Dave Yadallee's personal blog

From Campbell Clark of the Globe and Mail:





Harper restricts ministers' message

Officials urged to stick to five key priorities; PMO wants to vet all other public comment



CAMPBELL CLARK



From Friday's Globe and Mail



OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper has imposed central control over all information and comments to the public issued by government officials and even cabinet ministers, directing them to have everything cleared by the Prime Minister's Office, according to an internal e-mail and government sources.



The orders, described in an e-mail to bureaucrats, indicate that ministers have been told to avoid talking about the direction of the government, and that the government wants them to be less accessible to the news media. And all government officials are instructed to avoid speaking about anything other than the five priorities outlined in the Conservative campaign.



"Maintain a relentless focus on the five priorities from the campaign. Reduce the amount of ministerial/public events that distract from the five priority areas identified in the campaign," the e-mail states.



"In order to keep a grip on such events [those that distract from priority areas], PMO will approve all ministerial events."



The seven-point e-mail summarizes a briefing that the federal government's top bureaucrat, Clerk of the Privy Council Kevin Lynch, and his senior official in charge of government communications, assistant cabinet secretary Dale Eisler, gave to the top communications official in several government departments last week. The e-mail was made by a senior bureaucrat who attended the meeting.



Government officials and Conservatives confirmed the instructions, including orders that the PMO clear all public communications — including minor comments and letters to local newspapers.



"PMO will have final approval for all communications products — even Notes to Editors or Letters to the Editor," the e-mail states.



The instructions reflect the extreme caution of a new government with few seasoned hands, worried that even its ministers might slip. It reflects a desire to create the perception that the government is focused — to differentiate itself from Paul Martin's Liberal government, which was widely criticized as having scattered attentions.



While government ministers are holding some events on issues not included in the five priorities — a Federal Accountability Act, a GST cut, a child-care allowance, tougher criminal sentences, and a patient waiting-times guarantee — such events are being kept to a minimum. Comments or information on other issues are closely guarded.



Since they were sworn in on Feb. 6, cabinet ministers have, for the most part, refused to grant interviews to reporters, providing only terse and often vague responses to questions outside cabinet meetings.



Last week, the Prime Minister's Office asked officials to remove the microphones that have for decades been set up in hallways outside cabinet meetings. When press gallery officials intervened, they backed off temporarily. Mr. Harper's press secretary, Carolyn Stewart-Olsen, said the issue would be discussed with gallery representatives. She then insisted reporters would have "more space" if they asked to see ministers in the Commons foyer.



The e-mail, however, suggests the government intends to reduce reporters' access to ministers to help them stick to their orders to say little about government plans.



"Set-up for post cabinet scrum is intentional — Ministers have been told they are not allowed to speculate on future direction of government," it states.



Ministers who have strayed from the government line have quickly issued retractions.



Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay, who suggested some Canadian aid might flow to the Palestinian Authority despite the recently elected Hamas majority, reversed course the next day.



A spokesman for the Prime Minister, Dimitri Soudas, refused to comment yesterday on the e-mail's details.



Mr. Harper's PMO is not the first to want the final say on communications — but it has extended the practice to a level never seen in Ottawa.



The offices of prime ministers Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin demanded to approve major communications, and asked to be informed when ministers planned announcements or speeches. Now, government officials, and even ministers, must clear every interview or comment, and even the most anodyne pamphlet must get PMO clearance.



The restrictions on cabinet ministers were also evident last week when Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Liberal equalization-payment deals made an incoherent mess of the system, even though the Conservatives had pushed for the offshore-resource deals with Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.



Later that day, Mr. Flaherty issued a statement protesting that he never referred specifically to Newfoundland or Nova Scotia or mentioned "oil and gas," but those two agreements were the only ones the Liberals had signed.





-------------------------------------------





What are the New CONs trying to hide?

And still drowning. IS Canada going to have an election set for Either Sept 2006 or Oct 2006?

I am game.



I found this in can.politics:



1)



Harper incensed at ethics official's Emerson probe



By BRUCE CHEADLE, CP



OTTAWA -- There's a possibility Stephen Harper's first act as prime minister

may have breached the parliamentary ethical code for MPs, the federal ethics

commissioner indicated yesterday.



