Heterodoxy in public office: Why we must support diversity of opinion

In Canadian politics, (and I'm sure in most if not all democracies) we have a system in which political parties, with their carefully marketed brands and historically established norms, compete for our check-mark every four years or so. They take our vote and then draft policy, pass bills, and make decisions on our behalf. The only power we hold over them is that in a few years we go back to the polls so that we can "hold them accountable".
My observation is that conservatives get into power long enough to pass policy that discourages enough liberals to mobilize themselves to the extent to which they can then elect a liberal government, then the liberals do the same. Back and forth. The Left stays in long enough to raise taxes on the rich. The right stays in long enough to lower corporate taxes... yadda yadda yadda.
It's absurd these days to suggest that a good idea could get bipartisan support in parliament or congress. In the US we've seen 8 years of congress refusing to cooperate with any idea President Obama had, good or bad, just so that he wouldn't get credit. Meanwhile in Canada, Conservatives could present a sound economical policy but its chances of getting traction in the Liberal dominated parliament are zero.
Parties have dogma. Stuck in the mud conservatives and bleeding heart liberals alike have an orthodoxy to their ideology and reject any ideas that don't line up with their brand. I understand the concept of being loyal to your team but I make the argument that we NEED more diversity in parliament or congress. I applaud the Liberal governments attempt to bring more racial and gender diversity to our government. This allows more Canadians to be visibly represented on the political stage. But I think what is more vital to our government's profile than visible diversity is ideological diversity. We need strong, good ideas no matter what side of the political spectrum they come from and we need our elected officials to take them into strong consideration.
I love seeing more women and more visible minorities in government but if their ideas are just carbon copies of the status quo then we don't benefited nearly as much from diversity as we could.
Well respected researchers and authors like Jonathan Haidt and Steven Pinker are leading the way with an initiative to promote heterodoxy or a diversity of opinion in the sphere of higher education. From their website http://heterodoxacademy.org/ they warn us that "When nearly everyone in a field shares the same political orientation, certain ideas become orthodoxy, dissent is discouraged, and errors can go unchallenged."
I call the same warning for the public sphere. We need strong voices in Ottawa, Edmonton, and Victoria to provide a credible alternate opinion, not for the sake of being adversarial or to prepare for the next election, but to help those who are charged with making important decisions make the right decision, having weighed all viable options.
In my province of Alberta, there is a party that aims to just this. The Alberta Party aims to hold MLAs (members of the legislative assembly) accountable more to their electorate rather than their own party. A party that actually encourages their elected members to potentially vote in contrast one with another, if the people in their perspective ridings say so. The Alberta Party believes that good ideas can come from either side of the political spectrum. For this purpose alone I had to throw my support to them.
For the sake of having a stronger democracy. Where our voice isn't only heard at election time. Where we can be involved in every single decision being made by the legislature.
Am I not the only one excited about this?