Anti-Emerson, Pro-Democracy Drive Continues
Senior political correspondent Peter O’Neil and Miro Cernetig of the Vancouver Sun have been working this week on a story about the “Anti-Emerson” efforts (I prefer to call our efforts pro-democracy myself, or at the very least, anti-Emerson, pro-Democracy). Worth reading.
March 18 (Peter O’Neil and Miro Cernetig, Vancouver Sun) Anti-Emerson drive continues
Irate constituents can neither forgive nor forget defection OTTAWA—David Emerson is about to face a rude shock if he thinks the six-week public campaign to cast him out of the federal cabinet is going to blow over any time soon.
Today, those who can neither forgive nor forget the cabinet minister’s overnight metamorphosis from Liberal to Conservative will begin hammering as many as 1,000 signs into lawns throughout his Vancouver Kingsway riding. All say the same thing: “De-Elect David Emerson.”
And the mailboxes in the embattled minister’s riding will soon be filling up with 10,000 pamphlets urging constituents to take part in protests calling on constituents to “support future rallies to de-elect Mr. David Emerson . . . . Sound your car horn to support the rally folks . . . . Recall MP David Emerson.”
They are being mailed out by Michael Pan, who is on a one-man mission to recall B.C.‘s most famous cabinet minister. He claims no connection to any political party and used about $2,000 of his own money to print the brochures, in Chinese and English, and pay the postage.
“I just think what he did is wrong,” said Pan, an artist and businessman who voted for the Green party. “I don’t belong to any political party. I’m spending my Mexican vacation money, but I think it’s worth it.”
It is true that these anti-Emerson protests are the work of a few dozen people at the core of the protests, many using the Internet and their experience in dealing with the media to keep the issue in the headlines. But most insist they act as individuals. Pan, for example, was alone at the post office, other than the half-dozen TV cameras that followed him. More >
Before I say anything else… wow! I’ve never heard of Mr. Pan or what he’s doing. That’s exactly the sort of grass-roots reaction that has been fueling all of the pro-democracy efforts. People get ideas, and they put them to action.