Garth Turner - Liberal(?)

Okay, by now, it's no secret that Garth Turner is now sitting as a Liberal. Big deal is my first comment. You had to know that he was going to land in some party sooner or later - independent candidates don't usually do all that well in election campaigns.

However, the CPoC supporters are now accusing Garth of being a hypocrite for "crossing the floor". Here's Garth's response.

Perfectly reasonable, IMO - Garth didn't leave a party to join another party - he was ousted by the CPoC, and then sat for a time as an independent MP. This isn't a matter of floor crossing - not in the sense that Stronach, Emerson and Kahn have done it.

If one wishes to whine about "principles", I suggest that we start by questioning the principles of a Prime Minister who appoints an unelected party hack to the Senate _and_ a Cabinet post; an MP who crossed the floor to sit in cabinet before the ballots were fully counted to a senior ministry portfolio; has lied to Canadians, and made government even more secretive and unaccountable than it was under Brian Mulroney.

Now, I'm not calling on Harper to force byelections for the floor crossers that he has managed to attract - frankly, I don't much care. However, if people want to slag Turner, they should look closely at Mr. Harper's own behaviour, especially with regards to the abstract notion of "principles".