Garth Turner, MP for Halton has joined the Liberal caucus. Some criticize him for that. They believe Turner should've remained Independent until next election. In my opinion Turner shouldn't have run as a Conservative in the first place since he's never actually been one.
Of course Turner wouldn't agree with me on that. In his blog he blames Stephen Harper for taking away his party. But Turner left politics after the 1993 election and didn't come back until the last election was called in late 2005. By then the old PC party was long gone. Wasn't Turner aware of that?
If Turner opposed the merger, he could join a handful of former PC members which had created their own "Progressive Canadian" party. In that case, Stephen Harper would have no authority over him. Garth Turner could also choose Green Party or he could run as Independent. Yet he choose to run as a Conservative.
He was a Conservative MP in name only. His controversial statements on Christians, his claims that Social Conservatives don't represent the society speak for themselves. What kind of support was he expecting? If Turner thought that Social Conservatives have nowhere to turn so he might as well insult them, trying to attract some Liberal voters then the former PC collapse of 1993 (for which Turner as a cabinet minister was also responsible) taught him nothing. If however he knew that Social Conservatives may end up having a candidate of their own and was trying to secure his re-election by appealing mostly to the Liberal voters then his expulsion from the Conservative party was nothing but a pre-emptive measure as he would've crossed the floor anyway.
Garth Turner claims he didn't really cross the floor since he didn't belong to any party for about 4 months. Well, crossing the floor from Conservatives to the Liberals in two steps is still crossing the floor. By the way, is it a coincidence that Turner decided to join the Liberal caucus on February 6th - on the same day David Emerson joined the Conservatives a year ago?
Some may remember Turner's opposition to David Emerson crossing the floor from the Liberals to the Conservative cabinet. Not sure how vocal he was but Wikipedia only quotes this: "I'm expecting the Whip will be assigning me a renovated washroom somewhere in a forgotten corner of a vermin-infested dank basement in Ottawa. That should go well with my seat in the House of Commons that will be visible only during lunar eclipses." In plain English - Turner joined the Conservatives looking forward for a lucrative cabinet position but that position went to someone else. His investment in the Conservative party didn't pay off (just as the investments of those who bought Nortel shares at his advice), so he was quite upset.
What upsets me however is not the fact that Garth Turner crossed the floor. It's the fact that Turner won the Conservative nomination and was elected as a Conservative (rather than as a Liberal) that makes me feel uncomfortable. What kind of nomination committees do we have in the urban ridings? How come Conservatives in name only like Garth Turner were found eligible to run for Conservative nomination while true Conservatives like John Pacheco were denied that opportunity?
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