Well, it’s another day in my evolution. PC. Harper Conservative. Maverick MP. Outcast. Indie. Liberal.
To say the past year has been one hell of a ride would be a political understatement. Never expected it, even though many people say I am the architect of my own destiny. Today I’m accepting that view more than ever, since the decision to join Stephane Dion and the Liberal caucus is entirely mine. It did not come easily. But it’s unquestionably the right thing to do.
I’m convinced of this since I define this job with one question: How can I be the most effective MP for the people? For the past year the answer has been to be as ethical, principled and issue-driven as possible. I told folks I would work for them, not the party. This put me on an immediate collision course with Stephen Harper, who has an entirely different view of what an MP is. We clashed a week into this job, and it never let up. I was threatened, but didn’t give in. I did not, for example, shut this blog down, as was ordered by the PM’s chief of staff.
Often I have thought of Stephen Harper’s words to me after the election, when he referred to my past as a media guy. “Journalists make bad politicians,†he told me. “Politicians can stay on message, but journalists think they have to tell the truth.â€
Maybe he’s right. But I’ve always thought that’s what the voters want, too. So let me tell you the unvarnished truth about my decision to join the Liberals, probably the only member of my family to do so since ancestor Ebenezer Bodwell. He was the first MP for Oxford, starting in 1867.
Being anything other than a Conservative never crossed my mind until just recently. After all, I’d been a Tory MP in the past under two prime ministers, as well as a cabinet minister and even a leadership contender. As a new member of the Harper caucus I though this could be a worthy successor to the PC party. In fact, that’s what I’d campaigned on, telling voters it would be modern, mainstream and moderate, so there was no reason to stick with the Liberals.
But the conflict was immediate and my disappointment profound. My idea of a good MP was not shared by many of my neo-Conservative colleagues and certainly not by PMSH. And this blog, in itself, became a major issue. At the end of the relationship – and the final days of my being a Tory – I stood accused of telling you things about how Ottawa works, that Ottawa did not want you to know.
So, I found myself an independent MP last October, a position which history shows almost no one has made work. Cadman, Nunziata – there are few who have survived long or made a lasting contribution, without support or colleagues. But I gave it my best shot, pursuing the issues I came for, winning some battles, trying to stay relevant, and having as much influence as one guy could.
And while I believe we need a few dozen independents in Parliament, to keep the balance of power in the hands of the people, being an Indie is no picnic. It is unusual and misunderstood, and I will continue to fight for more rights for independent members. Constituents would call and ask if I was still the MP. Others thought this meant the end of government funding to my riding of Halton. And in Ottawa my experience in economics was wasted as the Conservatives threw me off the finance committee and wouldn’t let me back on.
It became clear after a couple of months, as I headed home for the holiday break, that I owed it to the people who sent me to Ottawa, to explore every option. And I did. In addition to a series of Town Hall meetings and endless advice-seeking in the riding, I spoke to people with knowledge and experience, and opened lines of communication with the Greens and the Liberals.
In the last few days, the options narrowed. Equally large numbers of the people I spoke in the last few weeks encouraged me to sit either as an independent or a Liberal. About this time I was approached by members of the local Liberal association, asking if I would consider working with them.
So we met in my family room, then again at Tim’s. I asked to speak with the new leader, Dion. I met him in Toronto, then again in Ottawa. We talked about his vision for the country and my vision of a good MP. We were blunt about working on a team, caucus confidentiality and my view that politicians need to talk to the people and answer to them. We spoke of our common causes – the environment, a sound economy, a thriving middle class and a tolerant and socially progressive country. I found the guy to be refreshingly honest, open, unpretentious and gentlemanly. I think he is what you would want a leader to be like. Confident and approachable.
In our first meeting we talked for two hours. I explained my convictions as a Progressive Conservative, and he talked about opening his party wide to exactly people like me. I said to him, you surely know me and the troubles I had with Stephen Harper. You know what they said about me. And you alone must decide if the Liberals can work with an MP like me.
And he said yes. So did I.