But Bernard Shapiro's plan to launch a "preliminary inquiry" into Harper's

controversial appointment of former Liberal industry minister David Emerson

to the Conservative cabinet met a furious rebuttal from the Prime Minister's

Office.



"The prime minister is loath to co-operate with an individual whose decision-

making ability has been questioned and who has been found in contempt of the

House," Harper's communications director, Sandra Buckler, said.



In a release, the PMO added, "this Liberal appointee's actions have

strengthened the prime minister's resolve to create a truly non-partisan

ethics commissioner, who is accountable to Parliament."



A major parliamentary fight appears to be in the works.



Shapiro, who did not speak to reporters yesterday, seems to be basing his

probe on parts of the parliamentary conflict-of-interest code that forbids

inducing an MP to change his or her vote for personal gain.



"After careful consideration, and pursuant to . . . the members' code, I have

decided to combine a preliminary inquiry of the prime minister . . . with a

preliminary inquiry on my own initiative of Mr. Emerson," Shapiro wrote in an

open letter to the Speaker of the House of Commons.



The announcement comes almost a month after Harper shocked the political

establishment by plucking Emerson, the former Liberal industry minister, from

the Opposition front bench and placing the Vancouver MP in his first

Conservative cabinet.



The move came the same day Harper was sworn into office and just two weeks

after Emerson won his Vancouver-Kingsway seat as a Liberal.



The Tories are crying foul, noting that Shapiro turned down their request for

an investigation into Liberal Tony Valeri's landholdings during the election

campaign on the grounds the commissioner couldn't act between sittings of

Parliament.



Since the Commons won't resume sitting until April 3, Harper's office argues

Shapiro is applying a double standard.



Brian Cheadle, please get touch with me so that I can get a URL back to you on this.



2)



Harper against National Child Care



http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=b1511087-f71...

http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/feb/06020205.html

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/200602...



3)



Canadian Press



Thursday, March 02, 2006



OTTAWA (CP) _ Liberal health critic Ken Dryden says he is disturbed by Prime

Minister Stephen Harper's casual tone in responding to Alberta's Third Way

health proposals.



Dryden said in a teleconference it seems clear the proposals put forward by

Alberta Premier Ralph Klein would violate the Canada Health Act, and Harper

should not need days to say so.



Harper said Wednesday he is waiting for an assessment of whether Klein's

proposals would violate the act, which sets the ground rules for medicare _

and which the Conservatives have promised to uphold.



Dryden, considered a leading candidate for his party's leadership, said

Harper's main lever in dealing with Klein is the moral authority that rests

in Harper's role as prime minister.



He did not comment on whether Ottawa should impose financial penalties on

Alberta, although that would be a logical consequence if the legislation were

contravened.



Alberta's Third Way plan would allow patients to get better or faster service

if they are willing to pay for it, and would allow doctors to work in the

public and private spheres simultaneously.



Someone from Canadian Press, can I have the original line?



Basicaaly Harper is harping a sour note.

Divided over David Emerson

By Mike Howell-staff writer



If you drive past Conservative MP David Emerson's constituency office on Kingsway this Sunday, chances are Jurgen Claudepierre will be there.



The 64-year-old mason will be carrying a sign made from an old hockey stick attached to a square piece of white foam board. He's written "Why vote?" on it.



When Claudepierre is not pacing in front of Emerson's office, he'll be escaping the cold weather inside his Chevy pickup. That would be the one with the large sign mounted in the box of the truck.



On one side he's written, "David Emerson resign." The other side, which faces Emerson's office, asks, "Is that democracy?" A garbage can placed on the tailgate with another sign stuffed in it says, "Vancouver-Kingsway ballot box."



"I thought we were going to clean up government," said Claudepierre over car honks of support in front of Emerson's office last week. "I'm here because I have passion in my life. I'm committed to this. I'm planning on being here every Sunday until something happens, until he resigns."



Like 20,061 other voters in the Vancouver- Kingsway riding, Claudepierre voted for Emerson the Liberal. Another 15,470 voted for Ian Waddell of the NDP and 8,679 cast a ballot for Conservative candidate Kanman Wong.



As the results showed-as they have over the decades-the predominately working class riding votes Liberal or NDP. Conservatives aren't welcome there.



