Garry Clement: From floor crossings to foreign influence, Canada faces crisis of integrity

Garry Clement/The Bureau: Public opinion polls have long shown Canadians divided on the practice, with a significant proportion believing MPs should be required to face the voters again if they cross the floor. Yet the recent sequence of transitions — three in a matter of months — has many Canadians asking whether morality and integrity have been supplanted by political opportunism.

I have repeatedly argued that when public officials treat their mandates as personal assets rather than public trusts, democratic legitimacy suffers. These defections fit squarely within that concern…