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Saturday, 30 August 2008
Greens get their first MP
Does this qualify them for a spot in the leaders debate? Unfortunately there will be an election before any Green gets to ask a question in the House of Commons.
-Darryl
Greens unveil former Liberal as first MP
Updated Sat. Aug. 30 2008 2:57 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
The Green Party now has its first MP in Parliament, and he is an ex-Liberal who had resigned from that party's caucus over accusations of election financing irregularities.
"Joining Elizabeth May and joining the Green Party feels a lot like coming home," Blair Wilson of B.C.'s West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country riding said Saturday at a news conference in Ottawa.
Wilson said he hoped to advance the causes of the environment and democracy in his new party.
"One-point-five million Canadians support the Green Party," he said. "They deserve a strong voice in the House of Commons and they deserve a strong voice in the leadership debate."
At the news conference, May said Wilson had a parliamentary ring on his finger. "This is the first time anyone with the House of Commons parliamentary seal is wearing a Green Party button."
May said the move shouldn't be characterized as opportunistic, "however, it is a hell of an opportunity."
A possible election campaign is looming, with signals indicating Canadians could be going to the polls in mid-October.
The Greens, a relatively young federal party in Canada, have not yet elected an MP in either a byelection or general election. As a result, its leaders have not been invited to participate in televised leaders' debates during the campaign. However, it did capture 4.5 per cent of the popular vote in the Jan. 23, 2006 election, which entitles it to public financing.
May noted in the release that with "a Green MP sitting in the House of Commons, it will now be impossible to exclude the Green Party from the televised leaders' debates in the next election."
May described her party whose policy ideas are part of the mainstream in Canadian politics. "Mr. (Gilles) Duceppe (of the Bloc Quebecois) has the opportunity to participate in the debates but not I? There's something not quite right there," she said in French.
The release noted that Wilson will serve as the party's immigration critic in its shadow cabinet and that he has served as an "Independent MP since autumn of 2007."
Wilson resigned from the Liberals after complaints emerged accusing him of spending irregularities in the 2005-06 federal election. CTV's Roger Smith told Newsnet that Elections Canada cleared Wilson in response to the allegation.
However, the Liberals told Wilson that he wouldn't be able to run for the party again in the next election because of personal legal and financial troubles, Smith said, adding the Liberals will be holding a nomination meeting in Wilson's riding next weekend.
"Not only do I embrace the policies of my new party, I will feel that all my past difficulties are justified if, by my actions, I can make a real difference by ensuring Elizabeth May is included in the leaders' debates," Wilson said a news release.
Running as an Independent would have been tough for Wilson. He might have a better chance as a Green MP, given the high interest in environmental issues in that part of British Columbia, he said.