So when Emerson crossed the floor Feb. 6 to the Conservatives and accepted the portfolio of international trade minister, the wave of anger that rolled through the riding was not surprising.



That Emerson never told former prime minister Paul Martin or his once-fellow Vancouver Liberal MPs about his decision further infuriated Liberal party members and voters.



It's now the news story that won't go away, based in a riding that's more divided about Emerson's decision than many news reports suggest.



Recall campaigns are underway, petitions drawn up and protests continuing as the 60-year-old millionaire remains defiant, saying he won't resign.



He has allies in Mayor Sam Sullivan, B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell, Darcy Rezac of the Vancouver Board of Trade and a host of business people.



Emerson's move is good for Vancouver, good for B.C., good for Canada, they say. Translation-it's just business, that's all, and critics should get over it.



But, as Claudepierre pointed out, Canadians enjoy a privilege called democracy. It's our right to cast a ballot for the person and political party we want to work on our behalf.



"It's the principle of it all," he said. "I feel betrayed. My son, who's 16 years old, would disown me if I pulled a trick like that with just one person, never mind 20,000 people."



Claudepierre was one of 20 constituents-10 men and 10 women-the Courier spoke to last Thursday and Friday in the Vancouver-Kingsway riding.



Interviews were conducted on cafe patios, in a veterans' club, on street corners, in a restaurant, at a seniors' care home, a community centre, a playground and at a rally organized by the NDP at Sir Alexander Mackenzie elementary school.



Eleven of the 20 people said Emerson should resign. Of those 11, five voted for Emerson, two for Waddell, two wouldn't say and another two didn't vote.



Four people-two Liberals, a nonvoter and a woman who wouldn't reveal her vote-didn't have a problem with Emerson's defection, saying he shouldn't resign.



Five others-a Liberal, NDPer, Green, a nonvoter and a man who wouldn't share his vote-were undecided whether he should resign.



Respondents ranged in age from 27-year-old Kat Featherstone to 86-year-old Arthur Swanson. The majority were working class and reflected a small sample of the culturally diverse riding.



Vancouver-Kingsway runs east from Oak Street to Boundary Road and north from 41st Avenue to 16th Avenue. Emerson's office, near Victoria Drive, is considered the heart of the riding.



It's also where the Courier began its quest to gauge voters' reaction to Emerson's defection. After speaking to Claudepierre, the Courier crossed Kingsway to visit the Army Navy Airforce club, unit 100.



A handful of grey-haired men sat in a quiet hall watching a big screen television featuring the Canada-Germany men's hockey game from the Olympics in Italy.



The score was 4-1 Canada when Ken Rabb, in between sips of beer, weighed in on the Emerson affair. The retired mechanic voted for Emerson, but didn't think he should resign.



"No matter if he's Liberal or Conservative, I'd rather see him in there," he said, keeping an eye on the hockey game. "I like that he wasn't involved in these different scandals [ad sponsorship, income trust]. If he would have been running for the Conservatives, I would have still voted for him."



On the television, Shane Doan pots another goal for Canada as the third period ends. Rabb and the rest of the men are happy with the win.



Politics is a topic only Rabb would tackle, with the other men preferring to drink beer and talk hockey. Outside, at a nearby gas station, the Courier got a similar reaction from Edward Scigliano as he pumped air into his mountain bike's back tire.



With some prodding, Scigliano, a 31-year-old cement finisher, admitted he didn't vote in the Jan. 23 election. Emerson's defection, he said, is a good reason why he chose not to cast a ballot.



"I just figured that anybody I voted for wouldn't make a difference. Either way you're screwed. Emerson is proof."



When Scigliano votes, it's for any party but the Conservatives or the Liberals. He considered the NDP and the Greens in the last election, but never made it to the polls.



"Honestly, I don't follow politics that much," he said, before jumping on his bike and riding away.



Vietnamese and other Asian businesses dominate this busy strip of Kingsway. Although some had "Recall David Emerson" signs posted in their windows, none would speak to the Courier.



That wasn't the case back at Emerson's office, where businessman Jay Shankar gave his name to a constituency assistant. He heard a petition was being circulated to support Emerson, and he wanted his name on it.



Shankar voted for Emerson in January and in the June 2004 election. So did five family members, he said, noting they, too, support Emerson's defection to the Conservatives.



