Political Staples

I absolutely agree Greg! This is a disgrace. If Mr. Emerson wants to be a Conservative then he should have run as one… I can only hope that he does the honourable thing and puts himself before the voters sooner rather than later…

Why doesn’t the CPC just go off into a corner and put itself out of its missery. This exactly what should not have happened. How can you stand against power-grabbing and then facilite the power-grabbing of another. It sends mixed messages and makes Canadians reaffirm there convictions that all politicians are the same.

Plain old disgusting, Greg. The only way this can be mitigated is for Emerson to resign and run in a by-election. If he fails to do so, then the new bosses really aren’y any different from the old ones.

It smells.

This is a bad move.

I don’t think its as bad as Belinda crossing on the eve of a confidence vote. But its still pretty bad.

I wouldn’t have much of a problem with Emerson crossing the floor…I do have a problem with him getting a cabinet position right off the bat though.

It’s very heartening to see CPC supporters find this as disturbing as Stronach’s floor-crossing.

However, it now means that the CPC can combine votes with any of the other three parties to pass legislation. I wonder if we’ll see another NDP budget?

Good for you Greg, this is just a terrible way for the CPC to start.

There’s one huge difference between Belinda’s defection and Emerson crossing the floor. Emerson is a heavyweight, real CEO experienced type. A good fit with Harper. Probably a small-c conservative, too.

Belinda would have great difficulty holding down the job of pool attendant’s wife, if she didn’t have Daddy around for a great job.

Emerson is a one day hit. But a good choice for the Harper cabinet. Any more to come, I wonder? Not for cabinet, since there aren’t very many Liberal competents on the other side.

My take, for what it’s worth, is here:

http://www.thiscanada.com/2006/02/06/harpers-cabinet/

“Outrage” over Emerson ignores Harper’s need for the best core cabinet possible. Suck it up, folks.

My initial reaction was the same as yours. However it now appears that it was Mr. Harper who approached Mr. Emerson to join his cabinet, not the other way around. Apparently Mr. Harper felt strongly about having representation in his cabinet from all the major urban centers in Canada - something the press has made a great deal of - so he scoured the landscape of Vancouver MPs and felt Emerson was someone whose political roots weren’t that deep who could comfortably fill a cabinet position with the CPC. There was no such Liberal elected in Montreal resulting in the appointment of Michael Fortier as Harper’s solution to a lack of Montreal representation. Neither situation is ideal to be sure, but in long run I think Harper will be seen as having made good, albiet difficult decisions to potential problems.

I’m with you Greg. This is an ugly move. Emerson has screwed his constituents - misguided Liberal voters that they are, they still deserve an MP who respects their vote.

Harper should have told him to sit as an independent until he could win the Conservative nomination and win a by-election.

This is the difference between Conservatives like us and Liberals.

We’re willing to criticize our own party. If the Liberals had done this, they’d be patting themselves on the back.

I just think it is funny, but then I’m a cynic.

I think “outrage” or “disgrace” goes too far; the most I can muster is “unsettling.” As alluded to above, Emerson is a competent, capable guy; there is no doubt that he will be a valuable addition to cabinet. I am sure that many of the voters in his riding voted “Liberal” not “Emerson” - and he will have to face their reaction in two or three years time, if he decides to continue in federal politics. I think the comparison to Belinda is superficial; I am completely unconvinced that BS acted out of anything other than personal ambition, while I am quite a bit more open to the argument that Emerson acted for what he thinks is the best thing for the country and to address issues that have been a concern to him and led him into politics in the first place. He may be wrong in that assesment - but I believe that he made it without his personal ambition making the decision for him.

I’m with Greg. No matter how important it may be for Vancouver or BC to receive greater representation, they had the choice of having government representation on Jan 23rd. I would much prefer to see the 4 Liberals elected here on PEI stay Liberal, rather than stain my image of the new Conservative Party Of Canada. Hopefully his performance will improve my opinion.

I have another theory on the Emerson thing - during the scrum Mr. Harper indicated that he asked Emerson to sit in cabinet because he admired his hard work and his ethics. He said that he does not believe that partisan politics should keep a hard worker away from cabinet. He never indicated that Mr. Emerson is not a member of the Conservative party.

I think this is part of Stephen Harper’s new way of governing - having representation from other parties - people that you admire - sitting around the cabinet table with a view to having representation from areas where you have not “won” any seats.

So maybe this is a paradigm shift in how politics is “done” in this country.

Just a thought.

Now I know why you should preview first before posting.

Instead of Emerson is not a member of the Conservative party - it should have been

He never said Emerson is NOW a member of the conservative party

Chretien, mulroney and trudeau (the three most recent PM’s who lasted) lasted long precisely because of stunts like this. If I was a liberal still, I’d be scared right now.

Harper has pulled a trigger on the Emerson thing, which any of the previous PMs would have done. The optics of this are very simple for Harper: Emerson is not being brought on board for my survival, during which time parliamentary responsibilty was suspended for one week. He is one of the competent ones, unlike a recent floor-crosser who lept from the back benches as a rookie opposition mp to a cabinet position that had to be invented for her. I need respersentation from metro-vancouver. I need to provide as stable a tory minority as possible. This allows me the option of approaching jack layton to pass legislation where we agree and gives the left more power. I’m obviously going to have a hard time getting liberal support. I’m not going to the BQ come hell or high water; I intend to beat them in the next election. In the meantime, I’m going to run in the same race everyone’s running in. Until legislation is brought in to prevent floor crossing, I’m gonna have to play by the current rules.

From every political angle, Harper’s got his bases covered. He can AFFORD TO LOSE some votes in Alberta. His reward for risking them translates into gains in the next election. This kind of shrewd thinking is completely missing from the Liberals now.

