This is big, surprising news. According to the Globe and Mail, MP Blair Wilson, formerly of the Liberal Party, is about to become the Green Party's first member of parliament:
OTTAWA — The Green party is poised to announce it has its first federal member of Parliament - even before an anticipated fall election call.Green party Leader Elizabeth May will introduce former Liberal MP Blair Wilson as a Green MP at a news conference this morning in Ottawa.
The Vancouver MP was turfed from the Liberal caucus after revelations of spending irregularities in his 2006 campaign.
He's been sitting as an Independent.
Let me say I agree with the reasons Wilson was expelled from the Liberal caucus, and I agree with the decision not to re-admit him.
That said, I think it's great that the Green Party finally has its first MP. It's just unfortunate that it's unlikely he'll ever have the chance to sit in the House of Commons under the Green banner, with an election call almost certain before the House returns.
Assuming he runs for re-election under the Green banner, this will make things a little more interesting in West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country, a riding the Conservatives were eying as a sure pick-up (it was John Reynold's old riding).
More importantly, this should make it impossible for Green Party leader Elizabeth May to be denied a spot in the televised leaders debates in the next campaign. I sincerely hope that Stephen Harper, Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe will now do the right thing and join Stephane Dion in calling for May to be allowed to participate in the debates.
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3 comments:
As a voter who really cares about the environment and in theory supports the Green Party, I think May is an embarrassing party leader, and I'm very wary of what her performance might be in the debates. But yeah, she should be in it, for sure. Dion's totally right.
Am very, very pleased this has happened. It's been the media conglomerate which has insisted the Greens have an MP before it accepts their leader into the televised debates. So now the Greens have an MP. It's about damn time their voice was heard in the debates!
Whooee! Dang right, Chrystal. Why should a few Tv network executroids have the final say on who gets to appear in the most important and highest visibility political events in Canadian elections? The old boys' club has been arbitrary and unfair. The Greens are polling well above the Bloc and some polls put them at a tie with the NDP. Greens run candidates in all provinces yet Gilles Cheesehat has been allowed a place at the debates when the Canada-hatin' separatist BlocHeads only run in 75 ridings.
If we had a true democracy and proportional representation, there'd be 12 or 13 Green MPs sitting in Parliament right now. Canadian voters deserve to see the leader of a party that has widespread support go up against the 4 men in suits. It's only fair.
JB
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