Emerson made head of foreign affairs

This is an ideal choice for this government. Emerson is a turncoat Liberal widely praised by analysts apparently. No doubt this is because he has shown himself to be unprincipled and also a sellout to the United States in the softwood lumber deal. This positions himself well to occupy a post where we will be a junior partner and provide manpower and cannon fodder for U.S. projects such as the war in Afghanistan. We already have a head of our forces who received a medal for service in Iraq!



CTV.ca News Staff Updated: Wed. Jun. 25 2008 3:35 PM ET
Prime Minister Stephen Harper handed the highest profile job in Wednesday's cabinet shuffle -- the head of foreign affairs -- to B.C. MP David Emerson. It was a move praised by analysts, but one that also stirred controversy.
Before being officially assigned the post, Emerson had been serving as the interim head of foreign affairs for the past few weeks. He took over the job for Maxime Bernier, who resigned last month following a series of political blunders.
Emerson had been serving double-duty, managing both foreign affairs and his post as the head of International Trade, which Prime Minister Stephen Harper has now handed to Senator Michael Fortier, the former public works minister.
Emerson also served as the minister responsible for Canada's Olympic and Paralympic Games. Analysts have praised Emerson, 62, as one of only a handful of qualified Tories whom Harper could turn to when adjusting the cabinet.
He chairs several cabinet committees, including the special committee on Afghanistan and the foreign affairs and defence committee. Emerson is also widely credited for helping forge a new Canada-U.S. softwood lumber pact. The deal occurred after a five-year-negotiation deadlock under the previous Liberal government.
"He's been a very steady performer. He will bring adult supervision to the Department of Foreign Affairs," former Liberal deputy prime minister John Manley told CTV Newsnet shortly before Wednesday's shuffle.
Manley said Emerson should be able to help the government regain credibility on the world stage after a series of recent missteps by foreign affairs. Those included:
the misplacement of classified material
the leak of a confidential report about NAFTA positions held by U.S. Democratic presidential candidates
inappropriate public comments about an Afghan leader
However, while Emerson has been praised for his efficacy, he has also been the centre of controversy. Emerson had served as the industry minister after being appointed to the post by Liberal prime minister Paul Martin in 2004. But Emerson, who was handpicked by Martin to run as a Liberal, crossed the floor of the House and joined the Conservatives -- within days of winning the 2006 election for Vancouver Kingsway under the Liberal banner.
The move outraged many of the riding's voters, who said they would never have voted for Emerson had they known he was planning to switch parties. The Conservative candidate in the riding had come in a distant third behind Emerson and the NDP candidate.
Before his sudden and unexpected post-election party switch, Emerson declared that he wanted to be Harper's "worst nightmare."
Just days later, he embraced Harper. The move was politically shrewd for Emerson, who jumped back into a cabinet post while his former Liberal colleagues languished on the opposition benches.
The Tories did not hold a byelection in Emerson's riding after he crossed the floor. Residual anger about Emerson's switch appears to have remained. A lone protester appeared on Parliament Hill on Wednesday, holding a sign which called Emerson a "hypocrite," a "coward," and a "fraud."
Before joining federal politics, Emerson served as B.C.'s deputy minister of finance in the 1980s. He began working with the provincial government shortly after receiving his doctorate in economics from Queen's University in Kingston, Ont.
In addition to serving in provincial politics, Emerson has also served as the head of the Western and Pacific Bank of Canada and B.C. Trade Development Corporation. The married father of five also oversaw the expansion of Vancouver International Airport during the 1990s and headed Canfor Corp., one of B.C. largest forestry companies.
"He brings some really serious qualifications to the job ... I think it will be a seamless transition," Conservative strategist Geoff Norquay told Newsnet.
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