"I voted for him as a person, not as a party," he said. "It doesn't matter what he did. He's an educated man, he knows what he's doing. Mr. Emerson did the right thing. He'll be representing the riding well as a minister."



Shankar glances at Claudepierre who is still carrying his "Why vote?" sign. He believes Claudepierre is wasting his time, pointing out no federal legislation exists to force Emerson to resign.



"So why do that?" he said, before getting into his car.



Across town in a booth at Duffin's Donuts at 33rd and Main, Verna Pounder was longing for the days of former prime minister John Diefenbaker and former B.C. premier W.A.C. Bennett.



"They were true, honest and reliable," said the retired switchboard operator. "You could take them for their word."



Pounder wouldn't say whether she voted for Emerson, but the more she talked, the more she gave clues of her choice. She's not an NDP member and said she supports Emerson "to the point that he's an intelligent man and will probably do a lot for the province."



Should he resign?



"What we should do is forget about it, let this one go. But in the next election, we should make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen again."



Pounder, however, is worried about the effect Emerson's defection will have on young voters. As political parties and youth organizations continue to encourage young people to vote, Emerson's move can't help their efforts, she said.



"Democracy kind of gets lost when politicians do things like that."



Pounder expected a lot of debate over Emerson's defection at a rally at Sir Alexander Mackenzie school later that night. She received a recorded message from federal NDP leader Jack Layton telling her about it.



A friend of hers, who is "anti-NDP," also received the message. Her friend likened it to "a harassment call." Pounder nor her friend planned to attend the rally.



Roughly 400 people did attend what was largely an NDP love-in, with the crowd giving standing ovations to Layton, who was joined by NDP MPs Libby Davies (Vancouver East) and Peter Julian (Burnaby-New Westminster).



Vancouver NDP MLAs David Chudnovsky and Adrian Dix were also jammed into the school's auditorium. The lobby had volunteers busily urging people to sign petitions and fill out Ottawa-bound postcards calling for Emerson's resignation.



In Layton's opening 15-minute speech, he dwelled on the importance of democracy and the right to vote, calling it a "precious act." He called Emerson's defection "the most blatant betrayal of a group of citizens and their democratically expressed will that we've ever seen in this country."



He also criticized Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Mayor Sullivan and Premier Campbell for supporting Emerson.



"People who think it's fine have lost touch with what democracy is all about."



Layton promised the NDP will present a bill in the first session of the House of Commons to prevent MPs from crossing the floor. He noted that 40 Conservative MPs supported an earlier bill under the Martin government, but some have since changed their mind.



Layton urged the crowd to continue to fight for Emerson's resignation, saying citizens' pressure can make a difference.



"This is not going to blow over," he said to a boisterous crowd, which broke into a chant of "recall, recall, recall."



But not everybody there was an NDP supporter.



Longtime Conservative Mike Watkins, who was once national committee chair of the Progressive Conservatives, and Kevin Chalmers, a senior volunteer in both Emerson campaigns, bravely addressed the crowd.



Watkins, a soccer coach, had just come from a practice and was dressed in shorts and wearing a whistle around his neck.



"I'm here to ask the rhetorical question, 'Why aren't there more Conservatives speaking out against this? Am I the only one here, or the only one foolish enough to get up in front of a crowd?'"



He then grabbed his whistle and blew two sharp beeps.



"Emerson, you're back to the showers for unsportsmanlike conduct."



It got a laugh, but what Watkins didn't tell the crowd was that he voted for Emerson last month. He also admitted to voting for the Greens in 2004. He had his own reasons for doing so.



"I wasn't so keen about Emerson running in this riding, but I voted for him specifically because I knew the Liberals would be in opposition. And if he actually stuck it out and sat in opposition, he'd be effective. That's the whole reason I voted for him."



Now Watkins thinks Emerson should resign, and so does Chalmers who is leading a campaign to "de-elect" Emerson. He told the Courier after the rally the campaign will be run like an election campaign, with lawn signs and door-to-door visits.



"Our colour schemes are black and white because the issue is black and white. I certainly don't hope to be doing this in six months, but if that's the case, so be it. Democracy is too important to let go. So we'll be out there in the rain, in the snow, in the sun until it's done."



