Come over here:

I signed the petition not long ago and its already more than doubled from 435 to almost 900.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Michael Watkins:
I'm not going to be a popular Conservative today.

---

edit: my views on Harper etc are well known. Some have decided to park their views and try to keep changing from within.

We really, really, need people to restart their brains in this country and for people to speak out. One thing I've never liked about party politics is the notion that its party first, individual opinion be damned (at least when in power).

IMO the homogenization (perhaps pasturization is a better word) of opinions is one of the greatest threats we face.

[ 08 February 2006: Message edited by: Michael Watkins ]

Myself and dozens of other supporters on the floor were shouting "principle! principle!" as in:

prince-i-pull!
prince-i-pull!
prince-i-pull!

The other side was yelling back their guy's name or some such thing, I don't recall. For a brief moment they appeared to be able to overwhelm us. Hundreds of people on either side and in the bleechers going at it.

The principled folks redoubled their efforts. I recall seeing a visual effect on the other side... they backed up, overtaken by the passion coming through our side. And on some faces, the look of shame.

Felt good on our side. I'll never forget it.

Organizers, sensing that we'd taken the momentum completely away, and remembering that national TV was broadcasting this live, worked furiously to calm it down.

Of course, its all BS in the end but there really were some excellent people on our side belting it out in one last measure of defiance and victory, even though we lost the race.

I'm not nostaligic for the old party - more correctly I'm saddened that we've lost so much of the good parts of it. With our current two-party power politics to me it was very important to work with the cards dealt and try to change from within.

These days I don't see much hope of people steering the agenda of the CPC to a better course when an utter lack of principle continues to be demonstrated by its leadership.

The election and its aftermath is not the first time we've seen principle go by the wayside.

[ 08 February 2006: Message edited by: Michael Watkins ]

[ 08 February 2006: Message edited by: Boom Boom ]

edit: At least not a completely free ride, unlike the pre-election free ride he was given.

[ 08 February 2006: Message edited by: Michael Watkins ]

[ 08 February 2006: Message edited by: Boom Boom ]

I could be a cynic and say that's less due to public outrage and more due to it being a relatively big story in an otherwise slow news week. If it weren't for the Emerson bit, the lead story undoubtedly would sunshine we are mercifully having here today.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
..

It's in the mail I'm sure... right now there are just too many easy targets.

quote:

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Originally posted by Michael Watkins:
Local press here are not letting the issue go.

I could be a cynic and say that's less due to public outrage and more due to it being a relatively big story in an otherwise slow news week. If it weren't for the Emerson bit, the lead story undoubtedly would sunshine we are mercifully having here today.

although public outrage is pretty high

---

Sure it was a slow *news* day -- from the station's marketing perspective. While the world is in flames and democracy is being usurped here and abroad, of two opening headline stories on one station, one was a bit on cats and dogs being used for fur.

quote:

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Originally posted by rasmus raven:
I respect Red Tories more than I respect Liberals, most of the time. Too bad that tradition has been steamrolled by the Conservative-Reform-Alliance Party.

---

Not completely.........

quote:

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Originally posted by JPG:
I had this forewarded to me. Seems fair.
Make him face the voters!

---

"He said he briefly considered resigning and might not stand for re-election in his Vancouver riding if his disillusionment with politics deepens." http://tinyurl.com/7lvrh

He's disillusioned with politics?? What a fucking, arrogant hypocritical bastard! It's like O.J. Simpson saying he's angry about criminals going free.

quote:

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Originally posted by RealityBites:
He's disillusioned with politics?? What a fucking, arrogant hypocritical bastard! ...

Nice quote from NDP MP Peter Stoffer: "It took the Liberals 12 years to develop a sense of arrogance. It only took the Conservatives 12 seconds to develop that sense of arrogance,"

---

Yeah, I loved hearing that quote and Emerson trying to defend his actions this morning on the CBC.

He's demonstrated that he has no principles and no honour what so ever.
So has Harper for asking him to switch.

quote:

---

Originally posted by faith:
I didn't tune in for the CBC interview but on Global last night Emerson went on at length about his fundraising on behalf of the riding and the Liberal party of Canada- so therefore it is 'preposterous' to suggest paying back campaign contributions.

---

OK, so let me get this straight.

I work for a charity as a very successful fundraiser. In one year I manage to raise half a million dollars, more than anyone else could have.

quote:

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Originally posted by faith:
Emerson's argument on switching allegiances was basically - Paul Martin is gone, I am a hard worker, I will work...

