In a really, REALLY Unexpected Turn of Events
Leading Conservative MP to join Canada’s Liberals
OTTAWA (Reuters) - A top member of the opposition Conservative Party is defecting to the ruling Liberals and will become a member of the minority government, Prime Minister Paul Martin said on Tuesday.
Martin said Belinda Stronach, one of the leading figures in the Conservative Party, would join his cabinet as the minister of human resources and would vote with the government on the federal budget on Thursday.
Balbulican the Seer dons his turban, adjusts his crystal ball, and peers into the future to see how our Conservative Blog Buddies are going to spin THIS one. Yes, yes…it’s blurry, but it’s coming into focus. I can’t tell whose blogs these are, but some sentences are starting to take shape…
“She was never really a conservative at all, not really….”
“She was never really that important or high profile within the party…”
“I always sort of found her an embarassment…good thing for the party that’s she’s gone…”
“Just a political lightweight, she’s found her true home with all those other losers….”
“Probably just figures that only the Liberals would actually let her run this time…”
“She’s scared because running as a Tory in Ontario is increasingly like running as an Ayatollah in Tel Aviv…”
Let’s see how closely we can match those phrases over the next couple of days. Meantime…damn! I’m no Liberal supporter, but this is hilarious!
Relax. People were speculating about here connections to the Power Corp web weeks ago. The “spin” won’t be new.
It may not be “new”, but it sure is spinning. Check out Mike Brock’s site. Haven’t seen so much Conservative angst since Kim Campbell’s ‘93 speech on unemployment.
You were close Balb, but you left out the sheer outrage. Even our friend Andrew who is civil to the core has resorted to google spamming her as a traitor.
Over at the (looks both ways) Western Standard, the reaction is also quite hysterical. Everything from “that’s it were NOW going to separate Albertans”, to dire predictions of the apocolypse for Canada. This is going to be one interesting evening in the blogosphere.
Luckily my hotel has room service; I am not leaving the keyboard tonight for anything.
I don’t think that anyone that caught the Conservative convention would be all that surprised, that song from Sesame St. kept popping into my head, “one of these things is not like the other”.
People that are into business issues but are stuck with a social conscience often end up with the Liberals. The HRDC portfolio was also probably a pretty good move, as her reputation as a human resources person with her own company was fantastic.
Now, the real question is, will Peter McKay be reduced to tears during his next press conference?
I’m wondering whether Harper is reconsidering the budget motion. Stronach campaigning hard as a Liberal in Ontario is going to cost the Tories big time, and I find it VERY hard to see them improving their standing now. An election could be a real big problem.
On the other hand, how on earth can he back down from all the strutting and preening he’s been doing over the last weeks?
Those whacky Liberals, eh? Always another rabbit up the sleeve. THAT’S Entertainment!
TH, where are you?
“THAT’S Entertainment!”
Yep!
“TH, where are you?
Comme d’habitude, je travaille et habite a Montreal. J’ai fait il y a cinq mois.
Wow.Our very own Conservative Benedict Arnold. I hope she eventually enjoys the same success that he did a few hundred years ago.
Labby, if she still has designs on the Prime Minister’s chair she now has her work cut out for. Her credibility is all but shot.
TH: Scott Brison’s credibility didn’t suffer much…Didn’t he experience the same “awakening of conscience” and then win his seat handily? I could be wrong.
Sputter. “Credibility”?
She’s a rich dilettante. It was hilarious watching Harper et al (and a fair number of right wing bloggers) solemnly pretending to take her seriously and propping her up. It’s going to be just as funny watching Martin et al scramble to do the same. And funniest of all will be the indignant insistence from Conservatives that they never really thought she was any good, really.
Belinda did have plenty of credibility with Red Tories and many looked to her as a stabilizing factor and possibly a contender to keep the party “normal”. That is gone from her former party and the one she just entered won’t forget what she is capable of. If she found the politics tricky with the socons, she will be in for a big surprise when she competes head on against some of the well established and skilled factions within the Liberal Party.
Princess,
There is a big difference between winning your seat back in an election than winning the leadership of a party. Name recognition at the local coffee shop doesn’t go too far in securing credibility in national leadership campaigns.
Well, we’re all on the outside looking in. She was a CEO, and by all accounts a pretty good one: and none of us know what kind of bargain she drove with the Liberals. It will be interesting to see what unfolds. I hope she remembers: “who dines with the devil needeth a long spoon.”
I just feel sorry for the poor buggers at HRSDC. One of the most powerful departments in the government has just been handed over to a rookie without a network in the bureaucracy, without strong political allies, and without much of a clue on the workings of her department.