CFP candidate Cameron Thomas the only candidate backed by a party committed to free votes on every vote in Parliament except platform commitments and confidence motions.
TORONTO: Cameron Thomas, Canadian Future Party (CFP) candidate for Beaches–East York, announced how he will apply the CFP’s national commitment to free votes and MP independence if elected on August 31. including a public, closed list of the only votes he will treat as whipped, and a standing pledge to publish his reasoning every time he votes against his own party or caucus.
“Our last MP showed one determined person can vote against their own party and survive. Nate Erskine-Smith voted for electoral reform, against SNC-Lavalin, and his own prime minister’s signature bill, and faced no formal consequences. He also proved it didn’t change anything. The rules that let Liberal, Tory, and NDP leaders control every vote were as strong on his last day in office as they were on his first,” said Thomas. “Individual courage was never the missing ingredient. Structural change is.”
The CFP’s national platform commits to a strengthened UK-style model: free votes are the default, with whipped votes usually reserved for items in the party’s platform. Thomas is committing to a specific, published version of that exception for Beaches–East York, rather than leaving “platform items” open to expand after the election.
As MP, Thomas will only be expected to follow the party whip for:
Every other vote in the House of Commons will be free.
“A free votes promise is only as strong as its exceptions are limited. In 2015, the Liberals promised the same thing and carved out confidence matters, Charter issues, and anything in their platform, which in practice covered most of what the government brought forward. We’re not going to make that same mistake. Voters in this riding will know, on day one, exactly what I’m committing to vote freely on, and exactly what I’m not,” said Thomas.
Thomas is committing to formally publish, for every free vote where he breaks from what caucus leadership would prefer, a public explanation of his reasoning within 48 hours of the vote. Erskine-Smith did this informally, through his own newsletter and a voluntary voting-record page on his website. Thomas is committing to do it as a standing, public promise from his first day in office, not an occasional personal habit.
“Our last MP let constituents see his reasoning when he felt like it. I’m promising to let you see mine every single time, whether it’s convenient for me or not. That’s the difference between an MP who is personally independent and an MP whose independence is supported by their party,” said Thomas.
The current Parliament illustrates the scale of the problem. Under the Reform Act, 2015, each party's caucus may vote to give its own members the power to trigger a leadership review of their leader, but adoption is optional. The governing Liberal caucus, in a secret-ballot vote, voted it down.
“That vote happened in private, and there is no public record of how any individual Liberal MP, including our own, voted on it. That's the whole problem in one meeting: even the country’s most independent-minded MP casts the vote that matters most behind closed doors,” said Thomas.
Thomas flagged an additional reform the CFP would pursue, to clarify which votes count as matters of confidence. In October 2023, a motion by then-NDP MP Daniel Blaikie to require an explicit confidence vote around any prorogation, and to define confidence votes more clearly in the Standing Orders, was voted down by the Conservatives and Liberals together.
“Free votes and transparency are what I can guarantee for this riding starting on day one. But confusion over confidence conventions are things every future MP deserves, and fixing them takes a government willing to legislate,” said Thomas.
About Cameron Thomas
Cameron Thomas is the Canadian Future Party candidate for Beaches-East York. A seventeen-year resident of the riding, he is a communications strategist with more than two decades of experience advising executives and political leaders. He currently serves as Chief of Staff and Press Secretary for the Canadian Future Party. His campaign was the first to be confirmed on the Beaches-East York by-election ballot.
About the Canadian Future Party
Founded in 2024 under the leadership of former New Brunswick cabinet minister Dominic Cardy, the Canadian Future Party is committed to evidence-based policy, democratic reform, and restoring honesty and accountability to Canadian politics: Not Left. Not Right. Forward.
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Media Contact:
Beaches–East York Campaign
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