As if the Emerson saga couldn't get any stranger...

On CBC's The Early Edition this morning Emerson told host Rick Cluff that he isn't a partisan. Duplicitous Dave said he ran as a Liberal as a favour to Paul Martin. He says that parties are just tools (to get elected).

So what do we learn today? That the non-partisan David Emerson is co-chair of the Conservative electoral campaign, the most partisan effort around.

"I'm not a partisan". "I'm running an election campaign for the entire country".

Is it any wonder that no thinking Canadian can trust a word that comes out of Emerson's mouth?

Emerson also noted that all he really cared about was getting his personal agenda done and that's why he ran. Unsaid in words, but with volumes spoken in action, he never really cared about the things that this riding care about. The riding cared about issues like child care and aboriginal affairs. Emerson only cared about building more freeways (which Vancouver historically opposes) and expanding the port (to bring in more imports for the U.S., along with all the pollution on sea and land attendant to such trade). Had Emerson chosen to be honest to constituents and ran on what he really thinks, he'd never have been elected even once.

Every word he's uttered on the subject only goes to reinforce that he has nothing but contempt for actual democracy. Perhaps that's why he is such a fan of China, a place where the overlords can get things done without the pesky requirement of being accountable to voters.

Harper has contempt not only for voters but most within his own party. They too are just a tool so he can push through his agenda.

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 month. 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 other political quarters, either. Some 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.

Still no official word from the embattled Emerson.

Emerson won't run, sources say (Sept. 3 2008, Globe and Mail)

His crossing the floor gave the Tories their only seat in downtown Vancouver. It also sent a signal, Conservatives hoped, that urban voters could embrace a party that had failed to make electoral inroads into the urban heart of Canada's biggest cities: Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.

[Editor: Actually it sent a message that Harper has no love for democracy. Electors wanted Emerson there in or out of government. A strong opposition is a cornerstone of an effective parliamentary democracy. This parliament shows quite clearly that Stephen Harper isn't interested in a functioning parliamentary democracy - he wants the power to be able to rule by decree with no opposition whatsoever.]

So when do we start the official countdown? (Sept. 3 2008, Macleans)

Is it when David Emerson finally - finally - kills off all those delicious rumours of being primed to parachute into some slightly-less-hostile riding by announcing that he won’t run again? Okay, it’s not official yet — it’s still just sources saying — but as Wells pointed out earlier today, was there ever any real reason to believe that he was going to stick around?

I mean, we all know that he likes being an a-list, star calibre minister (which, to be fair, isn’t exactly all that hard to do in this particular cabinet) but elections are so messy and unpredictable, and there’s always the outside chance that he could’ve wound up on the wrong side of the House again, vowing to become Stephane Dion’s “worst nightmare” until the very second he comes rolling up outside Rideau Hall. (Okay, that really probably wasn’t going to happen, but still.) You have to feel sorry for his local riding association, though - or, really, any local Conservative riding association in the general vicinity of Vancouver that doesn’t yet have a candidate and, as such, would have been up for grabs had Emerson been willing but clearly not able to hold onto his existing seat - but at least now they know.

Vancouver Sun / Canwest reporter Jonathan Fowlie spoke with me earlier Tuesday prior to CTV news reports that Emerson had decided to throw in the towel. In that interview I'd said "I just can't imagine him running here in this riding", but added that we'd be ready, in any local riding, to remind voters how little Stephen Harper and David Emerson respected the value of our votes in the last election.

Fowlie's article is now on-line and includes a quote from John Reynolds:

Late Tuesday night, former Conservative MP John Reynolds said he had heard rumours Emerson had decided to retire, but said he had not yet spoken to Emerson and could not confirm the news.

"It's a tough decision for him to make. I know it's been very tough on his family, what people have put them through in the past few years. I can understand fully if he made the decision not to run," Reynolds said. "That's a tough decision on his part, but that's life. I understand why people need to leave after a while."

If Reynolds is hearing rumours you can bet they come from the source or the top.

Bone to pick: "people" didn't put Emerson through anything. Whatever Emerson received was his to bear and far from sufficient payment for his complicity in attacking the democratic process. Emerson and Harper demonstrated that the value of a Canadian ballot is zero in their eyes.

Voters in this election ought to think twice before making their mark.

Breaking news: CTV citing unnamed sources says that David Emerson will not run in the next election.

Emerson won the riding of Vancouver Kingsway in the last election and switched to the Tories when Stephen Harper formed a government. He was unlikely to win this working class riding as a Conservative although the party was prepared to find him a safer riding. But sources say Emerson decided he didn't want to make the lengthy commute back and forth to the capital.

[Editor: ok, if that is your excuse... so be it.]

The plot thickens: Emerson is, apparently, not going to run in Quadra, yet still no announcement. He's had two years to consult "friends and family" yet can't make up his mind? Doubtful.

Former MP and B.C. Conservative godfather John Reynolds is quoted by CP as saying he believes Emerson will run in Kingsway where a win is if not impossible, as far from certain as it gets, yet at the same time hints Emerson would run (somewhere) if he felt he could get elected. The two notions do not add up.

With Vancouver-Kingsway almost certainly out, Quadra apparently out, that leaves West Vancouver or nowhere as the remaining options. My vote, no pun intended, is on nowhere.