---

...for my own benefit, not yours.

He will never live this down, so he'd better get used to the questions.

[ 09 February 2006: Message edited by: Transplant ]

quote:

---

By Emerson's logic, the charity isn't entitled to that money since they never would have even the $450,000 if not for me.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by faith:
- Do you not think that the people of your riding wanted a strong opposition member to keep the Conservatives in line?

---

He says he plans to run in the next election, but I wonder whether this is true. If he had planned all along not to, his decision would make a bit more sense. I don't think anyone on Babble predicted Emerson would cross the floor, but a few did predict that if re-elected, he'd retire rather than sit in opposition. I think he's planning on going back to the private sector after the next election (and even if he did have further political ambitions, those are pretty much toast now).

/drift

But this whole Emerson thing made me recall something I read on another thread shortly before the election.

Originally posted by Dazzle Me (taken from TDH Strategies website):

quote:

---

George Drazenovic is a young and bright Tory candidate running in Svend Robinson's old riding for the second time. He pulled in a respectable 12,531 votes last time, competing against the eventual winner Bill Siksay of the NDP who garnered 15,682 votes, and Liberal insider Bill Cunningham, who came in second with 14,748 votes.

As has been reported by other local websites (check out the January 8th post), Drazenovic's campaign has been nowhere up until the past week, forcing the central campaign to step in for complete inactivity. This surprising disinterest struck us as a little suspicious, considering that George was as enthusiastic a candidate as TDH Strategies encountered anywhere in 2004.

Bill Cunningham is one of those Martin kool-aid drinkers with a long history as an organizer within the party. He served for many years as the Liberal Party of Canada's President here in British Columbia, and as soon as Martin took power, secured a nice cushy job as Executive Director and Senior Advisor at the Ministers Regional Office in Vancouver, where he oversaw the staff for the five Cabinet Ministers from British Columbia. As a candidate, Cunningham is getting every possible resource avaiable to him from the central campaign (often to the expense of other less favoured candidates), and has had a steady stream of Cabinet Ministers from across the country coming out to help him.

So what would propel such a formerly excited politcal upstart like Drazenovic to rollover and play dead in the such a winnable election?

George works as Chief Financial Officer for EPOD International Inc., an integrated Energy Services company that on its website claims to be "the leaders in electric power storage systems for the Distributed Generation, Co-Generation, Wind and Solar Power markets." If you go do a Google search like this or this, you will begin to understand that there are huge amounts of federal grant money, particularly through Kyoto related initatives, for alternative energy projects and technologies. Hell, if a company like Ballard, whose fuel cells have been losing money for the past decade, can get millions from the federal government, just about anyone can.

So here is the scene. In the summer, George receives a call from Don Stickney, Cunningham's campaign manager in 2004, asking him to meet Minister David Emerson for dinner to discuss his company, and ways that the Government of Canada might be able to help out. George accepts, and meets the Minister at a Chinese restaurant on Main St., where Emerson is dining with his wife.

Emerson shows great interest in EPOD, and indicates that he thinks the company would be in line for several federal granting streams, largely originating from within Industry Canada. Drazenovic is told that if something was worked out, and an announcement was made, he would have to be featured prominently at the event.

Let TDH Strategies preface this entry with the fact that we do not have a smoking gun, per se, but we encourage any sceptics to ask Stickney, Drazenovic or Emerson to deny that the meeting ever happened. Secondly, we cannot speculate as to whether any firm promises were made, although Drazenovic's non-existent campaign makes us wonder.

The funniest thing about this whole story? The fact that come January 23rd, the Liberals might not have any Ministers left to give out the grants that Emerson was alluding to.

---

TDH Strategies now says:

quote:

---

February 6, 2006 - TDH Strategies was called a traitor by some when we exposed a meeting that occurred between David Emerson and Conservative candidate George Drazenovic over potential federal funding for Drazenovic's company (check out our January 12th & 13th postings for that story).

Somehow, that doesn't seem like such a relevent accusation anymore.

---

Interesting.

