kingston mp gerretsen named liberal party whip
kingston mp mark gerretsen's new party whip role means he will have to make sure the government has enough votes in the house of commons to win votes
2 minute read
newly re-elected kingston and the islands liberal mp mark gerretsen speaks to supporters after results were announced on monday.
elliot ferguson
/
the whig-standard
kingston – kingston and the islands mp mark gerretsen has been appointed the liberal party whip.
the party whip is responsible for ensuring enough party mps are present in the house of commons or committees to support the party during votes.
ensuring enough mps are present to pass government legislation is a fundamental part of the parliamentary system in canada.
“the responsibility of the whip is to make sure that when a vote is occurring that the members are available and ready to vote and that before the vote starts that we make sure that we have enough votes to secure the outcome that we’re that we’re hoping for,” gerretsen said in an interview thursday morning.
“obviously it’s even more challenging in a minority parliament because it means that you don’t have enough votes on your side all the time,” he said. “so that involves a lot of outreach and working with the other political parties to try to bring some of some if not all of the members along to vote with you.”
history has taught that the party whip’s role is never more important than when the government faces confidence votes, which include any votes related to the budget.
conservative prime minister joe clark’s minority government fell in december 1979 when the party went into a confidence vote without marshalling enough votes to win, triggering the 1980 election where pierre trudeau returned to power.
advertisement
in previous governments gerretsen worked as the deputy house leader and following his re-election last month he said he would like to continue in a house leadership role in the new government.
gerretsen’s new role comes with a staff of almost 10 and his office works closely with the government house leader and their deputies.
since the covid-19 pandemic, mps have been allowed to participate in votes remotely, which improved the family-work balance of mps but also made the party whip’s role even more important.
“when people are relying on technology to vote from a location that is outside of the house of commons, a lot of other, potential problems can occur,” gerretsen said. “suddenly your phone crashes or you can’t log on or you forget. it’s very easy when you’re in your community, even though you know that you have a vote in 10 minutes, to forget to vote.”
elferguson@postmedia.com
share story