83 comments ↓
Mr. Turner, we need you now more than ever!
The hypocrisy in Ottawa is rampant and Canadians are tired of it. We need you to get back up on the soapbox and we need you to let Canadians know that hypocrisy in Parliament is unacceptable.
You can even use your own hypocrisy, illustrated today, as an excellent example.
Speak out Mr. Turner!
Speak out against people like yourself who have stolen Ottawa from the people!
Sigh. Dion might be good, the Liberals might be better than they’ve been for, oh, a couple of decades now. However to me this just looks like ‘how do I get re-elected’.
Good on you Garth, you will do more good on that side of the house than you ever did on the Government side.
Have you ever considered that the “GTA” is a small part of Canada.
I have traveled and worked extensively in Canada including the “old” N.W.T. and Yukon.
What you say goes against the sensibility of many Canadians who feel that you abrogate our requirements in favor of the “G.T.A.” and that makes us feel left out for example not all of us have the convenience of mass transit subsidized by “non-resident” persons that do not have the use of the system except by buying a airline ticket to use the system that we pay for.
You talk of the “G.T.A.” as it is the throne of the country. Guess again.
By the constant changing around of your alliances one can only determine that you are searching what is best for YOU not “the people” you profess to represent. Oh yes you do lean towards “some people” THE ONES THAT MAY BE DUMB ENOUGH TO ELECT YOU”.
Rather than be like many great men gone before you who accomplished great things within the “system” you are looking for the easy path rather than do the work to work within the “system”.
My one question to you would be: Is this not the lazy persons route?
Thanks but no thanks!
You are a disgrace and a hypocrite. A true politician. The Liberals are all that is wrong with politics, and you are now one of their puppets, good for you. So much for helping the middle class! I hope you end up in jail where the rest of your buddies belong. Enjoy your short lived political career in the pork troughs of the Liberal sewers.
So which Ministry did Dion promise you, should they, err…you, form government?
Congratulations on having joined the Liberal Party! It was a great pleasure for me to watch your press conference with Mr. Dion. Honesty, integrity and a generous vision for Canada from both of you. (Such a refreshing change from PMSH.)
“We spoke of our common causes… I found the guy to be refreshingly honest, open, unpretentious and gentlemanly.”
I’m surprised you could understand what he was saying. Or was your conversation en francais?
Congratulations, Garth. You have always been more aligned with Liberal ideals than the ” let the poor fend for themselves” and “get the women back in the kitchen” mentality of the Alliance and Reformers.
Great decision-
“…being an Indie is no picnic. It is unusual and misunderstood, and I will continue to fight for more rights for independent members. Constituents would call and ask if I was still the MP. Others thought this meant the end of government funding to my riding of Halton.”
Oh, so you did it to give some clarity to a few clowns who don’t understand our parliamentary system?
How about giving them a politics 101 lesson and keeping your ethics in tact?
I thought you were different from other politicians. I suppose the only ethical ‘floor-crosser’ is, ironically, a former Canadian Alliance member – Keith Martin. Too bad you couldn’t give that rap to former Progressive Conservatives.
Like Brison and Stronach you’ve degraded progressive-conservatism in Canadian politics by selling out. I’m sure Sir John A. Dief, and Clark are proud!
Garth,
“And while I believe we need a few dozen independents in Parliament, to keep the balance of power in the hands of the people, being an Indie is no picnic. ”
So it was too hard for you —Ahhhhh
I have supported you all along , Garth and have respected your stance but this is too much. Stephan Dion and the liberals would very quickly take this country back to their old ways of crime and corruption. Better as an Independent than a Liberal with their track record and their very transparent intention to lock us into all sorts of socialist programs, always making sure their pockets are nicely lined with our tax dollars.
I wish you well personally and always have , but this is a move I will not follow nor support. God Bless and God Speed as you move into the den of thieves.
Good choice, Garth. The Liberal Party will be better for having you in its ranks.
Do great things and remind them occasionally about who they are working for. You seem to be one of the few on Parliament Hill who keeps that thought front and centre.
