(Quebec) The Minister of the Economy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, thinks that the deputies can express themselves freely.
He was reacting to the exit of his former colleague, Émilie Foster, who claimed on Wednesday that backbench MPs are “crushed” and reduced to “complete silence” by the party line.
“The private member, crushed by the control of communications and the party line, is losing more and more power in our democracy. That should worry us,” she wrote in a journal article. Policy Options.
PHOTO ÉRICK LABBÉ, LE SOLEIL ARCHIVES
Emilie Foster
“MPs can say whatever they want anyway. We’re not here to tell them: ”say that, don’t say that”. But you join a political party and party lines are part of politics. I’m not sure it was different in the old parties,” Mr. Fitzgibbon said.
Mme Foster was also uncomfortable when she had to vote against an Ethics Commissioner report that blamed Minister Fitzgibbon. “Me, as an MP, I can’t say that it was a cakewalk. The party line is still quite invasive, ”she said on Wednesday.
“Mme Foster, I hope she’s happy in what she’s doing now. I think she seems to be. Good for her,” said the minister.
Émilie Foster is now an associate professor at Carleton University. She represented the riding of Charlevoix–Côte-de-Beaupré from 2018 to 2022.