Still no official word from the embattled Emerson.

Emerson won't run, sources say (Sept. 3 2008, Globe and Mail)

His crossing the floor gave the Tories their only seat in downtown Vancouver. It also sent a signal, Conservatives hoped, that urban voters could embrace a party that had failed to make electoral inroads into the urban heart of Canada's biggest cities: Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.

[Editor: Actually it sent a message that Harper has no love for democracy. Electors wanted Emerson there in or out of government. A strong opposition is a cornerstone of an effective parliamentary democracy. This parliament shows quite clearly that Stephen Harper isn't interested in a functioning parliamentary democracy - he wants the power to be able to rule by decree with no opposition whatsoever.]

So when do we start the official countdown? (Sept. 3 2008, Macleans)

Is it when David Emerson finally - finally - kills off all those delicious rumours of being primed to parachute into some slightly-less-hostile riding by announcing that he won’t run again? Okay, it’s not official yet — it’s still just sources saying — but as Wells pointed out earlier today, was there ever any real reason to believe that he was going to stick around?

I mean, we all know that he likes being an a-list, star calibre minister (which, to be fair, isn’t exactly all that hard to do in this particular cabinet) but elections are so messy and unpredictable, and there’s always the outside chance that he could’ve wound up on the wrong side of the House again, vowing to become Stephane Dion’s “worst nightmare” until the very second he comes rolling up outside Rideau Hall. (Okay, that really probably wasn’t going to happen, but still.) You have to feel sorry for his local riding association, though - or, really, any local Conservative riding association in the general vicinity of Vancouver that doesn’t yet have a candidate and, as such, would have been up for grabs had Emerson been willing but clearly not able to hold onto his existing seat - but at least now they know.