All the best.
When did the Conservatives actually vow to “get the women back in the kitchen” and what’s the plan? I’m assuming there’s some evidence!?
Wow – those neocons are upset. Talk ab out hypocracy!!
GGF – can’t find anything but trying to put down Dion’s English – how sad you are. As tho PMHS’s French is any better.
Well – I was ready to send in a donation to you when the next election was called. You’ll have to manage without it now. As long as Dion holds dual citizenship I won’t even consider voting Liberal.
Liberal leader Stephane Dion reminded us today that the Liberal Party of Canada must “point in one direction.”
Where is the room for free speech, the right to dissent, and digital democracy in that?
It is a pity we can’t have more independent MPs, forced to make a decision I think you made the right one. Mr Harper has been a big disapointment to many of us, he has given us the opposite of what he promised on many issues particularly accountablity. I can not understand why more men of principle in the conservative party have not joined you.
Garth, your riding is once again represented by an Member of Parliament with the full rights of an M.P. (to sit on committees, etc.). That’s great news! I hope that the people in your riding will see that you made the move to the Liberals more for THEIR sake than for your own or the Liberals. Your honesty and sense of loyalty to the people is VERY REFRESHING! (It seems to be so rare for a politician) Keep it up Mr. Turner! Thank you!!!!!!!!! I wish you were the M.P. for MY riding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Re:Dave”You are a disgrace and a hypocrite”.Some salt of the earth diatribe from a NeoCon.Look at yourself in the mirror and see the REAL HYPOCRITE.Any follower of George Jr. is a real disgrace. So much for the religious right.Even though I will always be an NDP’R,I respect your decision Garth.Now lets get rid of all the real hypocrites and liars-all 125 of them.
For shame. Coming from the man who howled at floor crossing, you show us why Canadians are becoming apathetic to politics; you were never committed to your values as an independent, your goals are clear now. You are the typical politician who wants power, money, and could care less about anything in between. I, for one, hope to see you gone in the next election.
IF YOU ALL WANT THE TRUTH ABOUT GARTH VADER JUST ASK ANYONE THAT RESIDES IN CALEDON—WHAT AN IDIOT!!!!!!!
Even I have to say that it was a surprise to me that you joined the Liberals. I was sure that you would be a Green.
It is ok though because you can be a “green” liberal.
JUST DO NOT LET THEM STOP YOUR BLOG!
It is almost the only “Free speech” site in Canadian politics.
Do you still support income splitting?
Garth, i listened to you for years and my sister worked hard to get you elected.Today, you have betrayed your constituents and all who believed in your work as a conservative.
From this moment on, my sister and myself will do everything we can to see that you are soundly defeated if you run as a liberal in the riding next election.
Count on it.
Congratulations Mr Turner, you’ve just re-re-confirmed my long-held belief that all politcians are unprincipled. Got your eye on a cabinet post in the next Liberal Gov’t ?
…This just in…Turner joins the Bloc Quebecois. After defecting to the Liberals on Wednesday, Turner was booted out of the Liberal caucus later that day. He joined the Greens a few minutes later – as he and Elizabeth May worked closely in her bid for a seat in London. Alas, even poor Liz saw the writing on the wall- Garth is a pompous, self-rightous ass. Garth joined the BQ moments ago,proclaiming “I can work with the seperatists. We have much in common; the BQ wants its own nation to run. I want my own nation to run.”
Turner is expected to last with the BQ until early next week.
Great move, Garth!
I couldn’t bring myself to vote for you as a Conservative, even though I felt you were the best candidate. Everything I feared about the Conservatives has come true. PMSH’s platitudes and his bunch of puppets are getting tiresome. They keep changing their policies, hoping to find the right ones that will get them re-elected. Its time for a change. KEEP ON BLOGGING.
Walt
They really should hold a nationwide poll to vote for the sleaziest polititian of the century. You may not win Garth, but you would certainly be in the running!
