Dear Psam,
In reply to your comments on the last weblog………
Since 1867 there have been 243 members of Parliament who have “crossed the floor,” been kicked out of their caucus or just switched parties.
Famous and infamous federal party changers
» In September 1868, Jamaican-born Nova Scotia judge Stewart Campbell became Canada’s first switcher—just 14 months after Confederation. He changed from Anti-Confederate to Liberal-Conservative.
» Joseph Henri Napolean Bourassa dropped the Liberal party and became an Independent in 1900 to protest Canada’s role in the South African war.
» To protest conscription in the First World War, Honoré Achim crossed the floor from the Liberals to the Conservatives in 1917.
» George William Andrews dropped the Liberals and became an Independent over the party’s handling of the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919, during which Mounties beat workers, killing two of them.
» In 1922, Progressive Joseph Binnet became a Liberal because he lacked confidence in his party.
» The first woman elected to the House of Commons, Agnes MacPhail, changed from the Progressive party to the United Farmers of Ontario- Labour in 1935.
» Gilles Duceppe changed from Independent to the Bloc Québécois—the party he now leads—four months after he was elected in 1990.
» Lucien Bouchard, onetime Bloc Québécois leader, switched from Progressive Conservative to Independent in 1990, then to the Bloc seven months later.
» Founding member of the Reform Party Deborah Grey left the Canadian Alliance in 2002 to sit as an Independent.
» Former prime minister Joe Clark changed from Conservative to Independent in February 2004.
» Belinda Stronach crossed the floor in 2005, from Conservative to Liberal.
Source: the Library of Parliament
Joe Peschisolido in 2000, was an Alliance MP, who months after the election switched to the Liberals, after narrowly being elected.
Provincial BC politics, the respected Gordon Wilson, went from being the head of the Liberal Party, to forming his own, and finally landing as an NDP member.
Belinda (mentioned above) Gordon, and Joe, all seemed to have switched parties for just plain personal gain. As a member of Parliament do I have the right to change my mind? Psam, would you have felt better if Mr Emerson waited a few months, picked a fight with the Liberals and then switched, like Gilles and Lucien did, before becoming members for the Bloc Quebecois. It is alleged by some that they planned to dupe their original parties from the beginning so they could advance the cause of the Parti Quebecois. I doubt that is the case but who knows. Do not forget that they had a part to play in the near separation of Canada. Should each of these people get jail time?
It was presented to me, and please forgive me if I am incorrect as I do not live in your country, that Emerson was targeted by the Conservatives because he is the right man for the job. From the headlines I have seen he is sure doing a lot more for Canada in his role as International Trade Minister than his predecessor did. Pierre pretty boy Pettigrew, (appointed before being elected because he is a Quebecite) an eastern Canadian, did nothing but hurt the Canadian softwood lumber interests in negotiations with the US. There have been over 5 billion dollars levied in tariffs against Canadien lumber producers during and since his tenure. As of last week, Emerson has negotiated to get 80% of that back. He has become a part of the solution, working with his American counter parts to facilitate an agreement which works for both parties.
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=086efd14-ece9-4d88-b1cb-796ea90e8c0e&k=9671
Finally. Don’t forget that the Liberal and Conservative parties are essentially two factions that basically share the same ideology. In reality they are not that far apart. I would submit to you Psam, that engineering the slaughter of your own people, stealing money, accepting bribes, raping, and acts of that ilk deserve jail time. Accepting a position in which one feels they are likely to excel in doesn’t merit jail time. If David Emerson does an excellent job and helps people of his country prosper for it, then I think he is doing the right thing. Do you?
5 comments:
Newbie is my hero.
I was someone's hero once and it felt good for me so congratulations newbie.
Chankslee, I appreciate two things greatly from you. One is your point of view, and the other is the amount of time and research that has gone into you being as educated as you are about the issue and also your willingness to help others understand it. I hope you would not be upset if I still feel I disagree even though I am glad to have had new information brought to light for myself which gives me more insight into the situation.
I do not feel one day's notice is enough to give your constituents before you cross the floor.
I do not feel it was necessary for Emerson to cross the floor in order to have his ingenuity, networking skills, and resources put to Canada's use.
I feel democracy is being undermined and ridiculed by this process.
