Blue to Red: A Detour to the North

As some of you may know, in Canada, and traditionally around the world, blue is the color of the right and red the color of the left. We Americans just got it switched around. This diary is about Canada, about the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party, and about the MP who recently switched between them.

His name is Garth Turner, MP for the riding of Halton. He was a Progressive Conservative before the PC Party was all but wiped out in 1993 and recently reentered politics as a Conservative in 2006. For voicing a dissident opinion on floor crossings and the environment, Turner was kicked out of the Conservative caucus and sat as an Independent for a while before the announcement came today that he would be joining the Liberals.

Now, I don't have a huge problem with Liberal policies, but I do have a problem with the Liberal Party. I think Garth Turner is perhaps the most dishonest politician in Canadian politics if he claims he will find the Liberals a party any more conducive to internal discussion than the Conservatives. Turner's reason for refusing to consider rejoining the Conservatives was a leadership that did not listen to the people, and the Liberals are even worse than the Conservatives on this point. For Turner to join the party that sees itself as "entitled to rule" (every single leader of the Liberal Party since 1900 has served as Prime Minister) and therefore tailors its platform to the most hotbutton issues while creating a front of unity is so disgustingly hypocritical that I have lost all respect for Mr. Turner.

I considered Turner something of a hero in Canadian politics when he left the Conservatives. I agreed with many of his position, and I was glad to hear him call for openness within and among parties as well as making MPs more accessible and more accountable for their actions. As an Independent, he made himself an example to be followed and brought issues that really mattered, as opposed to politicking, to the table. But, by joining the Liberals, Turner has surrendered that call for openness (the Liberals have certainly never made it), that call for accountability (the Liberals argued against accountability when it was in the Reform platform), and those issues that matter (Dion prefers do-nothing measures like the Kyoto resolution to real environmental policies). Turner has made himself no more than yet another politician ighting the reelection fight with every vote, not really caring about the issues or the common good.

I endorsed Garth Turner for reelection. Today, with his endorsement of the Liberals, I de-endorse him and instead endorse any non-Conservative who stands against him.