This editiorial was first printed in Burnaby Now.
Politicians will always have time to tell you about how in touch they are with the common person – how they are in office to help average folks.
Except when it doesn’t suit them or when something better comes along.
Take, for example, NDP member of Parliament for Burnaby-South Kennedy Stewart.
Last week, this local MP announced he was running for mayor of Vancouver in October’s civic election.
Stewart sounded thrilled to run for a job in Vancouver because, apparently, he’s been living in the city – and not Burnaby – for the past few years.
To run for mayor of Vancouver, Stewart will resign his MP’s seat, forcing a byelection.
Stewart seemed unconcerned about this during his press conference, despite the fact that byelections typically cost taxpayers about $250,000.
Stewart did manage to discuss perhaps the leader of the federal NDP, Jagmeet Singh, running in his place here in Burnaby, which makes us wonder if this is just a chess move by the party to get their leader elected somewhere before the next federal election (Singh quit his Ontario provincial seat to lead the federal NDP).
We have a problem with what Stewart’s doing because it seems like a common thing for politicians to try and switch jobs, despite making a commitment when they ran for the seat in question.
An apology would be nice from Stewart. Or maybe a tinge of regret? A hint of self-awareness of how he is bailing on the people who voted for him?
After all, he was elected to serve his constituents for a full term – not quit just because he decides he wants a job closer to his Vancouver home.
We understand that sometimes politicians have to resign for health or family reasons, but dumping your constituents just to run for another elected office is tacky smacks of opportunism and is a slap in the face to the people who voted for him. It was the same when Christy Clark abruptly resigned her seat after being defeated in the last provincial election.
You make a commitment to serve your full term, and you stick with it. That commitment comes with the job.
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