David Emerson crosses floor to the Tories

[ernie]

A canoe alert right now...no story to link.

ALERT - Former Liberal industry minister David Emerson defects to Conservatives for cabinet post, Tory strategist indicates.

So the floor crossing begins. How many more will follow. Atleast he's been a cabinet minister to get one with the Tories (unlike rookie MP Belinda). Still it will always rub me the wrong way to have a person elected under one party only to have them cross the floor to a party with a different platform.

[transplant99]

Still it will always rub me the wrong way to have a person elected under one party only to have them cross the floor to a party with a different platform.

Agreed...its a slap to the face of every person that voted him into his seat.

[Cowperson]

How low class can you be to cross the floor seconds after your constituents voted you in as a Liberal?

He should immediately resign and run as a Conservative in a by-election.

Cowperson

[FireFly]

I agree, Mr. Cowperson. Wasn't that a Tory platform as well? However, until new legislation is passed, this is the way the system works.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Cowperson

How low class can you be to cross the floor seconds after your constituents voted you in as a Liberal?

The worst is all the people who gave hours of their time volunteering for his campaign. I'm sure a good chunk of them are Liberal supporters and now find out this morning they worked to get a concervative a seat.

[MarchHare]

All these replies and nobody has called him a "power-hungry whore" or any other misogynistic terms yet?

Anyway, I'm not surprised there's at least one Liberal who has crossed the floor. Historically, this type of thing happens almost everytime a new party comes to power.

It will be interesting to see if his voting record as a Conservative differs significantly from his Liberal record, though. Does anyone know Emerson's stance on same-sex marriage or some of the other issues Harper's government plans to re-visit?

[The Goon]

MarchHare, I actually came here to mention that it seems the Conservatives have a whore in their midst as well.

It's a shame and it's a poor start for what was supposed to be a government of increased accountability and ethics.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Personally I'm not a fan of crossing the floor at all (unless it's high school model Parliament where I set a school record for floor crossings, was a memeber of every party and an independant in the matter of an 15 minutes, wooo!)

However, (prepare flames throwers here) I think what Belinda did was a better floor crossing than the rumoured Emerson one.

Reason being, was Belinda actually spent some time as a Tory MP, then "realized" that her views and her party's views conflict. **not saying I agree with what she did, just that it's better than .....

Being elected and crossing the floor before even getting your ass in the your chair. The ultimate slap in the face, politicans are labled as scum, liars, and cheats. Generally speaking I think it's an unfair rep, however it's guys like this that give all political figures a bad reputation.

Unless he mentioned this in his campagin (which I highly doubt) or if he's had a history of being his own man, and not a party man (in Nova Scotia Paul MacEwan held his seat for 20+ years, however his riding was represented by the Liberals, Tories, NDP, and an independant in that time... not 100% sure on the NDP but the other three anyway) then he should be linched the next public outing.

If there ever was a case to be made that citizens should be able to fire their MP, this would be it.

[RougeUnderoos]

What a slut.

[Cowperson]

Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout

If there ever was a case to be made that citizens should be able to fire their MP, this would be it.

People who contributed to his campaign should be able to sue him for fraud. Seriously. This is very, very . . . . fraudulent. In fact, the Liberal party should be able to sue him for fraudulent use of their monies as well.

It would be interesting to see a court draw a line between "normal" political activity and fraud.

If he was the one doing the soliciting and pushing to come over, then the weight of this falls on himself . . . . . you're not going to turn down a freebie if you're the Conservatives.

If the Conservatives were out actively soliciting this and offering deals then the hypocrisy charge will be well earned.

Really, this guy should be wacked in every newspaper and on every television station and on every radio station call-in show.

It's disgusting.

Cowperson

[Bingo]

agreed ... pretty sick, they need to put a stop to this kind of thing.

I looked up his riding, Vancouver Kingsway, the Conservative guy only got 16% of the vote, behind Emerson at 41% and the NDP at 34%.

So unless his charisma suggests he won that seat on his persona and not his party this is a huge slap in the face for an area that wouldn't likely ever vote Conservative.

