The Independent MP for Edmonton-St. Albert, Brent Rathgeber discusses his book, Irresponsible Government: The Decline of Parliamentary Democracy in Canada (Dundurn, 2014), with Joseph Planta.

Irresponsible Government: The Decline of Parliamentary Democracy in Canada by Brent Rathgeber (Dundurn, 2014). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Irresponsible Government

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, at TheCommentary.ca.

A new book written by a sitting Member of Parliament sheds much needed light on the state of parliamentary democracy in Canada: Irresponsible Government: The Decline of Parliamentary Democracy in Canada. It’s written by someone who knows of what he speaks, someone on the inside, if you will. Brent Rathgeber is the independent Member of Parliament for the riding of Edmonton-St. Albert. He was first elected to the House of Commons as a Conservative MP in 2008, and re-elected in 2011. In June 2013 however, he resigned from the Conservative caucus to sit as an independent, due to the government’s lack of support for transparency and accountability. He joins me now to talk about his book, that looks at the failure of elected parliamentarians like himself who have allowed prime ministers and their governments to run roughshod over the House, and essentially subvert accountability. It’s a compelling book with an examination of what’s happened, as well as what’s happened to him, which gives us insight into what life is like on the Hill, and what Canada is like with the Conservative Party and Stephen Harper in power. The website for more is at www.brentrathgeber.ca. The book is published by Dundurn, part of their Point of View Series; and the foreword is by Andrew Coyne. In Edmonton this morning, please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Brent Rathgeber; Mr. Rathgeber, good morning.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (29.6MB)

Subscribe: RSS