Somewhere in down town Vancouver Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh will learn today if he has to look for a new job.

An automatic judicial recount applies to several close election races, but perhaps none is more interesting than the high-drama race in Vancouver-South between Liberal Ujjal Dosanjh and unknown upstart Conservative Wai Young.

With only 33 votes separating the two candidates as of election night, today's court-supervised recount is sure to be a nail biter.

In the end I don't think it matters much who wins. Dosanjh has not distinguished himself of late in my view.

Dosanjh is something of one-man floor-crossing exhibit. True, moving from one party to another, while not even elected, can't be equated with the infamous David Emerson affair. Yet I remember the former NDP cabinet minister and short-term Premier turned Liberal MP and cabinet minister less for his time in cabinet than for his anti-democratic performances including rejecting calls for legislation that would inhibit floor-crossing, and his involvement in the sleazy Grewal affair.

Ms. Young I do not know, but if she should prevail over Dosanjh, it might actually be beneficial in the long run for politics in that riding. Harper won't get a majority out of one more seat, so I'm open to the notion that a Conservative win - the first in the City of Vancouver in quite some time - might just convince those who would then wish to regain the seat (and compete elsewhere) to bring something more than an empty suit to the table. Vigorous competition is always a good thing in politics. We've not seen that characteristic in any recent Vancouver South race.

Years ago Ujjal Dosanjh once earned my respect. Before he entered politics Dosanjh had been a victim of a beating, so targeted due to his outspoken views on religious extremism in his cultural community. It seems to me we've not seen that side of Mr. Dosanjh in quite some time. If he should manage to hold his seat, I would hope he'd look both inward and back in time to rediscover himself. If he doesn't, there is no way he'll hold the seat in the next election.

Mr. Dosanjh should consider these 33 votes as his political wake up call.

Two floor-crossers who ran were unceremoniously run out of parliament, perhaps haunted by the curse of David Emerson, uber-floor-crosser of them all.

While David Emerson wasn't the first floor-crosser muck with the democratic process, he'll go down in history as its worst example to be sure. Lets not forget that in this parliament, like peas in a pod, Emerson had company.

David Emerson was later joined in the floor-crossers hall of infamy by former Liberal then Conservative now nothing Wajid Khan, and by former Conservative then independent then Liberal Garth Turner. Where are they now? As of Tuesday's election results, all three are removed from parliament. Only two bothered to try for re-election, Emerson was too chicken to run.

One February morning about two and a half years ago David Emerson shocked the nation when he turned up at Rideau Hall to be sworn in as a member of Stephen Harper's Conservative cabinet. Only two weeks prior he'd been a sitting Liberal cabinet minister, re-elected in no small part thanks to his vow to be Stephen Harper's worst nightmare.

Reaction was immediate and intense. From the start it was clear that Emerson's virtually instant defection was not viewed as a Vancouver-Kingsway specific issue but one of national concern. Vancouverites supported by democracy loving Canadians from right across the country, including even conservatives, erupted in sustained furor which carried on for months. One thousand De-Elect Emerson campaign signs sprouted on lawns all over the city, urged on by Emerson himself who called his detractors "locusts", and by Harper who claimed the outrage was the work of only a handful of partisan protesters.

This chronic lack of understanding of Canadians is precisely why Harper has twice been restricted to minority governments, and despite the apparent strength of his recent win, my instinct is Harper will not politically survive the next attempt.

Contrary to Harper's assertions, support for the effort was both broad and non-partisan, and only grew each time he or Emerson opened their mouths. Indeed the De-Elect Emerson Campaign mailboxes were filled to overflowing with letters of support, spiced with only an occasional and usually lamentable attack. Harper continued his own attacks on democracy, stooping at one point to rip into Parliament's own Ethics Commissioner , Bernard Shapiro, who, rightly, responded to public pressure by calling an inquiry into the Emerson Affair.