Chalmers' effort alone, he said, proves the push to have Emerson resign is not solely being organized by the NDP-as Emerson alleged on a recent CKNW radio show, referring to his critics as "partisan zealots and party operatives that have been spinning the media."



"Whether it helps the NDP or not, this is an issue that transcends politics," Chalmers said. "It really is amazing in many senses that it has really shaken the electorate and many Canadians from their apathy."



The morning after the rally, the Courier received a phone call from Lionel Hodgson, a 76-year-old disabled man living in Three Links Care Centre at 22nd and Renfrew.



Hodgson voted for Emerson and wanted to ensure his name was included in the list of voters who support the MP's move to the Conservatives.



Like Jay Shankar and Ken Rabb, Hodgson said he voted for Emerson the man, not Emerson the Liberal. Hodgson was the first person to congratulate Emerson at his victory party at the Golden Swan restaurant on election night.



The Courier has photographs of Hodgson, who is in a wheelchair, greeting Emerson in the parking lot of the restaurant on Victoria Drive.



It's the same restaurant where Emerson told supporters he would be Harper's "worst nightmare" and be "in the faces" of Conservative cabinet ministers.



"There are a lot of people out there who are opposed to what he did, but those people don't represent everybody," said Hodgson in an interview in the care centre's lobby. "What Emerson did was his choice and he had no choice considering Martin's poor showing. He let down Emerson."



Added Hodgson, repeating the mantra of the business set: "It will be good for the city, good for the province and good for the people of Canada. Emerson loves Canada, so does Harper and so do I."



Hodgson has an interesting political history, with various political allegiances. He was a campaign manager for former parks board commissioner Charlie Stephens in the 1950s and a publicist for former Socred MLA Fred Sharp in 1960.



In the November municipal election, he voted for Vision Vancouver mayoral candidate Jim Green. In the provincial election, he voted for the Liberals and is a supporter of Premier Campbell.



He knows about good public relations, having worked as a publicist for the Arts Club Theatre for nine years. No matter what people think of Emerson's move, the public outcry is coming from a minority, he believes.



"They're taking it too personally."



After leaving Hodgson to a bridge game, the Courier travelled to a street corner at 18th and Cambie. Up and down Cambie, pictures of Emerson are plastered on light poles calling for his resignation. Some have "Judas" in bold letters written on them.



On her way home from shopping, Rosalind Scarnell plunked down her bags of groceries to talk about an issue that she believes is personal. She voted for Emerson and doesn't buy the argument that his defection is good for business.



"It's not just any job, and I personally don't think that he has the rights or the freedoms to make those decisions independent of the voters. If he was a civil servant, a deputy minister, offered a different job, that would be a different story. But he seems to have forgotten that he is the representative of the riding and he is beholden to the people of his riding."



Scarnell also doesn't agree that Ontario MP Belinda Stronach, a former Conservative leadership hopeful, did the same thing when she crossed the floor in May 2005 to the Liberals.



"Emerson did not cross the floor on principle, he did not cross the floor because of a disagreement on principle, he did not cross the floor because the people in his riding asked him to. He crossed the floor for a job opportunity."



Added Scarnell: "One would have thought from David Emerson's past that he would be a trustworthy candidate. So I think we're all shocked and surprised. There was no reason not to trust him. I think it's totally outrageous."



So how does all of this sit with Emerson?



Over the weekend, he admitted on a national television talk show that he wasn't "the sharpest political knife in the drawer."



He also promised to write letters of apology to those constituents upset by his move to the Conservatives. There is no plan, however, for a town hall meeting.



Since he defected Feb. 6, the former head of forestry giant Canfor has carefully chosen the media organizations he talks to. CKNW, CTV, The Vancouver Sun and The Globe and Mail have all had their time with Emerson.



Last Wednesday, the Courier learned through Emerson's public relations person in Ottawa that it was 70th on the list of media organizations requesting an interview.



It didn't matter that the Courier left messages with Emerson's constituency office on the day of Emerson's defection, or contacted former Conservative MP John Reynolds, who recruited Emerson.



It also didn't matter that the Courier is the paper delivered to more homes in Vancouver-Kingsway than any other news publication.



After the Courier finished interviews with constituents Friday afternoon, and still hadn't received a call from Emerson, it was time for a visit to Emerson's house.



