OTTAWA—Who decides who’s in and who’s out of Liberal caucus? Is it the prime minister? Is it caucus? You can be forgiven for not knowing. As the governing Liberals have tried to figure out what to do about former cabinet ministers Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott, even they don’t appear to be sure.It should not be this way.Under a law passed by Parliament in 2015 all parliamentary caucuses were obliged to decide by internal vote at their first meeting what is the extent of the powers of the prime minister and the leader of caucus to decide key issues like membership and expulsion.Conservative MP Michael Chong, who sponsored the changes in a private members’ bill that became the Reform Act, says the Liberals, and the New Democrats, are in clear violation of that law because neither caucus took the requisite votes after the last general election.In the Liberal party’s case, that has led to much confusion over how to decide the fate of Wilson-Raybould and Philpott.The Conservatives did vote on the measure. And one of its votes determined that only the Conservative caucus, elected MPs and senators, can decide on the fate of a fellow caucus member, not the leader. One can resign, but leader Andrew Scheer can’t kick anyone out without a vote of caucus.“It is clear. This is not an option,” said Chong in an interview. “There is no provision to defer votes, no provision to delay votes, no provision not to vote. You must vote four times determining the powers at the heart of our democratic system, what powers the prime minister will have and what powers the caucus will have.”On Wednesday, Liberal MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes quit caucus, in apparent regret over having disappointed her caucus colleagues when she gave an interview critical of Justin Trudeau at the height of the SNC-Lavalin affair. She tweeted an apology over the “unintended effects” her interview had. It fuelled the Conservati ...
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