Public anger continued to mount despite or because of various outlets including standing-room only town hall meetings, numerous street corner protests and the on-going lawn sign campaign. A plane buzzed parliament pulling a giant banner suggesting "Emerson Call Home"; more De-Elect Emerson lawn signs started showing up outside Vancouver on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa and Montreal, even in Pictou-Antigonish, home of Progressive Conservative Party sell-out Peter MacKay. Public fury ran unabated. A hastily arranged rally and protest march drew out over nine hundred young and old, from every ethnic group imaginable, one breezy April Sunday. The value of our vote had been more than devalued, it'd been as good as ripped from our hands by Harper and Emerson and as we marched down Kingsway past Emerson's constituency office, we all had a sense that what we were doing could at least make a small difference.

Politicians were not universally sympathetic, and Liberals, despite claims by Conservatives that they were supporting our campaign, were actually less than helpful. For example, despite being reminded that his native India had passed legislation restricting floor-crossing, Vancouver South Liberal Ujjal Dosanjh, who in current times is now claiming high and mighty moral indignation over what he perceives as the centre / centre-left abandoning him, refused to support our call for legislation.

Dosanjh wasn't the only one keeping quiet. Every Conservative MP who had voted for floor-crossing legislation in an earlier parliament shut up tighter than a west coast mussel. Former MP for Liberal Vancouver Quadra Stephen Owen (who was also critic for Democratic Reform) empathized with our concerns but refused to speak out publicly against his "friend" Emerson. Still a number of MP's from various parties (notably the NDP which to this day continues to support a floor-crossing ban) responded to our campaign's calls for support.

We've learned a lot from the l'affair Emerson and you can be sure this knowledge is ready to be shared with any constituency which falls victim to a politician that follows Emerson's footsteps, regardless of party or direction, in the future.

Considering what happened to Emerson, and the fate of other floor-crossers from this last parliament, with any luck other Canadians will be spared this ignominy for some time.

The Conservative Party has confirmed to media that David Emerson will not run in the forthcoming election.

Today I heard a clip of former MP John Reynolds - a Conservative power broker in B.C. - and true to form he behaved like the partisan prick that he is. His claim--its damage control I recognize that--is that the movement to force Emerson to resign and run in a by-election was driven by partisan professionals.

Nothing could be further from the truth, and any honest observer of the times could clearly see that.

Since at the time I was still a Conservative party member, my participation puts lie to his claim. I saw the entire effort from stem to stern, met all the people involved, and became involved myself. In a very short period of time literally hundreds of Vancouver area folks came out to help us make this issue stand out for all of Canada to witness. I met and talked with many who had never participated in anything remotely political but the obvious wrong which Harper and Emerson perpetrated clearly was a motivating factor for many to take that first political step in their lives.

With great fondness I recall many achievements and special moments. Working with such a diverse group of people and seeing something come of it was truly inspiring to me.

One achievement I am most proud of was the Walk for Democracy which we conceived, planned, and executed in less than four weeks. The Walk was a tremendous success, drawing out just shy of 1,000 Vancouver area folks to march through the riding one blustery sunny day in April.

Throughout the Campaign thousands of people from across the country called us, wrote letters and email, voiced their opinions in on-line polls, wore buttons, wrote letters and post cards, put lawn signs out, and walked and talked to us in the streets. The public really got this issue, in a way that many politicians simply refused to acknowledge.

Low points in the campaign included Emerson's continuing rude dismissal of our concerns. The riding effectively had no member of parliament. Harper, Reynolds, and other Conservative party operatives were equally venomous. In the end I let my membership in the party lapse. I could not support a party led by one who claims from on high to support democratic principles yet with his left hand is cutting them down.

Harper and Emerson devalued, no, they ignored our votes rendering them completely valueless. More worrisome is the Emerson affair was but an opening salvo. Stephen Harper's behaviour since gaining power has clearly illustrated that he should not be trusted with majority rule, ever.

I wasn't happy with the response from some other political quarters, either. Certain local Liberal MP's were less than supportive of our efforts. I was disappointed in Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh's response in particular. Perhaps he was justifying his own party switch - not that I would consider the two issues to be the same at all - but he like Emerson appears to believe that politicians are above the will of the people.

Except at election time.

The very next day? As Emerson proved, anything goes.

And that my friends is dreadfully wrong.

