A Calgary MLA announced Monday she will refuse to sit in the legislature to protest what she called “a culture of fear and intimidation” within the NDP government that prevents members from properly representing their constituents.
Robyn Luff, the MLA for Calgary-East, sent a letter to media outlets saying she had felt “bullied by the NDP leadership” since she was elected in May 2015, when the party swept to power under Premier Rachel Notley.
In her letter, Luff said Albertans are poorly served by a system that requires MLAs to vote party lines in all cases, a system where government members rise during question period to ask questions written in advance by ministries.
Luff said she often hears from constituents who think politicians don’t listen, “and that they’re all corrupt — that voting won’t make any difference.
“I believe that an MLA’s role is to refute this opinion, to be the voice for their constituents, to represent the people of Alberta to the best of their ability. However, because of the toxic culture that exists, I don’t believe that the citizens of Alberta are being represented properly.”
Only two voices are heard in the legislature, Luff said: the approved official NDP message, and the Official Opposition UCP message.
“It leads to hyper-partisan rhetoric, and to no actual debate on bills,” Luff said in her letter. “Everything that happens in the house is predetermined, rendering everything that happens there to nothing more than a vehicle for scoring partisan points. It makes a mockery of the proceedings.”
The MLA said she has expressed concerns within the party.
“I have been told by a cabinet minister that my career was sidelined for not jumping when a chief of staff told me to, and that the interaction was used as an example of what not to do as an MLA,” she said.
Luff said she has made several suggestions she hopes the premier will consider to change the way business in the legislature is conducted.