Well, well. It looks like newly-minted Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper didn't take long to show his true colors (or colours, if you will). After basically portraying himself as a "compassionate conservative" in everything but name, Harper took a page from the Repub playbook. He persuaded a newly reelected member of Paul Martin's outgoing cabinet
to switch parties.
Former industry minister David Emerson said his decision to defect from the Liberals and take a cabinet post in Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government was made to better serve his constituents.
The Vancouver MP and former head of lumber giant Canfor stunned onlookers when he arrived at Rideau Hall shortly before the Tory cabinet was to be announced Monday.
Soon after, he was sworn in as the new Conservative Minister of International Trade and the Minister responsible for the Olympic Games in Vancouver in 2010.
One word: sleazy. At least that's the only printable word I can use here.
This is far and away the sleaziest party switch I've ever seen--even more than Ralph Hall basically being bribed into the GOP and Rodney Alexander's flip-flop with hours to go in the filing period. At least they had the decency to jump ship after being sworn in. Emerson hadn't even been sworn in for his second term in Parliament yet!
Emerson claimed he switched parties because he has always been a nonpartisan at bottom and didn't want to be hyperpartisan in opposition. Oh really, David? How do you explain this?
On election night, however, Emerson told his supporters things like "We have got to look at this as Ground Zero for rebuilding a stronger, more vibrant, healthier, winning Liberal Party," and added to journalists, "I would like to be Stephen Harper's worst nightmare."
He also spins this as a way to better serve his constituents. But he was elected in a riding (Canada's term for an electoral district) where the Conservative candidate finished a very bad third--a good 12,000 votes behind Emerson. And he admitted that he'd have served in Cabinet under Martin had he been reelected.
Hmmm--methinks that Emerson just ended his career. Not only that, but it looks like the Liberals just got handed a lulu of a campaign issue in the next election.
I know what the Tory response would be to this one: "Two words: Belinda Stronach." However, all indications were that she would have voted in favor of the 2005 budget that almost brought down Martin even if she was still a Conservative. As the interim Liberal parliamentary leader, Bill Graham, she bailed for policy reasons. Emerson, on the other hand, says he would have still served under Martin as a Liberal had the Liberals been reelected. He sounds like a guy up for sale to the highest bidder. Disgraceful.
Bill Graham, the inteirm leader of the opposition (Martin is still nominal leader of the Liberal Party, but has ceded his role as parliamentary leader to Graham) said something that should be a Liberal theme for the next election (whenever it is):
"I think for him to have gone out and sought out David Emerson in the way which he did is really flying in the face of a lot of positions he had taken," Graham said. "I know some of his own backbenchers are upset about this, because this is the kind of deal-making that they spent time criticizing."
