According to Canada’s Library of Parliament, an MP in the Westminster system of government—the system on which the Canadian Parliament is based—has three traditional roles. The first is to consider, refine and pass legislation. In other words, to establish policy and pass laws.
The second is to hold government accountable for its administration of the laws and to authorize the expenditure of required funds. That is, to ensure that the laws are being carried out properly, and that tax dollars are being spent responsibly.
The third role is to determine the life of the government by providing or withholding support. This means to vote for things you support, and against things you don’t.
Today’s conventions expand this traditional definition considerably. MPs perform a variety of roles in addition to those outlined above. Most notably, they are also responsible for the constituency and party duties that have emerged with a growing population, a larger Parliament and the evolution of Canada’s party system. As it turns out, modern politics and political life are much more complicated than what the classic Westminster description suggests.
Perhaps as a result of this growing complexity, there was little consistency in the ways the Members of Parliament described the essential purpose of an MP or how they balanced the competing aspects of the role. We were surprised to hear such vastly different descriptions of what, at its heart, is the same position.