-----Original Message----- (pared down and emphasis added)I can just imagine the setting in which they came to this realization: a little gazebo at twilight, Harper in a little Austrian postboy's outfit, Khan in a dress handmade from old curtains...
WAJID KHAN JOINS CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS
January 5, 2007
Prime Minister Stephen Harper today welcomed Wajid Khan, Member of Parliament for Mississauga-Streetsville, as a Conservative member of Canada’s New Government.
The former Liberal MP volunteered to serve as the Prime Minister’s Special Advisor for Middle Eastern and Central Asian Affairs last June. As they worked together, the Prime Minister said, “both of us began to realize that politically, we have a lot in common.”
“I have come to admire the Prime Minister and his government over the last year,” said Mr. Khan. “Eventually I came to the conclusion that my ideals and priorities, and the interests of my constituents, would be better served if I sat as a Conservative MP.”
Anyway, I did a little research and pulled this discussion from Hansard:
Mr. Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre, NDP):Harper's smugness makes me sick; you could deepfry entire turkeys with that kind of crap.
Mr. Speaker, Canadians have a democratic right to be represented by the political party that they elect to represent them. The Prime Minister offended all Canadians when he seduced the member for Vancouver Kingsway over into his camp and talked him into crossing the floor.
Floor crossing undermines the democratic process and fuels cynicism. Will the Prime Minister use his new accountability act to put an end to floor crossing and these musical chairs once and for all?
Right Hon. Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, CPC):
Mr. Speaker, I do not think I have ever been accused of seducing anyone, even my wife.
Mr. Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, I do not think the government believes in true transparency and accountability any more than the last gang did. The Prime Minister will not even talk to the media. He holds his secret cabinet meetings at midnight in the Diefenbunker and he is stripping out the ATI provisions from the accountability act.
There is plenty of room in the accountability act to answer this serious concern that Canadians have. They care about this. They want the practice stopped. Will he commit today to ending the practice of floor crossing once and for all?
Right Hon. Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, CPC):
Mr. Speaker, as I have said before, I believe members of Parliament should have that freedom and be accountable to their constituents for their decisions at the next election.
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