The 60-year-old millionaire lives in a new heritage-style home on a leafy street in Shaughnessy, which is not in the Vancouver-Kingsway riding.



Accompanied by a photographer, this reporter climbed the steps to the front door and rang the doorbell. Emerson's wife Theresa could be seen through the large windows adjacent to the door.



She approached with a puzzled look on her face. As this reporter was about to press his business card against the window, she noticed the photographer.



She said something indecipherable, turned and disappeared up a set of stairs. Maybe she was going to get Emerson, we thought. So we waited.



He didn't show. I shoved a business card through a mail slot that read, "Mr. Emerson, I would like to speak to you. Please call me."



As of yesterday morning, the man who was once a Liberal and elected by 20,062 voters to work on their behalf, still hadn't called.



Nor had he resigned.



published on 02/22/2006



----------------------------------------



I will say it again, floor-crossing is not acceptable in Canada.

Global Episode Opinion Survey Thank you Nick Fitzpatrick!!



Vote at DW Poll


and see the rankings


See the history and

The FAQ .




Some of the contributors.



I might have to check the DW section for dated links!

Real Madrid 0 Arsenal 1



Hopefully Arsenal can get into the QFs. 8 March 2006 Will be the indicator.

From SES Research



Party LPC CPC NDP BQ Green

Canada 34 33 18 9 6

Atlantic 51 28 21 - 0(?)

Quebec 21 24 9 39 6

Ontario 39 31 21 - 9

West 31 41 20 - 8



Looks like the honeymoon was over when the duplicity turned up.

Yes floks, the Devil did make its pact! The BQ wants the CONservatives not to intrude on Quebec 'provincial' rights.



Does anyone remember Meech Lake or the Charlettetown Accord?

Here is what I would like to see for a QF draw:



Winner Bolton/West Ham take on winner Stoke/Birm C

Winner Chelsea/Colchester take on Liverpool

Newcastle take on Winner Preston/Middlesbrough

Charlton take on winner of Aston Villa/Man C

Who in the Cavern added in.

Stephen Harper to appoint former Tory Finance Minister Michael Wilson to the job?



Where does Tory nepotism end?

Felix is back on the workstation. Cat are kitten on the desktop is fun!

Toronto Sun criticizes Stephen Harper PM of Canada:



Editorial: Doing what is right



Throughout the Sun's history, we've been the first to speak up whenever we see the liberal -- and Liberal -- media unfairly trashing Conservatives and conservatism.



That said, here's a news flash for Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservatives.



All this heat they're getting over David Emerson? It's not a liberal media conspiracy. If it was, we wouldn't be part of it.



This isn't about being Liberal or Conservative, or liberal or conservative. This is about right and wrong.



And it's wrong for Harper to have told voters in the election that it was time to throw the bums out, and then, at the first opportunity, to act like the bums.



Harper's enticement of Emerson to the Conservatives might have been the "one day wonder" he hoped for if he and his MPs hadn't spent months bashing Belinda Stronach and Paul Martin for doing the same thing in reverse.



Trying to argue, as Harper and many of his now tongue-tied ministers and backbenchers have, that the two cases are different, doesn't pass the smell test.



The details may be different. The substance is the same.



As former Sun business editor and cabinet minister Garth Turner, now the newly-elected Conservative MP for Halton, wrote in his blog last week: "I campaigned to advance issues my middle class voters are so concerned with -- things those families need and want.



"But, I arrived as the prime minister was appointing a floor-crossing Liberal and an unelected party official to his cabinet, which seemed to fly in the face of everything I had told voters about accountability and democracy ...



"The election was about change. I asked people in Halton to embrace the Conservatives as a modern, inclusive, mainstream, principled party of honest people committed to changing the system for the better. Finally ... Something to believe in ...



"Sure, I thought the appointment of those two ministers was questionable.



And after stating many a time that Belinda Stronach should have sought a byelection after her defection, how could I not say the same obvious thing now? It was simple for my constitutents to understand, and simple for me ..."



Exactly. Trust us, from past experience we know that Turner can be controversial, a glory hog and a pain in the butt. But he also knows what people are thinking and in this case he's 100% right.



