Garth Turner: no apologies
p2pnet.net News:- New Canadian Independent MP Garth Turner changed his political status after he was kicked out of the ruling Conservative party.
He says he was turfed, “because he was a free spirit,” said an OpEd in The Globe & Mail. “They say it was because he was a snitch. It doesn’t matter. Garth Turner is about to become Stephen Harper’s bane. And he’ll continue to be a bane. Online.”
And, declared Turner on his blog, “I have said here many times, and consistently since I was elected this last time, that I work for the voters – the people, the taxpayers.”
But how does Turner feel almost a month on? Does he regret having been tossed out by Stephen Harper from what had until then been his own Conservative party?
“You bet I do,” he told p2pnet. “But that does not mean I apologize for having put my constituents first, or speaking out when I thought we were losing an opportunity to do better.
“Now, as an Independent MP, I’ll be able to explore how a politician can actually concentrate on representing Canadians, instead of promoting a party platform to them. It might just be a refreshing change. In any case, I am the same person who was elected in the last vote, fighting for the same causes and with the same energy. I’ll continue to do what I think is best for the people of Halton, and Canada.”
Meanwhile, “Politics is a brutal business at the best of times, something I am well aware of and have experienced,” he says. “However, serving Canada, and the voters, is a job I am extremely proud to do, and will continue to do to the best of my ability.”
Where are things currently at?
“Following my unexpected and lightning-quick ouster from the Conservative caucus one morning last month, the local riding association passed a motion asking for answers to ten questions,” he says in his blog. “Some of the questions were about my status, while others probed into the process big political parties now operate by.
“The answers are in. As a result of what I read, I wrote to the prime minister today. Esther called the PMO this afternoon after I finished the Remembrance Day ceremony in Milton, and made it clear this is for his eyes only. It’s being sent by morning courier. His response will likely determine my course of action from that moment forward.”
Also See:
kicked out – Blogging MP gets the boot, October 19, 2006
The Globe & Mail – MP’s expulsion dark news for Harper, October 19, 2006
blog – Way done, November 12, 2006
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