I feel that many of Emerson's constituents feel as if their pleas to have him removed are being ignored. They are being treated as if their objection to their democratic choice being slighted is just a pile of hot air.
You cannot deny that many people feel justifiably cheated in this matter. The responsibility of an elected official is to always act in such a way that they feel they are doing what the people that elected them want them to do.
I am almost in awe of you that you are living in a different country than me and you STILL have a wealth of knowledge about this issue many of those living here haven't even begun to tap. We are both presenting some important information. We can both pat ourselves on the back for a job well done. It is people like us that keep democracy functioning in the sadly inept way that it does on its best days. Knowledge is power, and giving others knowledge is making the world more powerful.
Just a thought if I may in regards to this issue....
When going to the poles to vote, why do you vote the way that you do??? I mean is it the party really or is it what the individual stands for in your area?? I mean you can have an amazing individual who is promising GREAT things for your area but not like the party they associate with, would you vote for them anyway?
Why is it that we the voter have the right to change our minds in the blink of an eye, but the politician (who will twist the truth ever so slightly to get elected, we have seen this time and time again) is judged harshly for this change? We see from the outside a change of integrity and character, but what if we were to look internally would we see when the light bulb went on and the politician realized that the party they were running for went against everything they stood for and believed in and the only way to keep their integrity in tact was to change parties.
Do I agree with the quickness and lack of communication this individual chose when he changed parties...no! But can I respect the fact that he is human and had a change of heart....yes! Is he more or less the same individual who promised the same things for his area yes,,, those don't change but what if the Liberal government said nope you won but we don't agree with your agenda, you can't do this and in order to stay true to himself he found a party that would honour that. And what if he chose to take all the heat instead of painting the Liberal party in a poor light???
Just some food for thougt....sorry it's long.
The constituents are not the ones being PAID to do a JOB so YES they have the right to change their minds whereas the elected official has the responsibility to make sure their actions are indeed what they were elected for before they change their minds about them.
In addition to this, please note that constituents also have the right to vote for an MP that they don't necessarily believe in 100% because they feel that the party the person is running for is best for the country. They also have the right to vote for a person they believe strongly in even though the person is not running in a party they like very much. Constituents may believe that the person may bring a sane voice to an otherwise unstable government. All they've got is one lousy vote every four years so they can do whatever they blessed well want to do with it. It's a pretty tiny bone for the "government" to throw the "citizens".
Democracy is such a poor substitute for an actual society that relies on people's good will to each other that compromising it really does bring the world down even more than the mess it's already in. Make no mistake, in a world where the majority of people do not care about each other, no democracy will save people from starving, getting misused in horrible ways, and being jailed (or the equivalent thereof) unfairly. HOWEVER it does manage to make up for a little bit of the greed and injustice in the world to give some people what they need who wouldn't have otherwise had it. So it should be respected.
I would suggest that Emerson should have given his riding notice that he planned to change parties and allowed a press conference for people to take an opportunity to give him some feedback on whether that is indeed a move that his voters would support based on his reasons he'd offered. I think an ample amount of time to let them think would be a week. I would even be open to thinking that less time would be appropriate, I don't want to split hairs.
What he did do is like saying "Guess what everybody! If you wanted to vote for the Liberal party, YOU COULDN'T HAHAHAHA you bunch o' LOSERS! HAAAA HA HA HA, you people are soooo dumb. Why the heck would you IDIOTS wanna vote LIBERAL anyways??!! Well anyways, if you want to vote for the Liberal party, sell your house and buy somewhere else, I hear Ontario's housing prices are dropping lately. While I'm at it, I'll just drop my pants and let you look at my big white bum. HAHAHAHAHA you people are such morons. And for those of you that voted Conservative, ya shoulda picked me cuz I shystered ya too! HAHAHA!!"
i voted for glen clark in my riding not because i liked his party or him but because i thought he would do best for my neighbourhood. get off your soapbox psam. targo is right and sweetheart your letters are never too long keep them coming-emerson is better than the old lib hacks by far-:)
I think all politicians are jerks. Psam you never know what you are talking about but I think I have to agree with you this time. If this loser Emerson gets the lumber fight resolved then I don't care what party he belongs to.
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