Emerson's Folly

On January 23, 2006, during Canada’s Federal Election, Liberal Party candidate David Emerson won the riding of Vancouver Kingsway by 43% of the vote. He won the same riding in 2004 as the Liberal candidate. Last week, he was named to the Cabinet of the Conservative Government under Stephen Harper. Emerson switched parties two weeks after being elected as the Liberal member for the riding.

Canadian politics has taken a turn for the worse when a man stands for election behind a platform for two months, and suddenly, unexpectedly switches parties and gets a Cabinet job. The people of Vancouver Kingsway must be astonished. The rest of the country should be outraged.

Stepping into politics is never an easy decision. The job requires an attitude and commitment to public service like no other. To win one of 308 seats in the Canadian Parliament takes money, time, effort and a promise to serve the constituency under a political banner. In Emerson’s case: Liberal.

If the people of Vancouver Kingsway wanted to elect a Conservative candidate to the House, they could have. His name was Kanmon Wong and he too, made a commitment to enter public life with money, time, effort and a promise to serve. Yet he was not the people’s choice. Their choice was David Emerson, Liberal Candidate.

Emerson is not fit to sit as a member of the House of Commons. He lied about his ambitions and did not fulfill his ethical responsibility to the Liberal Party, but more importantly he has failed the people of Vancouver Kingsway by switching to the winning side two weeks after the election.

He was reelected which means he already had the confidence of most of the voters in the riding. He was a proven winner in the eyes of the people. Most of the voters said he worked hard and did his best for the riding while in office.

With this dramatic switch to the Conservative Party, Emerson put his own ambitions over those of the people who elected him. He has put a black mark on the principals of truth and shaken the foundation of our democracy.

No wonder people have given up on the system.

That's just my opinion. I could be wrong.