I can see magical thinking is the new fashion among some Tories. If you cross the floor you are a member of that party. Don’t give me any of that Clintonian “It all depends on what is, is” stuff.

Well.. I guess this is 1 way to claim a major urban city voted for a Tory ;)

One other thing to think about:

Belinda was from a riding that can probably be described as a pretty moderate socially liberal riding, and she painted herself as a “Red Tory”.

Emerson is from a riding where only 19% of the consituents voted for the Tory candidate. This riding according to Pogge hasnt elected a Conservative to it since 1958. The NDP had a strong 30% 2nd place showing. Does anyone here honestly think the voters in that riding are going to be pleased about this, regarldess if the guy is in Cabinet?

Read this and rethink your positions.

http://talkcanada.blogspot.com/20060201talkcanadaarchive.html#113924088385366368

Harper has it “right”.

I guess Emerson will have to face his voters sooner or later.

More and more, it appears to me that Canadians don’t really care about this stuff.

New Blog to Remove Emerson

The prime minister has the right to appoint almost anyone to cabinet. He felt Emerson was the right person at this time. Sure politics played a huge part in this but this is how politics works.

Emerson is qualified (no-one argues this point), his party affiliation has no bearing on the matter.

Harper asked Mr. Emerson to accept this portfolio. This does not affect the balance of power in any way. Emerson brings experience to Cabinet and also someone who knows where the bodies are buried.

But the fact is, “our” vision of democractic reform is alittle different that the Conservative party’s vision. We are disappointed because “we” wanted people to sit as an independent or run in a by-election. This was not Stephen Harper vision as he stated during his interview with the CBC during the election. He isn’t being a hyprocrite and he managed to grab an excellent MP from another party.

It is part of business, as we all know companies steal employees from other companies all the time. Time to grow up people. I was bought, took a much better offer from a competitor. It happens all the time. Everyone knows someone who moved to another job for a better offer.

“It is part of business, as we all know companies steal employees from other companies all the time. “

He was elected under the Liberal banner. This isn’t the business world, and government should not be run according to the rampant amoral greedy me-first values that permeate big business.

Politicians are accountable to the people who elect them. If a better paid offer from the winnning party comes along after you have just been elected as a representative of another party, you stand tall like a man with integrity and turn it down. You don’t grovel and accept it and make lame excuses for your unethical behaviour. If you don’t have what it takes to accept defeat and keep on working for your constituents in the less prestigious role of backbencher, then quit politics and go back to the business world and its skewed values.

Canadians don’t need you.

I’ll just leave my two cents and say the optics aren’t great here, but that the benefits are too great not to take advantage.

I could eat this for the sake of softwood lumber, but a bi-election would make it taste better.

A defector, a patronage appointment and a lobbyist being named to Cabinet. I guess ethics don’t matter when its convenient. Canadians shouldn’t fear the Conservatives, they’re just like the Liberals. Spin it all you want, but this just stinks.

Just who does Mr Harper think he is? Ok, so he’s PM, but he has clearly demonstrated that he plans to continue to tell the people one thing and do another. What about the plans to clean up governemnt??? He is already going against his promises of accountability by placing unqualified, unelected people in plum positions - obviously he favours patronage appointments when he campaigned against them. I am disgusted at the travesty of democracy I am witnessing.

Oh, come on guys, suck it up!

Harper just pulled off a masterful manouver over the Liberals, and everybody is forming a circular firing squad in the first hours of a new government?

We have a MINORITY government. This is a good step to keep the Liberals and the Dippers from taking down the new Conservative government and forming a coalition to take its place.

It is all done within the law and within parliamentary tradition. Grow up and get with the program. Ideals are great, but they don’t always work in the real world.

But hey, maybe if we all b!@&h enough, we can get back that wonderfully honest Liberal government we just got rid of…

“Duff Conacher of Democracy Watch will be filing an ethics complaint against David Emerson.”

Complaint should also be filed against harper for initiating, aiding and abetting emerson’s move. He’s the PM and supposed to set an example for the country, especially in view of all his recent talks about ethics and accountibility. How dare he thwart the will of the people…..even Liberals didn’t stoop this low.

Old harpie was probably feeling proud of himself after fooling Canadian people by running a good campaign…like he could do no wrong….well sorry harpie, the rooster has come home to crow

“Duff Conacher of Democracy Watch will be filing an ethics complaint against David Emerson.”

Complaint should also be filed against harper for initiating, aiding and abetting emerson’s move. He’s the PM and supposed to set an example for the country, especially in view of all his recent talks about ethics and accountibility. How dare he thwart the will of the people…..even Liberals didn’t stoop this low.

Old harpie was probably feeling proud of himself after fooling Canadian people by running a good campaign…like he could do no wrong….well sorry harpie, the rooster has come home to crow

Why vote at all? You vote for a party and what it stands for then the representative turns around and slaps you for voting for him. This could hurt voter trust in the electoral system.

Citizens’ rights, Emerson and Harper – Class action lawsuit needed?

For those voters in Vancouver Kingsgate who are angry about Emerson’s unilateral decision to overturn the results of the federal election in their riding, consider this:

1. You are a citizen of Canada.
2. Your citizenship rights are protected in the Constitution, especially in the Charter of Rights, and by centuries of common law.
3. You have a right to protect your constitutional rights.
4. Harper and Emerson have denied you your rights as a citizen of this country.
5. Instead of just calling for Emerson to resign, why not establish a fund to pay for lawyers to launch a class action suit on behalf of the Liberal voters of Vancouver Kingsway, seeking a court order directing Mr. Emerson to cease and desist from representing that riding until such time as he stands for election as a Conservative?

Stand up for your rights. Take back your rights. Don’t just get mad; get even with Mr. Emerson.

and i figured that was what the ropes were for. to stop me squirming away when the body odour hit.