Earlier this year, Steven Harper of the Conservative party was elected into power as the Canadian Prime Minister.
In Canadian elections, we vote in a local candidate as our federal member of parliament (MP). The leader of the party which wins the most seats in parliament becomes Prime Minister. The basic power that Canadians have to select which party will be charge of the government comes from voting for an MP based on which party they represent.
In our most recent election, a Liberal candidate by the name of David Emerson won the position in his riding on the west coast of Canada known as Vancouver-Kingswsay. This was a Liberal party win, and not a suprising one considering that the Conservative party hasn't won an election in that riding since 1958.
Two weeks later, Emerson dramatically crossed the floor, abandoning the Liberal party to join the newly elected Conservative party. In doing so, he showed total disregard for the voters in his riding, who by a large margin voted for him based on his opinions against Steven Harper's party and its policies. One infamous quote of his claimed, "I'm going to be Harper's worst enemy".
The people of Vancouver-Kingsway were suitably outraged, but have no specific recourse to protest this flagrant disregard for their wishes. Emerson himself has claimed on national media that he thinks that his voters support his decision, and that they would vote for him again. However, a volunteer-run poll was conducted in early March on the question, “Do you think that David Emerson, the MP for Vancouver-Kingsway, should resign and run in a by-election.” The results? 94.7% voted "Yes".
Emerson refuses to resign. His own riding is now politically unsafe for him to visit, because his voters are so outraged that they will protest whenever he comes around to make an appearance. There have been arrests. For this reason, his latest appearance in relation to the Vancouver 2010 Olympics happened behind fences with an invite-only guest list of supporters.
Some news articles written this month claimed that the Canadian Ethics Commissioner Bernard Shapiro was to look into the issue and that he promised a report on Emerson and Harper. Three days later there were reports that Steven Harper himself was preparing to replace Shapiro for supposedly unrelated reasons and political prejudice.
If you would like more information, sources, or updates on this situation, please visit: recalldavidemerson.com
Dave Moorhouse
Ottawa, Canada
In Canadian elections, we vote in a local candidate as our federal member of parliament (MP). The leader of the party which wins the most seats in parliament becomes Prime Minister. The basic power that Canadians have to select which party will be charge of the government comes from voting for an MP based on which party they represent.
In our most recent election, a Liberal candidate by the name of David Emerson won the position in his riding on the west coast of Canada known as Vancouver-Kingswsay. This was a Liberal party win, and not a suprising one considering that the Conservative party hasn't won an election in that riding since 1958.
Two weeks later, Emerson dramatically crossed the floor, abandoning the Liberal party to join the newly elected Conservative party. In doing so, he showed total disregard for the voters in his riding, who by a large margin voted for him based on his opinions against Steven Harper's party and its policies. One infamous quote of his claimed, "I'm going to be Harper's worst enemy".
The people of Vancouver-Kingsway were suitably outraged, but have no specific recourse to protest this flagrant disregard for their wishes. Emerson himself has claimed on national media that he thinks that his voters support his decision, and that they would vote for him again. However, a volunteer-run poll was conducted in early March on the question, “Do you think that David Emerson, the MP for Vancouver-Kingsway, should resign and run in a by-election.” The results? 94.7% voted "Yes".
Emerson refuses to resign. His own riding is now politically unsafe for him to visit, because his voters are so outraged that they will protest whenever he comes around to make an appearance. There have been arrests. For this reason, his latest appearance in relation to the Vancouver 2010 Olympics happened behind fences with an invite-only guest list of supporters.
Some news articles written this month claimed that the Canadian Ethics Commissioner Bernard Shapiro was to look into the issue and that he promised a report on Emerson and Harper. Three days later there were reports that Steven Harper himself was preparing to replace Shapiro for supposedly unrelated reasons and political prejudice.
If you would like more information, sources, or updates on this situation, please visit: recalldavidemerson.com
Dave Moorhouse
Ottawa, Canada