies we had campaigned on in 2008. So I made a judgement call and joined the one-seat Wildrose which provided the best available vehicle for advocating the fiscally conservative policies I had based my political candidacy on when first elected. There is nothing undemocratic or disloyal about that – just the opposite in fact. In the 2012 election, a majority of my constituents affirmed this decision and made clear they favored the Wildrose policies I was campaigning on over those being championed by Alison Redford. However, almost 3 years later, things changed dramatically. Jim Prentice is now Premier and is adopting and actively implementing almost every policy the Wildrose and I had been campaigning on and advocating for. He was willing to put that commitment in writing as part of the recently released policy agreement that secured our decision to join his caucus. He has governed with integrity and the highest ethical and moral standards. Frankly, I saw no benefit to my constituents in spending my remaining time as their MLA in opposition hammering this Premier for implementing the exact policies I’ve long advocated and argued for. One can choose to disagree with our judgment of Jim Prentice, his policies or how our parliamentary system works. But to attack the character and integrity of the MLAs who have chosen to support and work with a Premier to implement a policy agenda they were elected to advocate for in the first place, is unfair. The easier road would have been to stay in opposition and pummel our new opponent...apparently everyone agrees we were really good at that. But would it have been good for the province? In the case of this Premier, I don’t believe it was. He’s the right person to lead us, and I and 10 other MLAs have put everything on the line to prove it.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 17:58:36 +0000
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