Anyway... for more information on this story, or to view several Emerson (as Liberal) quotes (February 7, 2006), visit the site:

http://www.tdhstrategies.com/home.html

He's got quite a few from Hansard that might come in handy for Babblers later on. For example:

quote:

---

"They are pretending that they support Kyoto. They have never supported Kyoto. They do not support Kyoto and they never will." - April 18, 2005, referring to his new party

"Mr. Speaker, this government has said right from the beginning, I have said from the beginning and my colleague the Minister of the Environment has said from the beginning that we can achieve Kyoto and we can do it while the Canadian economy is made more and more competitive and that means jobs." - February 3, 2005

"Mr. Speaker, I can confirm to the House that those people's thinking is so inconsistent, they should just sit down." - February 4, 2005, once again criticizing his new caucus colleagues

"Mr. Speaker, I really find it difficult to live with this kind of foolishness." - September 26, 2005, in response to a question from Colin Carrie, Conservative MP for Oshawa

---

/End Drift

http://tinyurl.com/8m522 (Link to Google news "back door")

quote:

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David Emerson has abused the trust of the voters in the B.C. riding of Vancouver Kingsway. The newly Conservative minister should resign and run again in a by-election, under Tory colours rather than the Liberal ones he sported on Jan. 23. And Prime Minister Stephen Harper should oblige him to do so

---

I think they may have done themselves out of the post-election bounce in support they'd normally be getting.

quote:

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Originally posted by RealityBites:

He's disillusioned with politics?? What a fucking, arrogant hypocritical bastard! It's like O.J. Simpson saying he's angry about criminals going free.

---

He is a petulant child. He is simply proving what women have long argued about patriarchal men - they only look and feel powerful as long as no one questions their right to power.

As soon as you question them, they begin to splutter. They have just presumed for too long. They are totally out of touch; they are not politically competent in a democracy; they are big babies.

My heart bleeds.

quote:

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“I said during the campaign that I think anyone who crosses the floor ultimately should go back to the people for ratification and I stick by it,” Ontario Conservative Garth Turner told reporters in Ottawa.

Conservative Revenue Minister Carol Skelton, who in the last session introduced a motion to restrict the practice of party-switching, told reporters she does not plan to renew the call when the House resumes.

“That was last year,” she said. “We talked about it, and I decided not to proceed with it. It's one of those matters that is debatable.”

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by faith:
I didn't tune in for the CBC interview but on Global last night Emerson went on at length about his fundraising on behalf of the riding and the Liberal party of Canada- so therefore it is 'preposterous' to suggest paying back campaign contributions.

---

quote:

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"I don't understand why they would go to such bizarre lengths as to raise that kind of issue when in fact I had done so much and raised so much for the Liberal Party," said Mr. Emerson, who admits he feels battered by the outcry that followed his defection and appointment to cabinet this week. ...

"I would like the Liberal Party to contemplate how much they are going to pay back to all of the people who contributed to the Liberal Party because I was out there doing the fundraising for them," Mr. Emerson said after a cabinet retreat near Meech Lake.

"A lot of business people and others in the Vancouver area were supporting the Liberal Party because they were comfortable having me there."

---

I’m not defending the sheer opportunism of Emerson, I think he is quite frankly a tool. But crying for his re-call or asking for a by-election is equally ridiculous.

I also want to point out that Winston Churchill switched political parties three times, between three different parties. True leadership is not bound to partisanship.

The fact that both actions can be taken by principled people does not change the fact that they can also be taken by slimy, unprincipled bastards.

Tommy Douglas ran for premier.
Richard Nixon ran for governor.

Get a grip.

Timeline:

Monday Jan 23 - Election Day, Emerson elected as a LIBERAL, having run a highly partisan campaign, criticising the Conservative campaign platform and denouncing the CPC as a scary "right wing" party that, in Emerson's own words was likely to "savage social programs".

The very next day, Emerson is approached, unknown to us. At some point after that first contact, Emerson makes his decision. Two weeks pass. No government is yet sworn in, Martin's government still technically in power.

Monday Feb 6 - Minutes after Martin officially resigns the government of the day, David Emerson walks into Rideau Hall, having made a new record for crossing the floor.

I am not opposed to crossing the floor but this switch amounts to fraud, whether or not it meets the legal definition. Emerson may be legally correct that he can make a unilateral decision to go against the will of his electorate, but its not right. Doesn't meet any sort of sniff test.

quote:

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Originally posted by skdadl:
Someone is comparing David Emerson to Winston Churchill?!?

---

No, I am not defending Emerson's actions. I am defending a Member of Parliament's right to switch political parties.

No candidate running for the Liberal or Conservative party would have their nomination papers signed by the party leader if the candidate indicated he would jump ship to the other party immediately after the election if offered a position. But that is in effect what has happened.

Remember, neither Emerson nor Martin nor Harper nor most people within the Liberal or Conservative parties are under any illusions - they know that economic policies between the two parties are largely the same.

So its a matter of trust that you are going to stick up for your party even when the going gets rough.