Three weeks ago in this space, we urged you, our readers, to vote Conservative and end 13 years of corrupt Liberal rule. Like so many of you, we care about the future of Conservatism and conservatism. There is so much work for this new government to do -- cutting the GST, helping parents with the cost of child care, fixing our justice system, healing health care, uniting the country.



Harper and Emerson need to have a long talk. Emerson should either agree to run in a byelection in Vancouver-Kingsway as a Conservative, or he should resign. This controversy has already taken up too much time and cost this new government too much political capital.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------



The honeymoon is over Stephen Harper

Serendipity updated to 1.1-aplha1 . Think I will try this every day. The Templates work better here.

Here is an article from The Globe and Mail's Jeffery Simpson:





Liberal leadership lineup starts in Toronto



From Saturday's Globe and Mail



Friday, February 10, 2006



Toronto — The Liberal leadership race has not formally begun, what with big-name candidates declining to run, yet two trends are already making it unique in the party's history.



Nine of the possible candidates are from the Toronto area, reflecting how Toronto has become the party's power base.



Also, for the first time, the Liberal race will not be among parliamentary frontbenchers.





------------- End of snippet



You have to be an insider to read the rest

Emerson Called Traitor by constituents say Globe and Mail. Article below:





Emerson called a traitor by constituents



Canadian Press



Vancouver — Hundreds of people angry at David Emerson's defection from the Liberals to Conservatives chanted "traitor" at a protest rally.



They packed a high school auditorium Saturday in the Vancouver-Kingsway riding to vent their anger and frustration, saying their votes in the Jan. 23 federal election had been rendered meaningless after Mr. Emerson crossed the floor to accept a position in the Conservative cabinet two weeks later.



Kerry Galloway, who admitted to not voting regularly, said after much consideration and lots of research, he decided to vote Liberal.



"Then, a couple of weeks later, I found out that my vote was switched, that I had been disenfranchised, that my vote had been converted for a vote for a set of policies which are the diametric opposite than I selected by putting that X in that box " he said to cheers.



Alice Edge said the situation has made her ashamed as a mother. She told of badgering her sons to vote only to result in what she said is an undemocratic outcome.



"When my two young sons came home and they said to me: 'What is going on?' I got to tell you that my credibility as a mother has just been set back many, many years," she said.



"I want a by-election and I want it tomorrow," Mr. Edge said.



One man who spoke in defence of Mr. Emerson, who is now the international trade minister, was drowned out in a chorus of angry boos at the event, organized by the New Democratic Party.



But, the ongoing furor does not seem to have swayed Mr. Emerson.



In an interview with the CBC on Friday, he said: "No, I'm not going to quit."



"We've got at least three, perhaps more, members of Parliament who have crossed the floor or opted to sit as an independent," he said. "Frankly, my circumstances are not any different than those. As, and when, Parliament changes the rules to apply to all members of Parliament, I will abide by those rules."



Vancouver-East New Democrat MP Libby Davies said Mr. Emerson's arrogance has enraged his constituents.



"I don't think Mr. Emerson has heard anything yet in terms of the way people feel," she said.



The NDP has formally asked the federal ethics commissioner to investigate Mr. Emerson's defection.



New Democrat MP Peter Julian said Prime Minister Stephen Harper could be in violation of Parliament's conflict of interest guidelines, which prohibit members from acting to advance their own or other MP's private interests.



Mr. Julian has the support of fellow New Democrat Ian Waddell, who finished second to Mr. Emerson in his effort to make a political comeback.



Mr. Waddell has said of those who cast ballots in the riding, 80 per cent voted against the Conservative Party.



Mr. Emerson received 43.5 per cent of the vote as a Liberal while Tory Kanman Wong got 18.8 per cent. Mr. Waddell garnered 33.5 per cent of the vote.



Mr. Waddell served as New Democrat MP for Vancouver-Kingsway three times between 1979 and 1988 and as the member for Port Moody-Coquitlam from 1988 to 1993.



The fracas has also revealed rifts in Conservative caucus.



Ontario MP Garth Turner hopes to push ahead with legislation that would deter future David Emersons and Belinda Stronachs from switching political parties but admits he has probably limited his future in the Conservative Party.



---------- End of Article.



Looks likes the CONservative Party Grass Roots disapprove.



Garth Turner (early in this blog) is not happy.



