Monday, July 25, 2011

NDP Quebec File Shredding Controversy

According to a Candian Press article on the CBC website, there seems to be "several" complaints by the 58 new NDP Quebec MPs that the outgoing MP they replaced shredded all their constituency files, leaving them with no information regarding ongoing issues in their ridings. This is apparently a very common practice in Ottawa, but is significant in this case because some Quebec NDP MPs have spent very little time in their ridings and likely have no idea what the local issues are. Because the NDP rookie caucus knows so little about the ridings they represent, this information is more critical than with parties who put greater thought and effort into candidate selection.

The article on the CBC website doesn't make any mention of just how many of the 58 Quebec NDP rookie MPs had their documents shredded, but they did provide two examples; 1) how an outgoing Conservative shredded files, and 2) how a Bloc Quebecois MP decided to leave behind all his files. They did mention that one Dipper (Borg) found a pile of shredded documents on an office table, but did not mention that it was in a Bloc riding. For the record, of those 58 new Quebec seats the Dippers won; about 90% of them came from the Liberals and Bloc. But there was no mention in the article about Liberal or Bloc MPs shredding their documents, even though they were likely the bulk of the cases. We don't know if outoing MPs like Marlene Jennings, Gilles Duceppe, or Pablo Rodriguez were among the shredders.

9 comments:

  1. I think the practise of shredding constituency documents is an abuse of position. At the very least a comprehensive summary document, listing the important ongoing issues, should always be available to the incoming MP so that the business of serving the voters can be conducted as seemlessly as is possible.
    This is NOT the fault of th incoming NDP people; it is the fault of the previous members.

    Shabby behaviour.

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  2. May I point out that the conservatives lost more seats in Quebec than the liberals. Your accusation that 90% and the liberals come from the Bloc the Liberals is false. Most came from the bloc and more went NDP from conservative than they did Liberal to conservative. And seeing the conduct of the CPC it wouldn't surprise me if they all shredded their documents.

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  3. I think that the newly elected MP's need to do their own work
    how can they expect to get to know the people who voted for them if they depend on the defeated MP's work
    the voters wanted CHANGE remember?
    5 conservatives lost their seats in the province of Quebec.
    46 Bloc lost their seats in the province of Quebec
    do the math
    fh

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  4. I certainly hope for the NDP's sake that outgoing NDP MP's in the past handed over files to the MP's from other parties who defeated them.

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  5. correction Bloc held 47 seats now holds 4
    fh

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  6. Liberals held 14 seats in Quebec 2008 election
    Liberals held 7 seats in Quebec 2011 election
    fh

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  7. Mayabe Marlene didn't want an ndp MP marching thru the streets with her files.

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  8. 8:52 Anon, what percentage of the new NDP seats in Quebec were previously held by the Tories? Do the math, and you'll find I'm not mistaken at all.

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