Floor-crosser charged under Elections Act

Over at ElectWajidKhan.ca you'll find a few links pointing to the latest dirt on former Liberal turned Harper's special advisor on the Middle East turned Conservative MP, who is now charged with violating Canada's Elections Act:

Tory MP charged with violating elections act (CBC): The charges [against Wajid Khan] stem from the 2004 election campaign, when Khan ran as a Liberal.

His former riding president and his car dealership, Dufferin Mazda, are also charged with paying for campaign expenses they weren't supposed to cover.

"Some people treat the election financing rules [as] voluntary guidelines," said NDP MP Pat Martin, who filed a complaint last January when he heard there were questions about how Khan financed his election campaign.

"They're not. They're hard fast laws and there should be consequences. If not, it's not fair to any of us."

Khan is scheduled to appear in court in early January.

Info: The Campaign to De-Elect David Emerson and Real Democracy yesterday issued a press release calling upon former Conservative turned independent turned Liberal Garth Turner to resign and run in a by-election. This is deplorable for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the hypocrisy involved: Turner was himself a vocal and visible critic of Emerson. Our campaign has always been non-partisan in our criticism of floor crossing and the damage it does to voters faith in our democracy.

Speculation: With long-time Vancouver Quadra MP Liberal Stephen Owen retiring from politics, the always missing-in-action David Emerson must no doubt be considering a run in Quadra.

Speculation: Owen may have retired to clear the way for Emerson to run – as a Conservative. Owen has never hidden the fact that he is a friend of Emerson. If Owen ran, he’d win the riding without contest, almost regardless of who the Conservative candidate is. With Owen out of the way, Conservative prospects in Quadra have appreciated significantly.

Observation: Well known Vancouver-area money manager, fluently bi-lingual, local Conservative Rick Peterson has already announced his candidacy for the Vancouver-Quadra Conservative nomination, and has been actively working the riding. Having observed Emerson closely over the last year, there is no question in my mind – Peterson will be able to win over members easily; and with Owen out of the way, Peterson – a former Progressive Conservative activist – is well positioned to win the riding for the blue team for the first time in a long time. But is Peterson in John Reynold’s good books? Reynolds would back Emerson over Peterson any day. Look to the Vancouver-Quadra Conservative EDA for some interesting fireworks if Emerson decides he is interested.

Fact: Both Emerson and Reynolds are arrogant enough to believe they can stage a come-back for Emerson.

Fact: There isn’t a riding west of the Rockies Emerson could win.

In particular the entire Vancouver area finds him radioactive. Support for our “de-election” campaign comes from across the city, including Quadra and West Point Grey.

If Emerson doesn’t run in Vancouver—Kingsway as he said he would, and instead slinks away elsewhere to attempt a political resurrection, the Campaign to De-Elect Emerson – with supporters from every corner of this city – will be there dogging his every step.

On Friday January 5, 2007, Mississauga—Streetsville M.P. Wajid Khan flips the bird to his constituents, 45% of home believed they sent a member which supported the Liberal Party aims and goals. “Just kidding, kept you fooled”, we imagine Khan saying to no-one in particular.

One year earlier, on January 23rd, 2006, voters sent Liberal cabinet minister David Emerson back to Ottawa to represent Vancouver—Kingsway from the Opposition benches, expecting Emerson to live up to his election-eve promise to be Stephen Harper’s “worst enemy”. Despite riding electors overwhelmingly rejecting the Conservatives, before the ink on the election returns was even dry, the very next morning Emerson was in secret negotiations with Stephen Harper’s Conservatives. His reward? A new cabinet position.

Vancouver—Kingsway constituents didn’t even get a t-shirt, much less a responsive member of parliament, out of the dirty deal.

These and other politicians have sold themselves during elections as standing for a set of policies and principles when in reality we’ve seen them deliver completely contradictory performances. The jaded will sigh and exclaim “its just business as usual”, but in reality we’ve been witnessing an escalation of the devaluation of the very meaning of our vote and democracy. Thankfully many Canadians were shaken from their slumber and are awake to the danger confronting our society.

The public reaction to the Emerson Affair proved that apathy no longer rules; that people will demand more than pithy promises and loose moral performances from their politicians. Just wait until the next election when voters across the country are reminded just how little some political leaders value their votes. After all, Stephen Harper has proven twice now in one parliament that if you don’t vote for him, Harper will not think twice about stealing your vote.

