I am not crossing any damn floor. Prior to 5 pm today, I was not a member of any political party. He sure knows how to be an articulate and professional politician doesn't he? Seeing Dion beam with joy after getting Turner on board shows up deeply affected he was by the Khan defection.
This is a move that I personally did not anticipate, not after his fight early on with Harper over Emerson's defection without running in a by-election. The fact that he's not running in a by-election himself shows that his complaining about this was really just one big show. Of course a lot of us knew that already.Equally interesting is Elizabeth May's response to Turner's move:"I think it's a good choice for Garth. As an independent, he's been making some good contributions to parliamentary discourse and debate and conducting himself in a way that I think is admirable," Ms. May told CBC TV."He had his time to think over what his constituents wanted him to do. This must be the message he got from his constituents."But given Mr. Turner's turbulent year, she hasn't ruled him out of Green contention."He remains welcome to join the Green Party of Canada should Mr. Dion throw him out of caucus," Ms. May said.I don't know what May is trying to do with this little friendly alliance
Maverick (or should I say, "Progressive Conservative") MP Garth Turner has announced that he "...will campaign for Green Party Leader Elizabeth May in a byelection in London, Ont.", according to the CBC.Garth held a press conference earlier today, in which he formally quit the "hats and horses" (aka Reform/Alliance) party, and provided evidence that what was once the most grassroots of all federal parties has become the most elitist party in the history of Canada, ignoring the decision of local electoral district associations in favour of the dictates of party strategists.Garth clarified false rumours that he would become the first Green MP by joining Canada's hottest new political party, and instead wants the Greens to elect their first MP by their own merit - in the form of Green Party of Canada leader Elizabeth May, who is competing in the London-North-Centre by-election.With all of the mudslinging going on amongst the old-line parties, and given the innovative and positive policie
I’m one Liberal who decided to go Green in federal elections.
Garth Turner should go Green too, because it’s his best revenge against Harper after he was dumped from the Conservative party for having an independent blog. It was a potentially politically fatal mistake for Harper, having ousted an MP willing to be a maverick, and could give the Greens their initial “in” to the House. The next election, the Greens could easily pick up a few NDP, Liberal, and Conservative seats once they are given the “TV legitimacy” that CBC and other media have been denying them. A similar explosion in media coverage and House representation happened after 1993, and the Reform Party became the biggest english opposition to the Liberals since the incumbent PCs were swept away with only two seats. The Greens should have been part of the last TV debate, so I’d have to assume that unless they get an MP or senator soon, the broadcast media will continue to injure demo
The Liberals had Carolyn Parish, and the Conservatives have Garth Turner. Garth had a blog. His blog is no more (possibly temporarily? -UPDATE a couple hours later the site is back up. It had too many hits for the server claims Garth.).
Here’s the Google cache of his blog. His entire site is blocked when I checked it during lunch after hearing the news of his disciplining.
The Progressive Bloggers are all over this story. It’s significant, not only to bloggers, but to people within a party who are concerned with speaking their mind and representing their constitutents.
