David Emerson’s Party –In his Own Words

The people of Vancouver Kingsway elected David Emerson because they believed in the Liberal vision for Canada. Throughout the campaign, Mr. Emerson shared this vision and warned voters what a Conservative Canada might look like.

Here is some of what David Emerson told voters at a Vancouver Liberal fundraiser on January 16, 2006, 21 days before he crossed the floor to become a minister in the Conservative cabinet:

“Let's just ask ourselves whether Canadians want the Conservative kind of change: every man for himself, the strong survive, the weak die. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Taxation to benefit the rich, to take from the poor. Elimination of a child-care program that'll help young Canadians become productive members of our work force in 10 or 20 years regardless of their economic or social status.”

“‘Turn your back on First Nations, Metis and Inuit.’ That's what the Conservatives are saying. ‘Let's have another look at the Charter. Let's restrict some people's rights under the Charter, but let's have property rights under the Charter.’”

"They've created a platform that's mushy, that's under-costed, and non-specific about where the money is going to come from. And what they do, once they're in office, is start to cut social programs, start to run a deficit, start to raise taxes. I've seen that with every Conservative regime that I've ever encountered, and I've been in public service - involved in public policy - for over thirty years.”

“Let's not forget - softwood lumber was a victim of Brian Mulroney throwing it off the table, because the Americans didn't want it included in NAFTA. And it's only now, with Paul Martin, that we have stood up to the Americans on softwood lumber.”

How could a person who campaigned so hard to protect Canadians from this kind of Canada, turn his back on his constituents and abandon his principles to join a party that he so vociferously attacked as regressive?

Mr. Emerson now calls himself a “small-c Liberal”, but he certainly didn’t describe himself this way to his constituents during the election. With this kind of blatant hypocrisy, Mr. Emerson should fit right in with his new Conservative colleagues.