Chris Hall: Conservative whip compares online Commons voting to 'swiping right' on Tinder

A senior Conservative MP is comparing a government proposal for online voting in the House of Commonsto the dating app Tinder.

Chief opposition whip Blake Richards said using an app to determine the fate of important bills after the Commons returns on Sept.23isinappropriate because it makes it more difficult for voters to hold parliamentarians to account for their decisions.

"And I really don't believe that voting can be reduced to having MPs sitting at home in their pyjamas and doing the voting almost like Tinder, where they swipe right or swipe left," Richards said during a panel discussion airing Saturday on CBC's The House.

"I think the idea of an app where you're swiping right, swiping left kind of cavalierly is not really the way we should be voting."

(On Tinder, swiping right on someone's photo indicates an interest in connecting. Swiping left is a no.)

Hooking up MPs for votes is just one of the issues being negotiated between the partiesnowas the Commons preparesto resume in less than two weeks with the Liberals' throne speech.

CBC News: The House13:07Panel Party whips debate how Parliament could safely resume

Liberal MP Mark Holland, Conservative Blake Richards and the NDP's Rachel Blaney offer a glimpse into negotiations surrounding the return to Parliament in less than two weeks.

The 'hybrid' model vs. in-person voting

Disagreements persist over how many MPs should be allowed to attend in personand how quickly Commons committees suspended when the government prorogued this summer can resume their investigations into the WE scandal.

The Liberals and NDP want to continue with the"hybrid" system used this summer, which saw relatively few MPs sitting in the chamber and the remainder taking part virtually. The Conservatives want as many MPs to attend in person as possible.

Liberal whip Mark Holland wouldn't discuss the specifics of the government's proposalsor the ongoing negotiations with the opposition parties. But he told The House the government is committed to ensuring all MPs, whether they attend in person or take part virtually, have the tools they need.

"I have absolutely no doubt that we're going to be able to move through this process in a way that allows every parliamentarian, in every corner of the country,regardless of the fact that we're in a pandemic, to participate," he said.

Last-minute talks

NDP Whip Rachel Blaney acknowledges work is being done by Commons staff nowto ensure everything is ready.But she said she's frustrated by the fact thatnegotiations among the parties were left to the last minute and there'sstill no guarantee that everything will function properly when MPs return.

"I think what Canadians deserve more than anything is a Parliament that's functioning, that's respectful of the pandemic that we're in and that we're moving forward to look after the things that they need every day," she said.

Blaney wrote to Commons Speaker Anthony Rota late last month to ask that House staff test electronic voting options. Rota said thathe can't authorize that workuntil MPs decide how they want to proceed.

He also said the recommendationsput forward in July by the procedure and house affairs committee which suggested the Commonscontinue with the hybrid model coupled witha secure, remote voting system were not adopted by the Commons before Parliament wasprorogued.

Richards said the Conservatives believe a minimum of 86 MPs can be present at any one time in the Commons without violating physical distancing guidelines. Conservatives also put forward a number of proposals to ensure voting can be done in person on matters of confidence, such as the throne speech and an economic update expected later this fall.

Parliament Hill is exempt from Ontario governmentregulations that limit the number of people at indoor gatherings to 50. Blaney, who represents the B.C. riding of North Island-Powell River, said protecting thesafety ofMPs, Commons staff and their families has to be the paramount goal.

Holland agreed.

"Let's be very clear. This is going to involve some MPs operating from home. We are in a global pandemic. Employees could be super-spreaders," he said.

"I mean, you're talking about people coming from every corner of the country, flying through airports, coming to Ottawa every single week, crowding into a tiny chamber. The best public health advice is that if you can work remotely, you should work remotely."

However the Commons ends up runningvotes in the coming months, the argument overhow MPsought to do one of the most critical aspects of their jobs is certain to remainsomething of a "tinderbox".