Mr. Emerson, welcome to the Conservative Party, BUT…
So Canada has its new Conservative Minister of International Trade and Pacific Gateway.
Mr. David Emerson was named on February 6th, 2006 by the new Prime Minister of Canada, Mr. Stephen Harper, as part of the first cabinet of his minority government.
The problem is that only a week ago, M. Emerson was still the newly-elected Liberal MP for Vancouver-Kingsway, a solid Liberal riding. That means Mr. Emerson has done exactly the same thing Belinda Stronach did. He crossed the floor in Commons for a Ministry. Only now, the parties are inverted.
And Emerson’s act is no more excusable than Stronach’s was. While I’m happy that the Conservatives now hold one more seat in Parliament, I generally do not view those party-switching stunts in a favorable way. And I’m guessing Emerson’s constituents must be extremely frustrated with his decision to defect to the Tories, considering that the Conservative candidate in Vancouver-Kingsway finished THIRD in the January 23rd election.
So yeah, Mr. Emerson is welcome in the Conservative Party, of course, but I’d prefer him to seek the support of his constituents in a re-election under the Conservatives before accepting a cabinet position. It’s only a question of principle. And Stephen Harper should have asked him just that.
But I don’t think it’s going to happen. At least now we’re even with the Liberals for the luring of Belinda “Bimbo” Stronach in their ranks back in May…