In the party system we have, a candidate promises to further the goals of the party, not merely be a voice in Ottawa. The candidate is making that promise to his riding association, to his party, and ultimately to the voters if the candidate is nominated.

My understanding is that Parties are an afterthought in the rules of Parliament. If we said Emerson couldn't leave the Liberal party what would that mean? He still could be appointed to the Privy Council and he could still vote his conscience. Could he still be appointed to cabinet? If he couldn't then is a coalition government possible?

Technically, the Liberals weren't done until Mr Harper was sworn in.

The CPC approached Mr Emerson TWO WEEKS AGO or so, while the Liberals were STILL GOVERNMENT (shades of Grewal perhaps?).

Talk about a conflict of interest.

There is NO way Mr Emerson would have been voted in in his riding, seeing as how the CPC candidate finished a DISTANT THIRD in the "horse race". Mr Emerson should have been aware that the voters DIDN'T want a Conservative MP OR Cabinet Minister, for that freaking matter.

His arrogance about NOT returning the NINETY SEVEN THOUSAND DOLLARS the Liberals spent getting him elected borders on THEFT AND FRAUD.

No law could really have prevented this, nor do I think it should be tried.

quote:

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MPs are leaders and sometimes need to show strong leadership, and occasionally that may mean switching parties if that MP decides it is better for his/her constituents.

---

In this scenario democracy means nothing, and "leadership" is the only principle to which value is attached.

According to the NDP Ethics package, as I understand it, if you are nominated as a Liberal, you sit as a Liberal. And if they are in opposition, you are in opposition. If you feel like showing "leadership", take the step, and then return to your constituents to see if they approve what you have done.

quote:

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"If you want to call it arrogance, go ahead, fill the newspaper with it. I don't really care," Emerson told reporters on a conference call on Wednesday night. "I am pursuing the very agenda I got involved to pursue when I was in the Liberal party supporting Paul Martin."

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by tommie:
No, I am not defending Emerson's actions. I am defending a Member of Parliament's right to switch political parties.

---

He was not a member, he was a member elect who had just campaigned and won as a Lib.

[Ah, I stand corrected by cdnviking.]

He has made a mockery of the electoral process.

[ 09 February 2006: Message edited by: Transplant ]

quote:

---

Originally posted by faith:
"If you want to call it arrogance, go ahead, fill the newspaper with it. I don't really care"

---

In other words, "Fuck You."

Has no-one yet told him, "David, when you're deep in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging"?

quote:

---

Originally posted by Mr. Magoo:
I think if he'd crossed the floor to the NDP we'd be signing a petition to have his statue commissioned.

---

Exactly. And Jack Layton would start playing the harp and praising how the NDP is reaching out to the business community. Ed Broadbent would tell us all that this time a by-election is not relevant, because we're just morally superior. Meanwhile, Paul Summerville would be having a massive orgasm somewhere.

If they wish to call that arrogance, so be it.

I really do think Emerson was planning on taking over for Gordon Campbell but his handling of this has been abominable, not to mention the error of principle which he willingly made in the first place.

Emerson wouldn't cross to the NDP 2 weeks after an election unless he had a nasty bump on the head and due to some bizzare brain injury, turned instantly into a progressive.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Mr. Magoo:
So is this the first time an elected representative has ever crossed the floor or something? Suddenly, democracy has been made a mockery of?

---

Not like this.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Mr. Magoo:
So is this the first time an elected representative has ever crossed the floor or something? Suddenly, democracy has been made a mockery of?

I think if he'd crossed the floor to the NDP we'd be signing a petition to have his statue commissioned.

---

That's a bit disingenuous though isn't it?

Crossing the floor is nothing new. Many of us would like it to be restricted - e.g., by compelling potential floor-crossers to resign their seat and run in a bye-election. But that is an entirely different matter.

You see, the crux of the matter is this: what is so galling about Emerson is that he crossed the floor almost immediately after we just had an election - in fact, prior to the House of Commons even sitting. He runs as a Liberal and wins; the Liberals lose the election; Emerson appears to lose his seat in Cabinet; Emerson decides that he does not want to lose the aforementioned privilege; Emerson switches parties; Emerson maintains seat in Cabinet.

quote:

---

Is there anyone, anywhere in Canada, doing more right now to boost the fortunes of the Liberal Party?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Transplant:
Well, Con MP Garth Turner is now publicly calling for Emerson to resign and run in a byelection, and reports say other Con MPs and party members are grumbling along the same lines. This is turning from a coup into an ethical and political liability for Harper.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by obscurantist:
Well, he did say he would be the Tories' "worst nightmare."

