WHY INDEPENDENT?

"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost." - John Quincy Adams

I like to just turn the question around when people ask me why I'm independent. I just respond "if not independent, then what is the alternative?" Of course to be "dependent". Nobody really chooses to be dependent nor to even admit it, but the reality is that the shallow offerings of the mainstream parties need to keep you dependent or they won't be able to keep their seats in parliament.

I don't think I have a dependent bone in my body. Not willingly anyway. I am so Independent I won't even register the party with Elections Canada, and no, we don't need to be registered to be considered legitimate, at least not in our own minds because you guessed it -- we're independent. We all have to deal with more government than we think we should in our personal lives, and the Independent Party needs no more obligations for it's members than they already have.

Why do we need an independent member of parliament? There are lots of reasons. Here are some statements and questions and answers to help you understand what we are attempting to achieve with the party.

1. Independent candidates are not bound down by party policies. This can be particularly frustrating for votes who rarely or never see the candidate of their stripes elected. Although Canada preserves the voting franchise for everyone, our "first past the post" system essentially removes any voice other than that of the party elected.

2. We are by now all familiar with the Conservative ads showing Mr. Ignatieff in a bad light saying "nobody speaks for the Liberal party but me". But Harper knows he does the same thing. You just toe the party line or it's news. Here's what Harpers said on this issue in 2011: "If any member of these political parties votes differently from his party on a particular issue, well, that will be national headline news. It's really hard to believe. If any one member votes differently, it will be national headline news. I voted differently at least once from my party, and it was national headline news" Every local vote of every citizen in Canada who votes for a party candidate other than Independent is lost to the whim of the leader of the party in power. Is this what you call democracy?

The Independent Party does not obligate the members who become elected to vote the party policy. It is expected that Independent Party MP's will vote their principles and conscience and the will of their constituents.

Notice that we have no platform (except MPE), only policies based on principles. We really don't have too many policies either, but we have picked out a few so you can get a feel as to how our thinking goes. You'll notice that in some cases we appear left leaning, in others right, and others we're dead center. In general, as independents, we retain the right to lean whichever way we need to to come up with the right decision, the right belief, the right answer at the right time without being encumbered by a laminated instruction sheet from party headquarters.