Wow! Now it's our Members of Parliament who are starting to openly express just how sick they are of the mess in Ottawa. [caption id="attachment_375" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Jim Hnatiuk - Leader of the Christian Heritage Party"][/caption] Rather than confronting their party leaders about oppressive party discipline and rancorous partisan posturing on the Hill, many of them are quietly taking to the lifeboats. "'Most MPs and Senators think rabid partisanship is destroying Parliament today,' says Liberal MP Keith Martin, who recently announced he won't run in the next federal election because he's so sick and tired of the place." The Hill Times News goes on to quote NDP MP Joe Comartin as saying: "It really does behoove all of the parties, and by that I mean the leadership in the parties, to exercise greater control over their members, so that partisanship doesn't get out of line to such an extreme as we are seeing now." It takes a little stretch of the imagination to see how leaders exercising even more control over their members will reduce the plague of partisanship now stifling meaningful debate within the House and perhaps behind closed doors in caucus discussions. Whatever happened to the statesmanship that once marked our elected MPs in Ottawa? Remember when the parties were merely vehicles used by independent and principled folks who led by example, wore their opinions on their sleeves, and came to Ottawa determined to deliver on promises to their constituents? If you can't remember a time like that, don't feel too badly; it's been a while. Today, the carefully crafted platform positions and the tight scripting of public remarks by MPs are understood by the average person on the street to mean that those who call the shots within each party are testing the breezes to find the most politically palatable and publicly plausible position it can take on any issue. If public opinion shifts, so does the platform. Unfulfilled promises are remembered vaguely as unrealistic "good intentions." The Harper government itself, elected on a platform of fiscal conservatism, smaller, more-accountable government, and with predictable crumbs and enticements for social conservatives, has apparently jettisoned most of the "principles" it brought on board, yet has managed, (so far,) to hold a captive audience of voters and supporters who are willing to cut Mr. Harper a lot of slack because "he leads a minority government." Since Mr. Harper has been the PM, government has grown in size and cost by 42%, the national debt has risen by over $80 billion, and unless there is a sudden change of heart, the transsexual and transgendered are about to be enshrined in all the public washrooms of the nation as well as in the growing list of potential human rights plaintiffs. Meanwhile, MP Rod Bruinooge, one of the few actual social conservatives within Mr. Harper's caucus, has discovered what it means to "talk to the hand." The PM has brushed off the efforts of the Metis MP from Winnipeg South to protect pregnant women from coercion to abort, promising not to support Bill C-510 (Roxanne's Law). After all, it doesn't fit the strategy of the Conservative Party. It shouldn't be surprising that MPs are leaving for other jobs. Take Conservative MP Jim Prentice's surprise resignation which has dealt another blow to the Harper government: "The environment minister announced [Nov. 4, 2010] that he's quitting politics to take a plum job as a vice-chairman of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce."   Of course, Mr. Prentice, like MP Keith Martin, has served in Ottawa long enough to qualify for his gold-plated pension, something he can take with him to help him remember his time in Ottawa. Canadians have told politicians in Ottawa--in more ways than one--that they are sick and tired of MPs' behaviour in the House. One of those ways has been the abysmal turnout at the polls. The 2008 federal election saw 41% of Canadians not bothering to vote and 36% openly cited negative attitudes toward politics or political parties. The 2009 by-elections saw turnout as low as 36% in Nova Scotia, and the most recent 2010 by-election in Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette Manitoba had the turnout at only 26.9%. Even with the ever-mounting serious issues facing our country, 73% of constituents in that electoral district didn't vote! The question is, why not? Elections Canada's  proposed solution (electronic balloting) implies that Canadians are lazy. "Allowing Canadians to cast ballots electronically may be the remedy for the ever-dwindling percentage of voters who bother to exercise their democratic rights, Elections Canada suggests." I disagree, both with the assessment and the solution. Canadians by-and-large are considerate, responsible and patriotic citizens who truly value the freedoms our country affords. Yet our nation's people, amidst their country's growing debt, soaring levels of senseless and often unpunished crimes, economic uncertainty, and a crushing secular mentality are giving up their voting privileges in droves because they do not see solutions coming from our Parliament and they do not feel their votes will make any difference. Canada is a multi-party democracy, yet routinely in every election, exciting ideas about how to best approach the serious issues that face us as a nation are shut out of the national media and debates. Rather than suggesting online voting, which we have seen to be a disaster in many other nations, why doesn't Elections Canada recommend that Parliament mandate that so-called 'All Candidates' meetings, are truly open to all candidates from all parties? Parliament should also mandate equal media time for all registered parties, equal access to any government funding and should ban the use of MPs' taxpayer-funded constituent newsletters for partisan purposes. Vigorous debate and better solutions to the issues facing Canada are what will reinvigorate voter turnout. Yet, despite the obstacles to getting our message out to voters, CHP Canada is growing because more and more Canadians who share our fiscal and social values are beginning to recognize the heavy responsibility that rests on them and on us--and they're getting the word out! Those who abandon Ottawa to the political elite will have no ground to stand on when they see our nation's economy and moral values continue to decline. We invite each of our readers to take a step today to put men and women of integrity and courage into the House of Commons. Sign up a new member today, (if you're not already a member, sign yourself up online), volunteer to serve as a candidate or on a local electoral district board. If you can, send a donation to the largest federal party that does not receive one dime of taxpayer money. Help us build the party and rebuild our nation. For more on our Better Solutions, visit [url=http://www.chp.ca]http://www.chp.ca[/url]