Its time to get tough on such crimes and put Harper behind bars.

Figuratively speaking there of course—a permanent electoral timeout will suffice.

One of the interesting questions now is whether former Liberal, turned Conservative, David Emerson, will run for office in the next federal election. We won’t have long to wait for an answer – his new Conservative party will force him to make a declaration within the next few months. Almost no one expects Emerson to run (and be slaughtered) in Vancouver – Kingsway. And few expect him to run at all, in any riding.

David Emerson and Stephen Harper will come and go, but what they did brought the issue of our fragile democracy into sharp relief, and galvanized public opinion on the issue of floor crossing. Who will mark their X on future ballots, without first considering how meaningless some of our politicians consider our votes?

Bringing David Emerson into the Conservative cabinet, indeed, starting negotiations to do same the very day after the last federal election, proved to Canadians that our political system isn’t about accountability but power.

We all have a chance, right now, to help influence the situation. Let members of parliament know that Canadians haven’t forgotten what Emerson did on February 6th, haven’t forgotten the duplicitous dealing that started, with Harper’s knowledge and permission, less than 24 hours after the final ballots had been counted.

Bill C-2, the Federal Accountability Act, is now being discussed in committee, and the time to act if this incomplete legislation is to be improved is right now. Express your opinion by emailing ASAP all committee members. Ask them why floor crossing prohibition was not part of the original bill, and urge them to vote in favour of amendments that would bring a real prohibition into effect.

The committee is comprised of members from all parties and their emails, and those of the party leaders are:

cc2@parl.gc.ca, burkem@parl.gc.ca (Miriam Burke-Bill C-2 Committee clerk), Tilson.D@parl.gc.ca, Poilievre.P@parl.gc.ca, Lukiwski.T@parl.gc.ca, Moore.R@parl.gc.ca, Moore.J@parl.gc.ca, Petit.D@parl.gc.ca, Owen.S@parl.gc.ca, Jennings.M@parl.gc.ca, Tonks.A@parl.gc.ca, martin.p@parl.gc.ca, Sauvageau.B@parl.gc.ca, Guay.M@parl.gc.ca, pm@pm.gc.ca, harper.s@parl.gc.ca, Graham.B@parl.gc.ca, jack@fed.ndp.ca, ducepg@parl.gc.ca

For my part I plan to say that I do not favour the amendment put forward on behalf of the Liberal party by Stephen Owen, which calls for a limited and hamstrung “recall” procedure which puts the onus on voters to reject and recall a MP. I’d like to see the NDP motion supported and ideally taken even further, and shall comment more on each in due course.

Get your pens / keyboards out and write!

When asked about the Emerson controversy Reynolds dismissed continued protests as the work of just a handful of angry people, and, using the black-tie and tiara crowd who attended his dinner the night before as evidence, said that everyone else is behind Emerson. The Almanac host let Reynolds get away with this crass dismissal of reality.

Over the weekend in the neighbouring riding of Vancouver South we watched one of our sons perform with his class at the South Hill Festival. Like last year I ran into MP Ujjal Dosanjh, and cornered him on an issue.

Last year Dosanjh was in the news for his role in the distasteful Gurmant Grewal affair, where the former Conservative MP made an abortive attempt to defect to the Liberals (with a hidden tape recorder running all the while). No one, least of all Grewal, came out of that smelling nice.

This year I rather thought Dosanjh might redeem himself with voters and support legislation which would prohibit floor-crossing such as what Emerson has subjected voters to. His answer? No.

Dosanjh is leaning on the lame argument that a floor crossing bill would only result in giving party leaders even more power. This is nonsense. Any reasonable legislation can deal with this, and no leader is going to risk public outrage by forcing members out of caucus willy nilly.

MP’s ought to be accountable to their constituents first. They work for us, not for party leaders or prime ministers.

Why do only a handful of Liberal and Conservative MP’s appear to get this?

Even a Manitoba Tory publicly supports the ban. Justice critic Kelvin Goertzen says:

I do believe politicians aren’t free agents. When they’re elected to certain political parties, the people who elected them expect them to stay within that political party.

+1 Manitoba. 0 Harper-Emerson.