Conservative’s bill would give MPs power to eject their leader

OTTAWA – A Conservative MP is tabling a bill that would give party caucuses significant powers — including the ability to vote out their leader.

Michael Chong has been working on the private member’s bill for years, and has become a standard bearer for rebalancing the power between the Prime Minister’s Office and Parliament.

One part of his proposed legislation would lay out exactly what rights party caucuses have in the Commons.

That would include the right to vote for an MP to be ejected or readmitted into caucus, rather than leaving that decision to the leader as happened recently with Tory MP Dean Del Mastro.

And like British Conservative MPs and Australian Labour MPs, Canadian MPs would also be able to vote to review the leader, and ultimately vote to dump him or her.

The bill would not come into force until after the next election, but is likely to be seized upon by Tory backbenchers who are unhappy with the strict control of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office.