Green Party snags its first MP

This is from the Globe and Mail.
The first Green MP may never get to sit in parliament given that Harper is expected to call an election before the next scheduled sitting of parliament. Given that the Green Party only got 6 per cent of the vote in the riding last election it is quite possible that Wilson will be defeated. The allegations of misspending will not help him. Maybe he should have tried to join the Conservatives!



Green Party snags its first MP
OMAR EL AKKAD
September 1, 2008
OTTAWA -- In part, the Green Party can thank David Suzuki's daughter for helping it finally get a foot on Parliament Hill.
With its first MP in the party's history, the Greens are momentarily poised to move into the House of Commons. But they also face one of the toughest riding battles in Canada.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May announced this weekend that Blair Wilson, a former Liberal MP in British Columbia who is now an Independent, will be joining the party.
Mr. Wilson's Green conversion came during a whirlwind week of talks between the MP and the party that were as serendipitous as they were strategic.

Mr. Wilson, as recently as this summer, was still looking to rejoin the Liberal caucus after being forced out amid allegations of misspending. He decided to test the waters with the Greens by dispatching a mutual friend to talk to Ms. May in Nova Scotia a week ago.
At first, the friend "cloaked himself in mystery," only saying that an MP was interested in joining the party, Ms. May said. Eventually, it became clear that Mr. Wilson, who represents the riding of West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country, was that MP.
It just so happened that Ms. May was flying to B.C. that same week to attend Dr. Suzuki's daughter's wedding. The timing proved perfect.
"It was one of those moments where the sun, moon and the stars align," Mr. Wilson said. "When Liz and I got together we found we had a lot in common."
Ms. May had dinner at Mr. Wilson's B.C. home last Thursday, just as talk of an imminent election morphed from hypothetical to deafening.
"We knew that to have the status at a leaders debate, we had to have a Green MP before the dissolution of Parliament," Ms. May said.
The final hurdle was cleared when the nominated Green candidate in Mr. Wilson's riding agreed that having a sitting MP was more important than the party's long-shot odds of winning it on their own. The Green candidate in the 2006 election garnered 6 per cent of the vote in that riding.