Adscam Scandel,  Canada

Canadian Conservatives: Betrayal

May 17, 2005 /


Prime Minister Paul Martin shakes hands with newly designated Human Resources Minister Belinda Stronach during a news conference in Ottawa on Tuesday.

In a stunning development before Thursday’s anticipated vote to bring down the Liberal Party and Paul Martin’s government Conservative MP Belinda Stronach has crossed the floor to join the Liberal Party as the new Human Resources Development Minister. The Globe and Mail has the story here:

The stunning move could be a blow to the Tories’ hopes of defeating the government Thursday and triggering a federal election, because it will lower the hair-thin Conservative-Bloc Québécois lead in the seat count. Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said the party was “devastated” and “betrayed.”

Prime Minister Paul Martin said he met with Ms. Stronach — who had been an outspoken and moderate Conservative — for a private dinner at 24 Sussex Dr. Monday evening and after a lengthy discussion, Ms. Stronach said she felt confident that leaving the Tories was the right decision.

“We talked about all that is at stake in Thursday’s vote on the budget and we talked most of all about what’s required to build a stronger, better future for all Canadians,” the pleased-looking Prime Minister said at a hastily scheduled press conference in Ottawa Tuesday morning, where the official announcement was made.

“We found that on critical questions of both policy and politics that we have much in common. We both believe in a centrist, balanced and moderate set of policies.”

Ms. Stronach said she struggled with the decision to leave the party she once sought to lead.

“I found myself at a crossroads,” she said, adding that she has become increasingly uncomfortable with the direction that Mr. Harper has been taking the party. “The upcoming vote forces me to make a decision. And I feel that as I evaluated my options, that you know should I leave, because I do have some different viewpoints as to how the party should grow and those are not a secret.”

Sorry, Ms. Stronach, but something smells! But, then again, what would you expect from a corrupt Liberal Party and Canadian Prime Minister.

Ms. Stronach has been vocal about her opposition to an election. She has said she wants to wait until Mr. Justice John Gomery releases his report on the sponsorship inquiry late in the year. Mr. Martin has promised that he will call an election within 30 days of that report being tabled.

However, Mr. Harper had not wanted to wait for the Gomery report to be released. He was gearing up for an election call after Thursday’s vote, confident that with the support of the Bloc Québécois, the Liberal government would fall.

This decision by Ms. Stonach had nothing to do with the timing of the election call and the Gomery Inquiry. It had everything to do with blind ambition, the promises of political ascendancy and the corrupting influences of the Liberal Party political machinery.

On Tuesday morning, a strained-looking Mr. Harper admitted the news had come as a shock to his party. Ms. Stronach had been an asset to the Tories because she held a high-profile Ontario seat — a province in which the Tories need to make gains in an upcoming election — and because she was well-known as a one-time leadership candidate and former head of Magna International, an auto parts company.

“I know that a number of our caucus members are feeling quite devastated, quite betrayed by this,” he said. He said Ms. Stronach had called him to let him know of her decision just before her Tuesday morning press conference.

He also admitted it will affect Thursday’s vote.

“Obviously Belinda’s actions today make the defeat of the government on Thursday much less likely. But it doesn’t in any way change the principal position that our caucus has taken on this issue. The governing party is corrupt,” he said.

Without a doubt this government and Liberal Party are corrupt.

The logistics of her switch with regards to the no confidence vote on Thursday are covered below in the Globe and Mail:

But the Opposition Leader did not leave the news conference without a parting jab at Ms. Stronach, accusing her of following her ambition rather than principles.

“There’s no grand principle involved in this decision, just ambition,” he said.

“I told my wife only a few days ago that I thought it had become obvious to Belinda that her leadership ambitions would not be reached in this party regardless of whether or not we won the next election. It will be interesting to watch her progress in the Liberal party.”

Ms. Stronach told reporters she was not interested in the Liberal leadership.

She takes over from Lucienne Robillard, who had been HRDC minister and national campaign co-chair. Ms. Robillard keeps her Intergovernmental Affairs Minister role and remains President of the Queen’s Privy Council.

The unexpected news boosts the Liberal seat count and could alter the outcome of Thursday’s budget vote.

Ms. Stronach’s move to the Liberal ranks bolsters the Liberal and NDP to 151 seats in total and decreases the Tory and Bloc numbers to 152.

There are three independent MPs in the House — Carolyn Parrish, Chuck Cadman and David Kilgour.

Ms. Parrish, a former Liberal, has said she would vote with the Liberals, which means they would need only the vote of either Mr. Cadman, a former Tory, or Mr. Kilgour, a former Liberal, to win a confidence vote.

(The Speaker would likely break a tie and would vote for the Liberals.) However, it’s still unclear which party Mr. Cadman or Mr. Kilgour will support, thus, Thursday’s outcome is not known.

Ms. Stronach represents the Ontario riding of Newmarket-Aurora. Mr. Martin said Tuesday that Martha Hall Findlay agreed to stand down as the Liberal candidate.

Ms. Stronach had served as international trade critic for the Conservatives. Mr. Harper has asked Tory MP Rona Ambrose, the party’s former intergovernmental affairs critic, to take over the portfolio.
The move by Ms. Stronach came about after she voiced her disaffections last week when she met former Ontario Liberal premier David Peterson at a public event in Toronto.

Mr. Peterson promptly called Tim Murphy, a former Ontario Liberal MPP and now the No. 1 official in the Prime Minister’s Office.

By Monday evening, Ms. Stronach and Mr. Martin were working out a deal over dinner.

After that meeting, she called deputy Tory Leader Peter MacKay, to whom she had been romantically linked, and told him what had happened.

Mr. MacKay was gobsmacked, said one of his confidants. He picked up the phone and broke the news to Mr. Harper on Tuesday morning.

Ms. Stronach was sworn in to her new cabinet post at Rideau Hall late Tuesday afternoon.
Reaction was swift and strong Tuesday after the announcement.

Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert, who is preparing for the Queen’s visit later Tuesday in Regina, said he’s pleased with her decision.

“I believe that Belinda Stronach has done the right thing. I believe she’s done the right thing for Canada.”
Callers to radio talk shows and websites had mixed opinions. Some accused her of being overly ambitious, while others said it was a courageous move.

NDP Leader Jack Layton said he hopes it will mean a win for the Liberals on Thursday because the House of Commons needs to get back to governing.
And Ontario Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty refused to comment on Ms. Stronach’s defection.

Read the other links on this Tory defection: