David Emerson: Minister For National Imbroglios
Posted on Monday, February 13 at 08:41 by robertjb
In order for people to vote they have to believe they are making a deliberate and distinct choice between competing ideologies. Where this choice does not exist we do not have democracy but oligarchy, totalitarianism or some other variant behavior. Choice, Mr. Emerson must understand is the very essence of democracy and must be respected.
Emerson, it appears, needs to be tutored in basic civics.
He also claims immunity from public persecution by virtue of being a corporatist and is touted as being very talented in this context. However, corporatist structures are rigid and hierarchical, not necessarily a carte blanche recommendation for political office and depending on the individual may be a detrimental attribute. The corporate good is quite often contrary to the public good and this is one of the underlying schisms in modern political debate.
Our newly minted Prime Minister has been swift to defend his choice of ministers and his reasoning is equally specious. For him the voters of Vancouver Kingsway are raising “superficial” concerns. From someone who so recently graduated from the ranks of the Reform and Alliance this is a querulous defense. These were populist parties advocating direct democracy, recall and referenda. Now, weeks later, after pillorying the Liberals for the same sort of unethical behavior, there is a visceral contempt for the will of constituents.
As the PM is so ecumenical as to hire former Liberal cabinet ministers it remains to be seen if Liberal appointees, Frank McKenna, Canadian ambassador to Washington, and Allan Rock, our ambassador to the UN hold their jobs. Both appear to be doing a good job and pork barreling might be the only “good” reason for replacing them.
Emerson is blessed with any number of distinguished defenders, including the new Minister of Foreign Affairs, Peter MacKay. MacKay no doubt owes his new appointment not so much to regional balance as to being the king maker when he so expediently decided to sell out the Progressive Conservative Party--Emerson and MacKay, in ornithological terms, are birds of a feather, wing shot, and their flight capabilities greatly diminished.
At this juncture in time it might be worth reminding ourselves how the Bloc Quebecois came to be.
Lucien Bouchard, a minister in the Mulroney cabinet, and later PQ premier of Quebec, decided Quebec was not getting a fair deal in Confederation. With grandiose moral indignation he quit the conservative party, enlisted a group of like minded Quebec MPs and declared themselves a political party--a separatist party. They did not submit to by elections to have their decision ratified. The voters in those ridings went from having a conservative MP to a separatist MP with no say in the matter. In other words they were disenfranchised--a kinder version of betrayal.
When Conservative MP Garth Turner advocates MPs who change their affiliation must submit to a by election for ratification of that change he is clearly right and it is legislation long overdue.
Politicians must realize that every time they resort to this sleazy chicanery it debases our democratic system and the public trust. Politicians are supposed to be the worthy custodians of our democratic institutions and values. Too often, though, they are the very first to violate that trust. The voting public for its part must insist on strict maintenance and accountability.
[Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on February 14, 2006]
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abominations which have focused themselves in David Emerson.
Yesterday's <public eye online> had another wonderful insight,
responding to those who try to apologize for political crookedness.
"Stephen" said:
"Contrary to what a number of commentators on this site
apparently wish to believe, the hundreds of people who attended
this afternoon's public meeting at Charles Tupper School
were not unwitting tools of the NDP. What I observed
was a large assembly of ordinary citizens who were rightly
outraged at the fraudulent behaviour of their MP. I sat next to a
gentleman who introduced himself to me as a life-long
Conservative. He was one among many self-declared
Conservatives who expressed disgust at Emerson's betrayal of his
constituents.
"I came away from the meeting convinced that this issue is not
going to fade away. It's true, of course, that Canadians pay little
attention to politics between elections and that partisan
attachments today are weaker than ever. But Emerson's duplicity
has profoundly offended the sensibilities of ordinary citizens. He
has shown exceptional contempt for his constituents and made a
mockery of their democratic rights. This is easily understood by
most Canadians, if not by the Board of Trade and some pundits
who ought to know better. And it is something that the people will
neither forgive nor forget.
"Emerson is fast becoming a millstone for the Harper Government
not only in Vancouver Kingsway but right across the country. It
wouldn't surprise me if he ends up inflicting so much damage on
the Government that Harper sooner or later pressures him to
resign his seat. In the meantime, Harper must be rueing the day he
enlisted John Reynolds as a headhunter.
Posted by Stephen on February 11, 2006 10:58 PM"
It is possible that -- if the public keeps the heat on -- we may
benefit from some necessary improvements to electoral ethics. To
achieve that, David Emerson must first of all resign.
Has the media forgotten him already?
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"I think it's important to always carry enough technology to restart civilization, should it be necessary." Mark Tilden
Ed Deak.
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(Disclaimer: This is a personal note from Corky Evans to his friends, who may do with it what they wish. If it is printed or distributed in any way, please ensure that it is clearly identified as a note from Corky to his friends by retaining this disclaimer.)
The Return of the Ruling Class
Corky Evans
February 12, 2006
Last Monday I had occasion to speak to a Political Science class at University College of the Cariboo in Kamloops. I used my hour with the students to try and argue against cynicism about politics and political activity. I have lonbelieved that cynicism is the path to hopelessness, and hopelessness is the excuse to take no action to improve our collective experience. Academic life sometimes encourages students to confuse cynicism with intelligence, and faith with naiveté. I wanted to refute that assumption and convince the students that the world as they would inherit is theirs to design or abandon and the appropriate way to make that choice was to make it consciously.
I told them that political parties are elemental institutions in our system and encouraged them to join one and participate in the construction of policy and platform. I explained the idea of “mandate” and how you get one and what it means. I talked about how the “Estimates” process works and how that allows us to track money and avoid the kind of theft that is the norm in so much of the world.
Finally, I tried to show the difference between British Columbia where (at least for now) the people still own the land and universities and hospitals and gas and ore and salmon and rivers and dams……… and other jurisdictions around the world that had lost control of these assets. I begged them to participate in the choosing of candidates and governments that could be trusted to cherish and sustain what we inherit from earlier generations of citizenry and leadership.
Then I got into my truck and drove home. Somewhere around the Monashee I heard that David Emerson had jumped from the Liberal Party to the Conservatives to retain his Cabinet portfolio. I wanted to turn around and go back and apologize to those young people in Kamloops. I was angry with David Emerson for what he was doing to the work that I believe in.
Cops don’t like dirty cops.
Christians despise priests who use their collars to abuse children.
When I logged nobody made me madder than loggers who high-graded land.
And now I do this work and defend it and need to find some way to help Canada get past the likes of David Emerson before those students decide that I am a fool and that cynicism is necessary armour with which to protect themselves against the arrogance of leadership.
Everyone, I presume, knows the facts. David Emerson is a business leader who ran as a Liberal in the riding of Kingsway in Vancouver. The Conservative Party had not won that seat for half a century. David Emerson told citizens to vote for him to help stop Stephen Harper from forming a government. Conservatives came third in Kingsway, receiving just 18% of the vote.
David Emerson received the most votes and was elected as a Liberal. Last Monday he became a Conservative and was reappointed to his previous Cabinet position in charge of Trade.
Mr. Emerson used to be the CEO of the largest forest company in B.C. I doubt if he knows how to fall a tree or could tell the difference between a hemlock and a Douglas Fir but he knows how to manage money. He is part of that ilk of leadership that John Ralston Saul calls “Voltaire’s Bastards” because they know nothing well enough to do the work, but know everything about how to manage the people and money and resources that produce the work. Such people believe that they are part of the business elite that can run a company or a country with equal skill.
In the old days of Marxist vocabulary we used to call such men representatives of the “ruling class.” (I try my best not to use such words anymore since I noticed that my children’s eyes used to glaze over whenever I talked that way. It is an archaic language, the language of class. It sounds like Latin to anyone younger than I am.)
Mr. Emerson has indulged in such an excess of arrogant class interest that he invokes the old language as surely as if he had called it up like a ghost to a séance. It reminds me of the monumental extravagances of the rich in the 1920’s that provided such fodder for the organizers and the poets and the protest songwriters of the 1930’s.
In the last election I had some difficulty convincing voters that there was no difference between the Liberals and the Conservatives. Sometimes, truth to tell, I even doubted my own analysis as our country became captured by the notion of “strategic” voting and the two Parties that had a chance to govern were portrayed as somehow not the same people with the same interests and the same financial backers and the same consultants writing their advertising and taking their polls.
Now, though, Mr. Emerson has rekindled my faith in the idea that there really is a ruling class and their belief in their right to “rule” (as opposed to govern) is absolute.
Because, Mr. Emerson, you can now “rule” for sure. But you cannot govern. Not in the sense that those young people in Kamloops need you to govern in order that they might believe in the democratic process and participate in it’s institutions of debate and selection.
Nope. You messed up that chance before your (almost) government was two weeks old. Now you can only rule by force of law.
In the old days people used to talk about the need to “heighten the contradictions” in capitalism in order that we could all see clearly what was going on. In the old days, Mr. Emerson, you would have been a hero of the Left for your magnificent contribution to our understanding of the world.
These are not, however, the old days. For the sake of the planet, the people and the country, we need democracy to function, not just educate.
I will not forget what you have done to the work I believe in. I am not alone.
You can quit now and save your class further embarrassment, or keep the job and give citizens the pleasure of creaming you (and your new leader) at the polls as soon as they get the chance. If I were a banker I would demand that in the interest of your class, you leave now.
For the rest of us, it hardly matters. One real good antidote to the apathy that comes from cynicism is anger, even fury. For all I despise what you have done to the reputation of elected persons, I nevertheless thank you for seeding the wind so transparently. And I dare you to hang around for the harvest.
Emerson had the audacity to say that it was just some "partisans" and "zealots" protesting and making noises. Well I say bring out the zealots, we are going to need a whole lot more of them if we want some changes around here!
This will not be the last we hear about the appointed Senator either or the lobbying denfence minister. If the Cons taught people one thing it's how to effectively name call and smear so let the games begin!!!
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"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music." Friedrich Nietzsche
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gina
Ed's little preamble on him made it sound like he was no longer in government.
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"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music." Friedrich Nietzsche