---

quote:

---

Well, Con MP Garth Turner is now publicly calling for Emerson to resign and run in a byelection

---

Garth Turner is very right-wing...but he's always had democratic principles...and I'll respect him for that.

Some of us will disagree on whether or not "floor crossers" should have to face a by-election. Personally I support the idea.

But I think most of us would agree that someone crossing the floor within a couple of weeks of an election campaign is an absolute outrage.

Belinda Stronach crossing the floor was kind of sleazy...but Emerson? This is sleaze piled on top of sleaze!

No matter what most of us have to say, I think that the folks who can most influence this situation are the residents of Emerson's riding.

If let's say you could get 80-90% of the voters in Vancouver-Kingsway to sign a petition calling for Emerson's resignation and/or a by-election I think it would be impossible for Emerson to stay on as an MP.

I'm not speaking of an "online" petition...they don't have much credibility. I'm speaking of an honest to goodness pen & paper petition...one where you knock on doors and go to shopping malls to collect signatures.

The various election campaigns still have their lists of volunteers. They're still "fresh". Why not ask them for one more favour...and go to work on a petition campaign.

Residents of Vancouver-Kingsway would be able to take pride in being the first group of folks to take down a Harper cabinet minister And I think that Canadians from coast to coast would thank them for it

[ 09 February 2006: Message edited by: radiorahim ]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Screaming Lord Byron:
I suspect that if this keeps up, the petition will be unnecessary - Emerson will just quit.

---

quote:

---

radiorahim: but Emerson? This is sleaze piled on top of sleaze!

---

[ 09 February 2006: Message edited by: N.Beltov ]

quote:

---

Originally posted by scooter:

David Emerson will face the wrath of the voters, just like Belinda did...oh...wait...they voted her back in now didn't they.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Boom Boom:

Keith Boag on The National ended his piece on this controversy a few minutes ago with the suggestion that Harper may just cut Emerson loose to kill all the bad press he's getting.

---

If Harper ever wants a majority, he has to cut Emerson loose - this is getting very close to being the defining moment of his incumbency - three days in.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Boom Boom:
I was surprised the M. Fortier appointment seems to have got little press (by comparsion), so far as I've heard.

---

One affront to democracy at a time, please.
We'll get to M. Fortier in due time.

[ 09 February 2006: Message edited by: Screaming Lord Byron ]

quote:

---

Originally posted by radiorahim:

If let's say you could get 80-90% of the voters in Vancouver-Kingsway to sign a petition calling for Emerson's resignation and/or a by-election I think it would be impossible for Emerson to stay on as an MP.
[ 09 February 2006: Message edited by: radiorahim ]

---

80-90% is unnecessary - all they need to do is get 23,222 signatures, that is 50% +1 of the total number of voters in the last federal election. That's all the legitimacy you need.

Can it be done?

[ 09 February 2006: Message edited by: Screaming Lord Byron ]

quote:

---

Originally posted by radiorahim:
Residents of Vancouver-Kingsway would be able to take pride in being the first group of folks to take down a Harper cabinet minister And I think that Canadians from coast to coast would thank them for it

---

Anyone into a protest out front of his constituency office (on Kingsway) tomorrow afternoon (in time for the evening news cycle)?

Needs to be a big protest, during rush hour, with signs done up "Honk If You Want Emerson To Resign"...

I'll join in the fun.

[ 09 February 2006: Message edited by: Michael Watkins ]

quote:

---

Originally posted by rasmus raven:
There was a strong strain of red Toryism in the Mulroney government, which, for example, was better on women's issues than the Liberal governments it succeeded, according to Judy Rebick. And most of the Ontario welfare state was built under decades of red Tory government. For that matter, the apex of urban planning in Toronto is widely considered to have been under David Crombie, well-known red Tory.

---

Yes.

But the underyling ideas about the role of government has been transformed. Keynesian ideological princlpled ruled the core policies of all parties, just as the ideaology of the globalized "free market" has taken root at the heart of mainstream parties, even those that come from "left" traditions such as the NDP, British Labour and the SDP. The advent of Bob Rae or any of the sleazy BC NDP governments of the past while was no accident.

Which would be a triumph for Canadian democracy.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Michael Watkins:
Maybe the NDP should recruit Red Tories and rename itself the RTP.

Red Tory Party.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Boom Boom:
I was surprised the M. Fortier appointment seems to have got little press (by comparsion), so far as I've heard.