Emerson still undecided on re-election run, say friends, colleagues (Sept. 2 2008, Canadian Press)

Former West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast MP John Reynolds said Tuesday it's "50-50" whether Emerson would run. "I think the most positive side obviously is he's enjoying his new job," said Reynolds, whose initial conversation with Emerson led to him switching parties. "I think he knows he'd stay there if he got elected."

Reynolds said he also believes Emerson will try to run in Vancouver Kingsway, despite lingering resentment among opponents who say his jump to the Tories robbed voters of their choice.

Vancouver Quadra rematch: Deborah Meredith versus Joyce Murray (Sept. 2 2008, The Georgia Straight)

Today, Conservative Party of Canada president Don Plett announced that Deborah Meredith will run again in the Vancouver Quadra riding. Plett's announcement scotches rumours that Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson will switch ridings from Vancouver Kingsway to Vancouver Quadra.

Tories quiet as questions surround Emerson's political future (Sept. 2 2008 The Globe and Mail)

His press secretary said this weekend that Mr. Emerson has yet to decide what to do, suggesting he is discussing his future with friends and family. Lynn Meahan said Mr. Emerson would announce a decision by the time the election is called.

The question of the as yet unofficial election appears to be will David Emerson run again or not? The invisible member of parliament is on record as committing to run in Vancouver-Kingsway, or not at all.

Still no word from Emerson; the local riding association is in the dark. Clearly there's no real democracy in that organization. Emerson was never elected as a candidate for the Conservatives thus that riding has no legitimate candidate, and no time to run an honest contest.

But of course there never was an intent to run Emerson here again. And despite polling which may have shown Emerson has a chance at winning elsewhere in the Vancouver area, one has to assume the Conservative powers that be are no dummies - they know that pro-democracy activists are revving their engines, hoping against hope to have another whack at Emerson.

Within the Vancouver area at large popular opinion was overwhelmingly opposed to what Harper and Emerson did to the votes of 46,168 Vancouver-Kingsway electors in the 2006 election. Even in staunchly pro-Conservative areas of the province such as Prince George opinion was a solid 75% against the undemocratic move.

Pro-democracy activists from across the political spectrum responded to Emerson and Harper's 2006 attack on our democracy and we all vowed to pursue this into the next election in order to ensure that voters are reminded how little Stephen Harper regards their votes. I'm convinced that we can mount an effective public relations campaign that will indeed cause voters all over the Vancouver area to take a hard look at their ballot and remember the last time they cast their vote.

This issue is bigger than Vancouver-Kingsway and as a result you'll see the efforts of pro-democracy campaigners from Real Democracy and the Campaign to De-Elect David Emerson in ridings all around the Vancouver area.

Emerson isn't the only blight on democracy to arise from this latest parliament. We've also got Wajid Khan (Liberal to Conservative floor crosser), Garth Turner (kicked from Conservative caucus, floor crosser without submitting himself to electorate). There's the unelected supporter of Stephen Harper, Michael Fortier, put into not only the Senate but also Cabinet despite specific promises from Harper that he would do neither. But Emerson clearly is the coup de gras for democracy in Canada, having proved beyond a shadow of doubt that Harper pays lip service to democratic principles while lecturing China and Russia on their behaviour.

Today's press:

Tories quiet as questions surround Emerson's political future (Globe and Mail)

This seems apropos to consider as world economies stumble, energy stocks dwindle, and politicians propose nothing of broad lasting value:

"We will find neither national purpose nor personal satisfaction in a mere continuation of economic progress, in an endless amassing of worldly goods. We cannot measure national spirit by the Dow Jones Average, nor national achievement by the Gross National Product. For the Gross National Product includes air pollution, and ambulances to clear our highways from carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and jails for the people who break them. The Gross National Product includes the destruction of the redwoods and the death of Lake Superior. It grows with the production of napalm and missles and nuclear warheads.... It includes... the broadcasting of television programs which glorify violence to sell goods to our children. "And if the Gross National Product includes all this, there is much that it does not comprehend. It does not allow for the health of our families, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It is indifferent to the decency of our factories and the safety of our streets alike. It does not include the beauty of our poetry, or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials... the Gross National Product measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country. It measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile, and it can tell us everything about America -- except whether we are proud to be Americans." -Robert F. Kennedy

Hat tip: TheOilDrum.com

Washington State University researchers recently completed a study concluding that consumption patterns, and human population growth, are the principal factors underlying our species' impact on the planet's ecology. Driving the Human Ecological Footprint, by Thomas Dietz, Eugene A. Rosa, and Richard York, puts the spotlight on population growth and affluence as the principle factors driving the growth in human-caused environmental stressors.

This comparative analysis shows that population size and affluence are the principal drivers of anthropogenic environmental stressors, while other widely postulated drivers (e.g. urbanization, economic structure, age distribution) have little effect. Similarly, increased education and life expectancy do not increase environmental stressors, suggesting that some aspects of human well-being can be improved with minimal environmental impact. Projecting to 2015, we suggest that increases in population and affluence will likely expand human impact on the environment by over one-third. Countering these driving forces would require increases in the efficiency of resource use of about 2% per year. More >

Hat tip: EnergyBulletin.net