Oppression in the house

Ex-Tory MP's book offers a glimpse into the tightly controlled caucus

Upset with the Conservative government’s handling of the F-35 jet purchase, Brent Rathgeber wrote a blog entry critiquing it. It was an innocuous act, save for one detail: He was a Conservative MP himself.

Soon after, the phone rang, with Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office on the line demanding the blog post be taken down. Mr. Rathgeber’s aide refused. “You don’t understand; I am calling from the PMO,” the staffer replied.

The standoff is one recalled in Mr. Rathgeber’s book Irresponsible Government: The Decline of Parliamentary Democracy in Canada, set for release this month. Mr. Rathgeber, twice elected as a Conservative before quitting caucus last year, outlines how MPs have seen their powers fade away, reduced to “cheer-leading and barking on command” while the PMO has grown stronger over decades, under Mr. Harper and his predecessors, with little oversight.

Read More: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ex--conservative-mp-describes-pmos-tight-control/article20464480/