Explaining Emerson

Political observers outside of British Columbia may be surprised if not shocked by the defection of Vancouver-Kingsway MP David Emerson to join Stephen Harper's Conservative cabinet. However, this page withholds the right of those within BC to a similar reaction, because it's obvious they haven't been paying close enough attention.

Unlike the rest of Canada (and Alberta's one-party oligarchy) BC has a highly polarized two-party system: one for the rich, and the NDP. This polarization stems from the anti-communist hysteria that old money and the capitalist ruling class used to tarnish organized labour and the emerging Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in the 1920's. The first gathering of the right wing clans took place at the civic level in Vancouver in 1925 when Liberals and Conservatives formed the Non-Partisan Association for the sole purpose of stopping the Socialist barbarians at the gates.

Give or take the exercises in pragmatism of a W.A.C. Bennett (like BC Hydro) or a Mike Harcourt (like welfare reform), the history of BC politics is business vs. labour, not Liberals vs. Conservatives. When the NDP reduced Social Credit to smoking cinder in 1991, the bosses grabbed their expense accounts and jumped ship to the resurgent BC Liberals. A palace coup was staged to dump moderate Gordon Wilson and install Vancouver NPA Mayor and Board of Trade mouthpiece Gordon Campbell.

As CEO of Canfor, David Emerson was one of Gordon Campbell's biggest cheerleaders, leading the Premier to appoint him to the Board of Directors at BC Ferries. Emerson's tenure saw failed experiments in privatization, outright hostility towards ferry workers and subsequent labour unrest, plus the betrayal of local shipbuilders when he opted to have the newest additions to the fleet built in Germany. With that kind of record, it's no wonder that Paulie Pockets tagged him as a star candidate for Vancouver-Kingsway in 2004: It takes a lying, corrupt sack o' sh*t to know one.

From Emerson's perspective, there is no difference between the Liberals and the Conservatives because in British Columbia, there is no difference. Conservatives like Kevin Falcon and Liberals like Carole Taylor sit side by side in the caucus room, scheming to keep the unions down and the socialists out, just like their Socred ancestors did. Emerson has no more problem with saying he would be "the Conservative Party's worst nightmare" on January 23 than his political mentor Gordon Campbell had in saying "I don't believe in tearing up collective agreements"" in November of 2000.