mike watkins dot ca : David Emerson Affair - Spin Alert: Maclean's

David Emerson Affair - Spin Alert: Maclean's

John Geddes, Ottawa Bureau Chief of Maclean’s magazine, writes in Harper’s Eleven (Maclean’s, March 8, 2006):

Critics suggest Harper is guilty of a petulant inability to work with those who fail to meekly fall in line; admirers point to his steady rise as evidence he has been proven right most of the time. Most recently, they say, polls showing Canadians weren’t really outraged by the Emerson defection vindicate Harper’s instinct to largely ignore the media frenzy.

Spin: Canadian’s don’t care about the Emerson affair.

Fact: Canadians do care. Vancouverites really care. And Vancouver-Kingsway residents care so much, they are enraged. The majority of Canadians, British Columbians and Vancouver-Kingsway residents all want one thing: Emerson’s resignation.

Supporting evidence:

  • Ipsos-Reid poll of Canadians conducted on behalf of CanWest Global (Feb 7 to 9th) informs: 62% of those polled said that David Emerson should ”immediately resign his seat in the House of Commons and run in a by-election”.
  • Ipsos-Reid poll of British Columbians (Feb 7 to 12th) where 62% were found to disapprove of David Emerson’s defection. Even in ridings where Conservative voters predominate, 75% of those polled want to see Emerson run again in a by-election. In the lower mainland, demand for a by-election rises to 79%.
  • Mustel Group conducted a poll of Vancouver-Kingsway residents which
    showed that 62% voted for the party, and answered the question ”Would you vote for David Emerson if ran as a Conservative candidate?” with a resounding 76% saying “no”.
  • Underscoring the reality that people here voted for party and platform first, in a seperate Mustel Group poll, conducted on behalf of the Liberal Party before the start of the 2006 General Election, 90% of Vancouver-Kingsway residents contacted could not name a single accomplishment of then Liberal MP Emerson, and gave him a 34% approval rating.
  • Two hours of Canadians calling into CBC‘s Cross Country Checkup (MP3 audio format)

Memo to John Geddes: Canadians are outraged, British Columbians are outraged, and Vancouverites are especially apoplectic in their response. Even many Conservatives, more privately than openly, are mad as hell – and we should be.

Hopeful opinion or selective quotation of what little favourable polling exists over the Emerson affair won’t change the reality on the ground: Most Canadians want David Emerson to run again as a Conservative, as he promises he will, not at some imaginary future date but right now.