OPINION: Poilievre right to support recall legislation in Ottawa

Here’s the crucial thing that those pundits miss: What the voters think.

Published Apr 16, 2026  •  Last updated 23 minutes ago  •  3 minute read

Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa April 15, 2026. Photo by Blair Gable /Photo by Blair Gable / Postmedia

When politicians mess up and go against voters’ wishes, those voters should have the ability to fire them between elections.

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After all, voters are supposed to be the boss in a democracy.

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The Canadian Taxpayers Federation asked Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre if he supports recall legislation for members of Parliament.

“I am a longstanding supporter of the concept that voters should be able to recall their member of Parliament,” Poilievre said. “If you work as a barber or a mechanic or a waitress or a businessperson and you mess up at work and you don’t do what you’re saying, you get fired, but in politics, you get the rest of your term and your paycheque, so let’s take a look at it.”

Poilievre made the comments shortly after MP Marilyn Gladu crossed the floor from the Conservatives to the Liberals.

Tensions often run high when MPs switch parties. That’s especially true if the crossing moves a government from minority to majority status.

Constituents who live in ridings that vote in one direction often express frustration with floor crossers, as many are now doing in Gladu’s riding. One Canadian even wrote to the National Post and asked, “Why bother to vote?”

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When floor crossings happen, talking heads and media pundits like to give hot takes about what it means in the halls of power.

But here’s the crucial thing that those pundits miss: What the voters think.

Recall neglistation hold MPs accountable

The fair and balanced way to deal with floor crossing, along with a host of other issues, is to bring in national recall legislation so voters can hold their MP accountable between elections.

With recall legislation, if an MP runs afoul of their constituents, voters in that riding can collect petition signatures. If those voters gather enough signatures, they can force a byelection to recall their MP.

When a byelection is called, the MP can choose to run for their position again and they may or may not win the vote.

Recall legislation has been successful in Canadian provinces.

Alberta has recall legislation for provincial, municipal and school board politicians. British Columbia has had recall legislation for provincial politicians since the mid-1990s.

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In Alberta, residents in the village of Ryley used recall to help punt their mayor after municipal spending nearly doubled during the mayor’s tenure and the mayor expensed $5,000 to attend meetings without council approval.

In B.C., MLA Paul Reitsma was caught sending fake letters to a newspaper editor and resigned when it became clear that enough signatures had been collected to recall him.

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Discouraging politicians from messing up

Recall legislation provides a powerful tool even when a politician isn’t recalled.

Recall rules can play an important role in discouraging politicians from messing up in the first place. It doesn’t take a PhD in psychology to understand that a politician will think twice before wasting tax dollars if there’s a chance that they could face voters immediately rather than years later in an election.

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The good news for taxpayers is that Poilievre supports recall legislation. The good news for Poilievre is that there are models of recall around the world that he can choose from to strike the right balance between greater accountability and ensuring spiteful political chaos doesn’t ensue

“The origins of the institution can be traced back to the Roman Republic, where tribunes were occasionally recalled,” according to the 2018 Routledge Handbook to Referendums and Direct Democracy.

In addition to 39 American states allowing voters to recall politicians at the state or local level, there are 19 countries that have national recall legislation, according to the Routledge Handbook.

Poilievre is right that Canadians are supposed to be the boss and we need more control over politicians.

One of the solutions to Ottawa’s accountability problem is national recall legislation.

Franco Terrazzano is the federal director and Kris Sims is the Alberta director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation 

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