Class Action Lawsuit Against Emerson
Peter Dimitrov, a human rights and trial lawyer and Vancouver Kingsway voter, is organizing a class action lawsuit against David Emerson. (The Tyee, Feb 23 2006)
With respect to the matters in Vancouver-Kingsway, it is a fact that 82 percent of the constituents did not vote for the Conservative party. It is also a fact that the ballot upon which voters cast their votes stipulated both David Emerson’s name and his Liberal Party affiliation. Peter Dimitrov
One of the arguments put forward in defense of Emerson (and Harper) is that he did it for his country; that he did it to advance his non-partisan agenda. That sounds plausible, but its not reality on the ground Mr. Emerson, as you well know that advancing any part of a political agenda requires the agreement of the people. Our party system allows political parties to advance an overall agenda, and the people choose one, after weighing all the pros and cons, that better reflects their needs or their personal vision for Canada. In Vancouver Kingsway, as in all of the City of Vancouver, the people chose a vision which emphasized collective social programs and direction, over the Conservative’s more individualistic approach.
As has been discussed extensively on these pages, Emerson ran a highly partisan campaign. What’s more, as a Liberal Cabinet Minister, Emerson was sworn to uphold his party’s positions on key programs and decisions made by cabinet, including Canada’s withdrawal from future US Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) participation, the recent Kelowna Aboriginal Accord, and the Liberal Child Day Care and Early Learning Agreement, and many others.
Now, as a Conservative cabinet minister, Emerson is sworn to uphold cabinet decisions which will either overturn or cancel those positions or programs. Clearly Vancouver Kingsway voters did not vote for an ABM-lovin’, day care-cancellin’ government.
The people of Vancouver Kingsway did not consent to have their representative support the aims, principles, and policies espoused by the Conservative party, yet as a new Conservative Party member and Cabinet Minister, Emerson must support just that.
Whether we Conservatives like it or not, the people in this riding and across all of Vancouver spoke – they did not chose our plan – and it is our obligation and duty to listen to them. Instead, we’ve steam-rollered over their vote, with the appointment of David Emerson, and further perpetuated the feeling in this riding that Conservative governments care a great deal about the fictional riding of ‘Vancouver and BC Business Interests’ but don’t give a damn about the residents of Vancouver Kingsway.
Speaking as a member of the party, I have a hard time disagreeing with them in this instance because that is the truth of the matter. Instead of working to earn the respect of the people here, we’ve given them a prima facie case to condem Conservatives for at least another 50 years, roughly the last time a Conservative MP was elected here.
Well I won’t go along with it. Speaking out for what is right is the only thing I can do in this matter, as principle must come first before power.
Based on my understanding of Section 3 of the charter, and the publicly available evidence respecting the context and timing of the ‘crossing,’” he says, “it is my opinion that the post-election actions of David Emerson, and perhaps the prime minister, as well, nullified the rights of the citizens of Vancouver Kingsway to play a meaningful role in the election of their elected representative and it further denied them the right to “effective representation” by the party of their choice (Liberal) and their party-affiliated representative. Peter Dimitrov
In eyes of this layman, the actions of Stephen Harper (he was not prime minister when the offer was made) contributed equally to the disenfranchisement of voters in this riding.
As representatives of the Crown, Messrs. Emerson and Harper have denied the people of Vancouver Kingsway representation (and thus taxation) by consent, a principle as old as the Magna Carta.
I fully support any effort underway to right this wrong, including Mr. Dimitrov’s work to bring forward a class action suit. Its the right thing, the principled thing, the conservative thing, to do.