---

Harper has brilliantly diverted attention from his shitty appointments... by hiding them behind even shittier appointments. It is absolute genius!

[ 10 February 2006: Message edited by: Albireo ]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Cueball:
Actually, 60's era Canadian tories are considerably to the left of Jack Layton.

---

As were more than a few Liberals, and the NDP then as well.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Pogo:
We have taken people in the past. Federally, I can't think of a time when it was a positive move.

---

That's true. Over the decades, the NDP has been strengthened by taking in people who made principled moves into the NDP, but the ones who've turned out best are ones who did so _before_ running for Parliament under the NDP banner (Pauline Jewett anyone?).

The last parliamentary defector that was accepted into the federal NDP caucus that I recall was Robert Toupin, a disgruntled Quebec tory weirdo who had been thrown on the beach by the Mulroney wave in 1984. Turned out well too...stayed in the party and caucus less than a year before denouncing the NDP as a nest of Marxists and moving onto final obscurity in the farthest corner of the HoC.

So between that sorry history and the contemporary optics of it all, I doubt very much that the NDP would have welcomed Emerson, even if a serious brain injury had led him to the federal caucus's door.

[ 10 February 2006: Message edited by: In Exile ]

quote:

---

Actually, 60's era Canadian tories are considerably to the left of Jack Layton.

---

Social issues (broadly defined) like GLBT rights, abortion and capital punishment were a whole 'nother story. On some of those issues, there WERE true "progressives" within the PC party, but of course there were many "regressives", as well. It was probably not uncommon to find PCs who were opposed to abortion, in favour of capital punishment, hated gays, loved the monarchy, and at the same time believed in strong public services like public education, public health care, public broadcasting, building infrastructure, social programs to reduce poverty, and favoured corporate tax rates and marginal tax rates on the highest income-earners that not even the NDP would dream of proposing these days.

[ 10 February 2006: Message edited by: Albireo ]

quote:

---

It was probably not uncommon to find PCs who were opposed to abortion, in favour of capital punishment, hated gays, loved the monarchy, and at the same time believed in strong public services like public education, public health care, public broadcasting, building infrastructure, social programs to reduce poverty, and favoured corporate tax rates and marginal tax rates on the highest income-earners that not even the NDP would dream of proposing these days.

---

I have emailed Garth Hunter and Myron Thompson thanking them for their comments about the integrity of Emerson's move.

I have emailed James Moore saying that in my opinion he would make a more representative Conservative Vancouver cabinet minister than Emerson.

The focus should go to Harper, who accepted this betrayal, in fact, he enabled it.

http://tinyurl.com/cwnnt

quote:

---

Originally posted by V. Jara:
I have emailed Emerson, the PMO, and the Tory cabinet minister for the riding I'm in asking Emerson to resign and face a byelection.

I have emailed Garth Hunter and Myron Thompson thanking them for their comments about the integrity of Emerson's move.

I have emailed James Moore saying that in my opinion he would make a more representative Conservative Vancouver cabinet minister than Emerson.

Other than letters to the editor, have I forgotten anyone?

---

[ 10 February 2006: Message edited by: peterjcassidy ]

edit to correct URL: Public forum / rally to demonstrate opposition to Emerson crossing - tomorrow (Saturday Feb 11 1-3pm) at Charles Tupper

[ 10 February 2006: Message edited by: Michael Watkins ]

"That was my plan. I heard lots of rumours that Mr. Emerson wasn't happy with the Liberal party long before the election," Wong said in an interview yesterday. "If one day Mr. Emerson prepared to cross the floor I was ready to step aside for him.""

quote:

---

Originally posted by jeff house:
Emerson may well be a dead duck because of his betrayal of the voters.

The focus should go to Harper, who accepted this betrayal, in fact, he enabled it.

As Brian Mulroney once said: "You had a choice, sir. You could have said 'no'."

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Mike N:
"That was my plan. I heard lots of rumours that Mr. Emerson wasn't happy with the Liberal party long before the election," Wong said in an interview yesterday. "If one day Mr. Emerson prepared to cross the floor I was ready to step aside for him.""

---

Not like Kanman had a hope in hell of winning.

Commissioned by BC-CTV and undertaken by the Mustel Group for the riding of Vancouver-Kingsway.

Sample Size: 202;
Error Margin: 6.9%;

Should a by-election be held in Vancouver Kingsway?

[ 10 February 2006: Message edited by: Screaming Lord Byron ]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Centrist:
Something a 'lil more concrete - an opinion poll.

---