[Flame On]

bitch slut whore

[evman150]

Harsh. He was a Liberal "star" candidate. What an *******. I know if I lived in Vancouver Kingsway and voted for this ###### I'd be pretty damn choked right now. Even more so if I was a volunteer in his campaign.

[MarchHare]

So unless his charisma suggests he won that seat on his persona and not his party this is a huge slap in the face for an area that wouldn't likely ever vote Conservative.

A distinct contrast to Stronach's crossing, where her riding has traditionally been a Liberal stronghold. Her winning as a Conservative in 2004 (by less than 700 votes) was very much a case of the individual candidate winning over the party. This time, as a Liberal, she won by 5000. So when Stronach crossed the floor saying that the Liberal Party better reflected the ideals of her constituents, she's being quite accurate, insofar as voting history is concerned.

Vancouver-Kingsway has also been a solid lock for the Liberals. Since the riding was re-created in 1997, the Liberal candidate has won everytime. In 1997, 2004, and 2006, the Reform/Conservative candidate was not able to muster more than 20% of the vote. The Alliance candidate had 30% in 2000, compared to the Liberal's 43.7%. Bingo is quite right; it's highly unlikely the voters of Vancouver-Kingsway wish to be represented by a Conservative.

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

The big picture of this is now the Tories + NDP = 154 seats. Assuming the Speaker will be a Liberal, they can now pass legislation even if opposed by the Liberals and Bloc.

[ernie]

Originally Posted by Marc Ciampa

The big picture of this is now the Tories + NDP = 154 seats. Assuming the Speaker will be a Liberal, they can now pass legislation even if opposed by the Liberals and Bloc.

Yep. That means if Tory proposed legislation is favourable to any one party it will make it through the house. It will be up to Harper to throw every party enough bones to keep them happy. Really without a sponshorship scandal and other scandals the liberals would still be in power doing the same thing. Provided every party can go into the next election saying "look we did this this and this" they'll be happy because no one wants another quick election.

As far as the "whore" comments. There is a bit of a difference. Stronauch had just recently run for leadership of the party she left. Now she is talking of running for leadership of the Liberals. So yes she is very much after power IMO. Of course given the blank stare she gave a reported when he asked her a question in french she isn't going to become the Liberal leader anytime soon. I don't know the history of Emerson well enough to make that call but indeed it is probably also very much a powerplay on his part. Both situations stink to me to be honest.

[Bobblehead]

And he was given a cabinet post. If your party takes a stand you don't agree with, I can see crossing. If the platform of your party shifts in a way you cannot reconcile, I can see crossing. At least wait for an issue or reason to cross the floor.

"Meet the new boss,
Same as the old boss"

Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who

[ernie]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

And he was given a cabinet post. If your party takes a stand you don't agree with, I can see crossing. If the platform of your party shifts in a way you cannot reconcile, I can see crossing. At least wait for an issue or reason to cross the floor.

Very easy for him to look relatively good though. All he has to say is that the Liberal party is a complete mess and that this is a move where he thinks he can best serve his constituents. And who knows exactly where he stands. Remember he was recruited by Martin who was thought to be essentially a Tory when it came doen to it...a right leaning Liberal. Martin quickly and consistently moved to the left through the past couple of years.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by ernie

Very easy for him to look relatively good though. All he has to say is that the Liberal party is a complete mess and that this is a move where he thinks he can best serve his constituents. And who knows exactly where he stands. Remember he was recruited by Martin who was thought to be essentially a Tory when it came doen to it...a right leaning Liberal. Martin quickly and consistently moved to the left through the past couple of years.

If that's the case then why didn't he run as Conservative? And Martin isn't the leader anymore. Perhaps the new leader would have been more to his liking.

As I said, there are reasons that I would accept for a member to cross the floor, but to do it 2 weeks after the election just stinks.

[Mike F]

Disgusting.

The government bribing an MP with a cabinet position to cross the floor is a slap in the face to democracy, and is yet another example of why it is so important to kick the Fiberals out of office and elect a Harper Conservative government who will return integrity to. . . . the. . . . uh, wait a second .