Stephen Harper’s words . . “Journalists make bad politicians,†he told me. “Politicians can stay on message, (read maintain the lies) but journalists think they have to tell the truth.â€
Well I guess that just about says it all!! Hope the Con voters choke on those words next election.
Thank you Garth and you gave us a little more insight into Mr. Dion which was good to know.
Keep up the good work!
hope the move is a good one, too bad your move doesn’t make a shift in power in terms of a confidence vote like Belinda’s party change, but hopefully you’ll be one more wound in the Conservative parties side when it comes to an inevitable election.
Crossed over to the Liberals. Now you can have lunch with Belinda. I suggest that you order the crow…
I had respect for you, key word being “had”.
Just when I thought it was impossible to top the examples of self-serving hypocrisy…you proved me wrong!
I must admit, however, that your attempts at justifying your actions show that you believe the world revolves around you to a greater extent than any politician I have had the misfortune to meet to date.
I have two young adults in my home and two older teenagers…thank you for another example they can use to justify their utter cynicism about the uselessness of bothering to vote. Great job, Garth…keep up the good work…NOT
Thank you! I can now vote for you with a clear conscience.
My father has been old school PC his entire life. Sadly, the current Conservative Party has little or nothing to do with the Progressive Conservatives he (and you) supported for all those years. I never liked them much back then, but at least they weren’t trying to turn my country into America North.
So, kudos to you for staying true to the principle rather than the party name. I don’t think it’s going to win you a lot of votes here in Milton, but one of them will be mine.
Good lord! You’re not telling the whole story, Garth! Did you guys – while you were sitting in ‘Tim’s’ discuss the fact that you might be considered an ENORMOUS hypocrite for not resigning and running again?! Did that come up at all? If so – do share. Did neither of you realize that by deciding to resign and run again that you would be punishing Khan, Emerson, Dion – and show that you are indeed principled, ‘new’ leaders and not the usual opportunistic politicians that Canadians have come to disrepect and loathe?
Garth, those criticizing you, calling you a hypocrtie, obviously didn’t see your comment in the video where you said you would willingly go up for a by-election right away. Either they didn’t see it, or they are conveniently overlooking it. I wouldn’t be surprised if the latter is the case.
Good on you, Mr. Turner. There are many of us out west who watched your story with interest. We may not agree with all the liberal views, but we don’t necessary agree with the conservative views either. Challenging all those who crossed the floor to stand for a byelection at the same time you do is a nice touch as well.
Good luck!
Garth;
You’re a bleedin’ wanker.
“You can please all of the people, some of the time. You can please some of the people, some of the time. You can’t please all of the people, all of the time.”
I, personally, think you made the right choice given the options you had available. Harperites and political zealots can scream hipocrisy all they want; at the end of the day, it has to be decided on what’s best for your consitituents.
The Conservative Party is anything but progressive. They pander way too much to the religious right to be enlightened or progressive in any social changes. They still remain a very scary party for me. I see only regression and supression in their views and tactics.
People have slammed Dion as being corrupt simily because he is a Liberal and stooped to ridculing his English.
The Harperites fear him so much, they have posted American style hate ads against him – forgetting I guess that Canadians really don’t approve of those kind of tactics, as we see them as sleazy character assasinations.(not to mentioned they “borrowed” copyrighted material to do them, without asking permission first – so it would appear, the pc’s are also thieves)
Get the work that needs to be done, done, and that will be the best payback on the harperite name callers and nay sayers.
Your feelings of self importance are only exceeded by your hypocrisy.
What is more sickening is your warped sense of righteousness outlined in your explanation.
In other words, good choice, you belong in Liberal party.
Good move. I hope the Liberals are more responsive to concerns of citizens than the Conservatives were during the sad Cenotaph incident last summer.
After several e-mails and a few articles I wrote, I finally shamed the heritage Minister and Veterans Affairs to at least acknowldge the incident and my concers.albeit it in late January.
What they will do is a mystery but no response to my suggestions for Canada Day of a cordon after dark, a police and military presence to keep the bottle hurlers away…and no follow up to a suggestion that I could have had Algonquin students research and make up information videos for the site on Canada Day .
