‘An exercise in futility’

According to this front-page story in the Ottawa Citizen:

It is among the most fundamental pieces of information in a democracy: The record of how an elected representative votes on behalf of constituents.

But most Canadians would have to struggle to find a list showing how their MP voted on legislation before the House of Commons, so buried are these data in confusing parliamentary records.

Voting records for elected representatives in other countries are readily available on the Internet. The votes in the U.S. Congress are listed on the House of Representatives’ website and there are numerous public-interest groups that chart online the voting records of American politicians.

[…]

But there is no official publication that lists the voting records for Canadian MPs. The results of recorded votes in the House of Commons are buried in Hansard, the transcript of the debates, and the House journals, and these do not list votes by MP.

Why not, you wonder? Good question.

[cross-posted to IYB]

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