Garth Turner held a press conference and he appeared nervous. He is a good communicator but it was apparent this was not a good day, his jokes fell, he had trouble sitting still.
The media wasn’t hostile, they were just…quiet.
“Here are the facts as I know them. I have not spoken to the Prime Minister or any party official.
I invite anyone to go to my blog. Go read.
Why now? Why today? Why this week?
I don’t know. Ask Doug Finley.Have my comments crossed the line?
In terms of caucus confidentiality, I’m pretty surprised. Am I a bad conservative, have I let my party down?
What is the proper role of a MP in Ottawa?
What comes next?
Don’t let Garth Turner take your eye off the ball, I’m a one day story, there are issues…
What comes next for me?
I’m going back to my riding. I need to go talk to people and see what they want.Am I upset? Yes. Angry? No.
Turner took a couple of questions, again on the issue of caucus confidentiality.
He said it has/had come up with a couple of people, but he doesn’t believe it is a confidentiality issue, his beliefs on issues were the reason he is out. He was not in the national caucus meeting.
Charles McVety also got mentioned. ’He did challenge me with a fair amount of force and I challenged back.’
Turner was asked if he believed the Prime Minister wanted him out.
“I don’t know. We haven’t talked.”
The term blog has been used a lot today, some politicians are saying it with a touch of disdain.
Who is Doug Finley?
You can contact the party here.
It isn’t going to do much good, but last time I checked we were allowed to speak to political operatives.
The spin about ‘confidentiality and trust’ started early and the Conservatives have made it clear that Turner has to crawl back. Groups can make bad decisions, and I think this group just made one.
I do not believe Harper didn’t know.
Apparently Turners name is already off the Conservative website, techs were in his office unplugging shortly after one of the caucus meetings. Finley is the PMO hatchet man. I do not believe this indefinite suspension didn’t come from the top.
Turner had a brief interview after his press conference, he was calmer.
I scribbled notes, my translation is not perfect or precise, but it’s the general drift.
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The Prime Minister didn’t know? Of course he knew.
Why is he lying when this professing evangical PM promised an open government? Because he is a control freak and powerful. And absolute power corrupts.
I stick to my guns on this one. Garth Turner, who isn’t a evangelical has been honest and open in his blog. Maybe the PM doesn’t like criticism of his policies or anyone in his ‘circle’ discussing his policies openly. The last time I checked this country was a democracy, not a dictatorship. What are the Conservatives trying to hide?
So far they have axed programs that benefit our first nations people. They caved in on the softwood lumber deal, knowing full well what the future held for that beleagered industry. They ignored the Kyoto accord, preferring to go with Harper’s weaker agenda. The poor are once again being pushed aside by the Conservative party.
Nope, you can’t tell me the PM didn’t know. The party just didn’t want the public to know the truth behind the power.
Harper wants to ‘distance’ himself from his evangelical roots. Is McVety part of that?
It never cease to amaze me how little the big C conservatives know about the ‘real’ world. In my town 50% of our children live below the poverty level. Our MP spends a lot of time in the riding. The constituency office works with more poor, seniors on fixed incomes, disabled individuals than our conservative MPP did. Our conservative MPP denied there were problems. He wasn’t available to his poorer constituents. He made very few token efforts. His time was spent with the movers and shakers and the premier.
Our liberal MP wades into the fray, rolls up his sleeves and doesn’t judge. He is comfortable with disinfranchised poor people (who usually don’t vote).
My big C friends eyes glaze over when poverty law issues come up (with one exception).
I cannot tar and feather all conservatives with the same brush. After Garth Turner’s expulsion though, it is getting harder and harder to appreciate the converative party. They live in the dark ages, the era when there was a middle class and poverty was a blip on Canada’s radar.