I don’t take the non-responses personally but as a citizen I expected more, one Ministry assigned a summer student to the incident, no follow up there. Another aide told me I would be arrested were I to set up an information booth on my own.
I hope you bring your experiences to the One Man Conservative caucus to the Liberal party.
Dr Michael Pilon CD DDS
I have to wonder why you think your story is so interesting. You are only one of many, many politicians.
Keep that in mind. This is only interesting to you.
To “GGF” – I fail to see what language has to do with one’s integrity, honesty, etc. You are a “bigot” and, therefore, your views mean nothing at all and this kind of bigotry is not welcome in Canada.
You seem to be a typical right-wing nutbar – who needs it.
Do you still support Income Splitting now that you are a LIBERAL ??
Absolutely. — Garth
Congratulations Mr. Turner and the very best to you! I will be following your progress as with great enthusiasm. But, my oh my, you have certainly succeeded in making a lot of people feel threatened! It all depends on how one chooses to see things, doesn’t it!
REM from Oakville
I love this. The way he uses a careful euthemism and then utterly lays it bare in the same sentance is just hillarious. And I thought he didn’t have a sense of humour. Can this quote be verified against another source?
The press announcement with Mr.Dion was priceless.So you are going to toe the party (LIBERAL) line ??? I’m an optomust…..I’ll give you five days.
Congratulations on having joined the Liberal Party!
We need you there more than ever.
Good work Garth.
Garth, what a wonderful news!
To joint the corrupt Libs was a Great decision.
What an opportunity to secure your financial future with Libs!
It would be a shame to let this opportunity pass you by.
Thanks again for reminding to us all – Ain’t no Good Guys in politics.
Otherwise, it’s just a temporary disguise.
Hi Garth;
Congratulations for taking a stand. Harper’s stubborn, dictatorial manner needs to be exposed. His finance minister also comes form a stubborn, dictatorial government in Ontario, which went down to an astounding defeat. The finance minister was unrelenting in his attitude against trusts (shades of the Harris government). The comments by Flaherty that peoples losses were regretable, were unbelievable. Imagine if he was on the losing side. Keep up the good fight and I personally wish you well. We need more like you to expose Stephen Harper for what he is, a dictatorial bully who says what ever comes into his mind if he thinks it will get him elected. (never minding what he said or wrote in the past months. eg. trusts, Kyoto
Garth you will need to adopt some different values as part of your “evolution”- Begin with the Liberal tenant-’From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs’.
This new P.M. Mr. Harper has caused uncertain terror in the senior camp. He, with his deceptions in the matter of the trusts has left the seniors of this country financially and emotionally drained. It is not just traumatic what was done but how it was done.
It is too late to admit he lied, too late to amend. He should realize history will be repeated and he will join the ranks with Joe (who?) It is a shame.
At best, Canadians will end up with a minority government.
Little will be accomplished but the pensions of MP’s will be secure.
Hang on to truth Sir. There’s no promise of roses but you will sleep at night. You are in for a rough ride but your example is vital in this jungle.
You’re the embodiment of a hypocrite. How dare you lecture Canadians on the indecency of David Emerson crossing the floor to be a Conservative without an election, and then thumb your nose at us and do the same thing! It’s always been all about you, hasn’t it Garth? You’ll find an appropriate home in the morally adrift Liberal party.
I am disappointed, you’ve shown yourself to be like all other politicians. I admired you for being independent, and was not happy to see you kicked out of the tory caucus – you would still be there had stephen harper not been leader I bet. You’ve lost any credibility you had by joining another corrupt party.
“GGF – can’t find anything but trying to put down Dion’s English – how sad you are. As tho PMHS’s French is any better.”
Oh I can find many other things to point out about Dion. Below is just some of his hypocritical views on the environment… and his English is a matter of importance. Quebecers are able to understand PMSH when he speaks in French. English Canadians have to strain to understand Dion in English.