From The Globe and Mail :





Turner says he'll move bill to stop MPs jumping parties



GLORIA GALLOWAY



From Saturday's Globe and Mail



Ottawa — Despite a tongue-lashing from the Prime Minister, Conservative Garth Turner says he will proceed with a private-member's bill that would force MPs such as Trade Minister David Emerson to resign and run again when they switch parties.



Mr. Emerson, who has been the subject of intense public criticism since being appointed to the Conservative cabinet on Monday — two weeks after being elected as a Liberal — was unavailable for comment yesterday even though the calls for his resignation continued.



Mr. Turner, the MP for Halton, Ont., said he was castigated by Mr. Harper for telling reporters on Thursday that Mr. Emerson should resign his seat and run again. But the financial-management-expert-turned-politician was unrepentant yesterday.



“I cannot stand and support something in Ottawa that I would not in a town-hall meeting in north Oakville,” he wrote on his web log. “Not even when it is the PM asking — or demanding.”



And, despite the censure from above, he said he will put forward a private-member's bill to force politicians who change political allegiances to resign their seat and ask their constituents for a new mandate.



“I do believe that voters are jaded today,” Mr. Turner said, “And one of the reasons that they are jaded and they feel they don't matter is that people get to be part of the government who never ran to be in that government.”



That's also true of Conservative campaign co-chair Michael Fortier, the new Public Works Minister who will be sworn in as a Senator because he did not run for a seat in the House of Commons, Mr. Turner said.



In his blog, he said he expected to be assigned an office in renovated washroom “somewhere in a forgotten corner of a vermin-infested dank basement” and a seat in the Commons that will be visible only during lunar eclipses.



It has been a bad first week for the Conservative government that came to power on a promise of accountability and was quickly lambasted from all parts of the country for moves that suggest the opposite. They include Mr. Emerson and Mr. Fortier's appointments to Cabinet and the appointment of former defence lobbyist Gordon O'Connor as Defence Minister.



Asked if he were feeling uncomfortable in his own party, Mr. Turner replied: “I can't answer that to the extent that my party is feeling uncomfortable with me. I regret that because, to me, it is a basic role of a Member of Parliament to voice concerns and opinions and convictions.”



Last night, Mr. Harper said his government will move quickly to implement its campaign promises, chiefly lowering the GST and “cleaning up our own government” with accountability legislation.



In his first speech as Prime Minister, he also said the government will toughen the criminal justice system and give child-care subsidies to parents. Mr. Harper was speaking at a tribute in Halifax to outgoing Nova Scotia Premier John Hamm, in which he praised the departing leader, saying that if all politicians had his integrity, no accountability legislation would be needed.NDP MP Peter Stoffer, who represents the Nova Scotia riding of Sackville-Eastern Shore, proposed a private-member's bill during the previous session of Parliament that would have forced political floor-crossers to quit and run again. He plans to re-enter it when the House returns and said he is glad to hear of Mr. Turner's plans for a similar bill. “He is more than welcome to second my bill and I would be honoured to second his,” Stoffer said



Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay defended Mr. Emerson yesterday saying he was obviously disillusioned with the Liberals and that makes his situation different to that of people such as Belinda Stronach who defected from the Conservatives to take a seat in cabinet at a time when the Liberal government needed her vote to stay alive.



“What David Emerson did, I would suggest, is different, in the sense that he has done this early after the election in hopes of continuing the important work that he was doing inside a government which he was obviously very disillusioned with,” Mr. MacKay told CBC Newsworld. “Unlike other moves, it didn't happen at a critical juncture that propped the government up. There wasn't that sense that there was strict reward or leadership ambition.”



But that view is not shared by Peter Julian of the NDP or Wayne Easter of the Liberals who have separately asked Ethics Commissioner Bernard Shapiro to investigate whether Mr. Emerson violated the MPs' code of ethics by switching parties.



Both MPs point to the ruling Mr. Shapiro made in the case of Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh who was accused by Conservative MP Gurmant Grewal of offering him benefits as an inducement to become a Liberal. Mr. Shapiro said any attempt to further Mr. Grewal's private interests would have been “an extremely serious” breach of the code.



With a report from Jane Armstrong



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I am certain the CONservative Party is suffering from meltdown, and not a light dose of it.