Yeah Damian, I don't like this one bit.
Posted at 2006-02-07 05:29:21 [PermaLink]I'll second Allan. While I dodn't mind seeing the Liberals getting mud rubbed into their faces, this isn't the way to do it. I'm not sure how anyone can respect Emerson.
Posted at 2006-02-07 08:14:54 [PermaLink]Damian,
I am a Montrealer and I am also bothered by the nomination of Fortier. The idea of having a Minister of Public Works in the Senate where he can't be questioned about the expenses of his department is disturbing.
This morning's Gazette editorial was entitled "Montrealer in the Cabinet". Strange,I seem to remember that very few Montrealers voted Conservative. They knew that Harper might form the next government, and yet they decided that is was not a sufficient reason to vote for his party.
Shouldn’t such actions have consequences? If not, what does a vote mean?
Yesterday, Mr. Harper said that Emerson entered politics to be in the cabinet. That's all very well and good, but, in a British parliamentary system, ministers normally have to be elected in order to serve. It also is better not to be elected under false pretenses.
I voted Conservative because I believe in smaller government . I also believe the federal government should respect the jurisdiction of the provinces . How can I be sure the Harper will follow these principles when he treats the question the accountability of ministers, which was one of the major planks of his platform , in such a cavalier manner?
To pick up on Steve's point, like it or not and for their own personal reasons, the voters in Emerson's riding voted Liberal and more specifically Emerson as a Liberal. Harper and Emerson just gave them the Trudeau salute, again heading out the back door on the way to Ottawa. Emerson said this was his last campaign...but then he also said alot of other stuff.
What's that smell?
oh yeh, I forgot; if it was despicable when Martin did it with Stronach, then it's 10X worse with Harper & Emerson, having criticized Martin for the lack of Ethics in HIS Party.
The only good news (from here) is that he's a B.C. boy.
The Fortier case doesn't bother me particularly. It is technically necessary for at least one member of the cabinet to be a senator; usually this senator is assigned the ad-hoc job of Leader of the Government in the Senate, but it's not unusual for this to be combined with a real portfolio. As long as we're stuck with an appointed Senate, I'd far rather see someone appointed specifically because he has the skills to do a cabinet-level job than have the job handed off to one of the wheezing old party hacks that customarily warm the benches of the Red Chamber.
Emerson, on the other hand, strikes me as opportunistic scum. On the OTHER other hand (somebody please lend me a hand here), I suspect a lot of voters in his riding cast their ballots for him not because he was a Liberal, but for the fine old traditional Canadian reason that he was a cabinet minister and could deliver lots of juicy pork. Well, as of 23 January, you can't have both.
In any case, I think the furor over MPs crossing the floor in either direction is greatly overblown. John Crosbie used to be a Liberal; Jean Charest used to be, not just a Conservative, but the leader of the rump PC party. David Kilgour is, I believe, the current record-holder, having stormed out of both major parties in the same elegantly customized vintage huff.
What makes Belinda Stronach particularly disgusting is not her floor-crossing but her transparency: evidently she was only interested in joining the Conservatives because she thought she could buy the party leadership without ever having been elected to any office, and when thwarted, she consoled herself with a Liberal cabinet plum. No, I don't consider Mr. Emerson to be a particularly honourable member, but he does appear to have qualities other than being a spoilt, self-serving, opportunistic brat.
heh...just heard that the riding assoc. wants him to return the funds they spent on his campaign; sounds right to me. I want the LIBERAL PARTY to return ALL the money THEY took from the Taxpayer!
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