Stephane Dion has conceded that a future Liberal government would be unable to meet its Kyoto commitment of reducing greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels. (National Post, July 1, 2006)
“In 2008, I will be part of Kyoto, but I will say to the world I don’t think I will make it. Everyone is saying target, target. But … it is to be more than to reach a target. It’s to change the economy. It’s to have resource productivity, energy efficiency when we know that energy will be the next crisis for the economy of the world.” (National Post, July 1, 2006)
Dion acknowledged that the Liberal plan was still unclear when it comes to regulations needed to make sure heavy industry complies (Globe and Mail, April 15, 2005).
Dion says Liberals only accepted the Kyoto targets because they were higher than the U.S.: Dion made the same point — adding for good measure that Jean Chrétien had only proposed these stringent targets to trump the Americans. (Globe and Mail, August 21, 2006)
Dion says Kyoto too bureaucratic: Canada’s environment minister says the Kyoto Protocol is “too bureaucratic,” and its shortcomings must be addressed to eventually draw the United States into a new climate change deal. (Ottawa Citizen, December 18, 2004)
Dion criticizes lack of targets for other countries: He also said too many countries don’t have actual targets, leading to a “free-rider effect.” (Ottawa Citizen, December 18, 2004)
Bless you Garth for leaving our party ruined by Harper/Flaherty. Their pathetic excuses (presented as justifications) for double taxing the income trusts in our retirement accounts are nothing more than evidence of their stupidity & ignorance that is damaging our economy. Thank you for refusing to be part of hurting we seniors. If this “tax trusts at 31% while taxing corporations at 6.9% (actual rate), Tax Fairness absurdity” becomes law then I will never vote Conservative again. Thank goodness you have dissociated yourself from them!
Getting kicked out of the Conservative Party is nothing I held against you. As an Independant you could voice your own opinion, and the opinion of the Convervative electorate who brought you to power, and you could still vote with the Conservatives as you saw fit. Now that you are a tax and spend liberal boondoggie, you will have to vote against the very platform promises that got you elected. That is called HYPOCRISY, heresy even. As an Independant, it showed that you ctood by your ideals, now you have traded in your ideals for power. Move to another riding, you won’t get elected here ever again.
[...] he even recycles the Conservative Party’s garbage! This entry was written by Aaron Unruh and posted on Wed Feb 7, 2007 at 11:46 am and filed under [...]
Stephen Karr said, “Garth, those criticizing you, calling you a hypocrtie, obviously didn’t see your comment in the video where you said you would willingly go up for a by-election right away. Either they didn’t see it, or they are conveniently overlooking it. I wouldn’t be surprised if the latter is the case.
Stephen, you should put the whole truth in your post. He said he would do that if Harper did that for the other guys Garth mentioned. In other words, he put a caveat into this, meaning, he has made an excuse to not follow through with his previous statements. He’s missed the fact that 2 wrongs never make a right. There are no ifs, ands or buts.
Take a bath, you smelly little troll!!!
Congrtulation Mr Turner on maikng a good Choice! tojoin LIBERAL PARTY
sTEPHEN haRPER IS VERY EVIL AND HAS secret agenda plus he cancleed income trust funds and does not care about climate change so I am happy you are LIBERAL like me now and Stephan Dion is the only person able to lead Canada
Deleting comments now Garth? The one I posted earlier is suddenly gone?
your no champion of the people
So Garth why dont you ask you new liberal friends where all are money went in adscam?
As I commented and posted before you chose to DELETE what I had to say. I am going to say it again.
As the story goes in my circle, Jessie Jackson loves the sound of his own voice so much that he would even make a speech to a ham sandwich when he opens a fridge door. You have managed to surpass even his ego.
You write in your post today that you are drafting up a document regarding rules about floor crossing?
You’ve either completely lost it or your simply masking the fact that you need to be associated with a party to be able to have funds to get reelected.
GUESS WHO SAID THIS:
The bottom line, of course, is that we won the riding. After 13 years of Liberal entrenchment, we were successful in taking a 6,000 vote deficit last time and turning it into a 2,000 vote surplus. It was a major accomplishment. We celebrated it with gusto.
But what we discussed today is why the margin of victory was slimmer than expected. After all, the local Liberal was hardly a household name. As far as we know, he didn’t bother knocking on many, if any, doors. His campaign office was dark most nights. His literature was amateurish and spotty in its delivery. And it was me, not him, who had media coverage – local and national – pegging me the frontrunner from almost the first week of the campaign.
- For 13 years Liberals have had the power of incumbency behind them – pumping out householders, running columns in the local papers, popping up in every ribbon-cutting ceremony. The brand has been ingrained into the community to the extent Liberals have been winning elections without actually trying.
- The attack ads may have worked. And so did the smear campaign – the fear and the doubt-mongering that characterized the final two weeks. Nationally, Paul Martin hammered away saying Conservatives would take away a woman’s right to choose, and also alleged we would run a $23 billion deficit. Locally, the Liberal pumped out press releases and mailers accusing me of wanting to eliminate local governments, shut down the auto industry and bring in user fees at hospitals. No eating kittens, though.
- There is an innate fear of social conservativism in most of the urban areas of the riding, like there exists in several key Canadian cities in which Tories won no seats. It is, it seems, the residue of the Reform Party which will take a few more elections to fade.
Enough voters believed me when I said our party is open, modern, mainstream and tolerant, but many others are waiting to see that proven by actions.
WHAT A NICE BIG VICTORY PARTY FOR YOUR VOLUNTEERS!
TOO BAD THEY ARE CONSERVATIVE, SIMILIAR TO THE PEOPLE WHO VOTED FOR YOU.
Keep up the good work Garth. We need a lot more representatives like you – representatives that represent their constituents and not the current dictator aka Prime Monster.
The Liar Harper needs to be stopped and booted out. You`re our best hope.
regarding Income Trust additional taxation… the pillage and rape of the grey set will never be forgotten.
CAnadians deserve better…..much better.
Hi Garth,
I live in your riding in Halton [Oakville HWY 25 & 5] and I myself used to be a PC. Thank you for making a brave choice! Your integrity and honesty as well as Dion’s will help the Liberals. Dont worry about what certain people are saying. You did sit as an Independent for a few months, and I know for a fact that you did consult with your consituents. Wajid Khan did not! Certainly David Emerson did not! What RLSH [Reform or Republican Leader Stephen Harper] did when he appointed Michel Fortier to Cabinet and to the Senate was as hypocritical as you can get, especially after a campaign where one of his issues was electing senators.
The new proposal for income trust is very stupid! The government is lossing billions of capital gain tax due to the sharp drop the market value for the sector, only to collect so called “500 millions” taxes. It is really an idiot idea.
I was surprised to see you join the Liberal Party and sit as a Liberal M.P., but knew that your soul searching would lead you to decide what you honestly believed was the best manner in which to serve your Constituents. I applaud your honesty and your need to serve effectively once elected. I welcome you to the Liberal Party and wish you all the best. I have felt for some time that there is absolutely nothing progressive about the Conservative Party of Canada, with their severely limited view of what Canadians truly want and deserve from a federal government. The Liberals were at least moving forward on progressive Child Care, Aboriginal matters and pledging to TRY to honour our Kyoto obligations. Good luck Mr. Turner – you will likely have a bumpy ride – but I for one, salute you.
Garth, blaming Stephen Harper for not calling by-elections in certain ridings does not justify going back on your word that all MPs who decide to sit with a party of whom they weren’t a member when they were elected must run in a by-election. If this is what you really believe in, then you should set the example for others. Set the precedent.
It’s is sad to hear the spiteful comments from the bitter members of the conservative party, however it is great to see a MP who is willing to make the right decisions for Canada. What many people seem to forget is that PMSH said he would do things alot differently, and then took power and did everything he said he was against. Perhaps more people from the conservative party should speak up and have the courage you have shown Mr. Turner. Congratulations and welcome to the only truly progressive party in Canada.
Wow! You hard-core CONservatives sure are whiners!
You talk about a corrupt Liberal government… and what about a lying CONservative government that has cost people about $20Billion dollars in lost money with the Halloween Income Trust lie! And how much was the Liberal Ad-scam? Nothing compared to what this “new” CONservative government just did.
Where was all the complaining when Emerson and Kahn crossed the floor to the CONservative Party? But it’s not okay to cross from the CONservative party and go to the other side (just read the comments above). People on this site are hypocrites, too, as our MP’s can cross the floor (even though people don’t like it).
Garth, where’s the answer from the others, about holding a by-election? You should commit to a by-election if there isn’t a spring election, and put pressure on the CONservatives to do the same…if they don’t, then you’re stepping on higher ground.
I think you will do well as a Liberal… and you won’t have PMSH dictating everything you can do, like all his other puppets.
Politics is a game, and isn’t it interesting to watch?
Very disappointed you’ve joined the Liberals Garth, although my respect for you (and the positions you have taken of late)remains undiminished. The federal Liberal Party still represents institutionalized corruption to me, and I don’t think the stink has had time to settle in one year.
I’d rather you’d gone with the Greens. But you made your choice. Good luck.
Garth you must be very fluent in French to have a meaningful conversation with Dion, why didn’t you run for the Liberal leadership, you would have represented CAnada well!!!!
Also Garth, I do not want to rant, but if you insist that an election is so close at hand why not join a party at that time, it is very two faced to make a 180 degree turn around in political opinion and then justify it by accusing the opponents of the same. Just because someone else steals it does not make it right for you to steal. You should have taken the moral high road and laid low until the next election.
c. langhjelm:
I can’t address comment deletion policy at someone elses site, but I can address this:
Yesterday the root servers (the core machines that run the world wide web) were hit with a DDoS from South Korea – a denial of service hack.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn11131-major-attack-hits-internets-root-servers.html
While some consumers may not have noticed slowdowns, this has an enormous effect.
I don’t know if Mr. Turner is on what is called a dedicated server (his site has it’s own server) most of us aren’t.
Increase in traffic (people coming to your blog or site) is a hassle if you and your server techs aren’t on top of bandwidth allocation. (amount of space the blog/site uses off the server)
A lot of people coming over can slow things down, and result a slower load time for comments.
Comments also appear more slowly if they have certain content such as hyperlinks.
So two technical things happened:
a) root server DDoS and
b) more traffic at this site.
Watch your computer load bar when you post a comment and give it time when you are attempting to comment on a busy blog.
While I can safely say those of us online work hard to give people quick service, there are things beyond our control.
Your comment can also fall into the spam filter or moderation through no fault of your own.
For most bloggers that requires sorting through the garbage and through what is called a moderation cue to find genuine comment.
Some days that means sorting through hundreds or thousands for some of us.
If you are concerned, paste your comment on notepad also, hit say it (submit), and if a site times out, try again.
I hope this helps.
“To “GGF†… You are a “bigot†and, therefore, your views mean nothing at all and this kind of bigotry is not welcome in Canada.
You seem to be a typical right-wing nutbar – who needs it.”
Ha. I’m a bigot because I want to actually UNDERSTAND what my PM is telling me? As for bigotry not being welcome in Canada, you have to look no further than yourself. Calling my a right wing “nutbar” by definition makes you a bigot.
big·ot /ˈbɪgət/
–noun a person who is utterly intolerant of any differing creed, belief, or opinion.
To SLG, is it wrong to actually want to UNDERSTAND what my PM is saying. You call me a bigot and then proceed to call be a right-wing “nutbar”. By definition, that makes you the bigot, not I.
bigot
noun a person who is utterly intolerant of any differing creed, belief, or opinion.
IT APPEARS THAT TORY HACK DOUG FINLEY HAS ENGAGED THE YOUNG CONSERVATIVE ASSOCIATION LEADERSHIP TO JAM GARTH TURNERS BLOQ WITH NEGATIVE COMMENTS.
typical harper and tory tactics.
all you do is expose yourselfs for what you really are.i love it !