iMatt :: The Blog of Matt Clare

I’ve always thought Garth Turner was a decent guy. If he had won any of the PC (Conservative) party leadership contests he had run for the PC party would have been a better stronger party than it is now. He’s always spoke his mind, he gets the Internet, and has a sensible stance on gays and gay marriage and the environment. It was all of those tenancies that made him an anomaly in the modern Conservative party, and ultimately what got him kicked out.

The speculation is that his recent blog postings about today’s environmental strategy/clean air act and his scepticism about Environment Minister Rona Ambrose and praise for new Green Party leader Elizabeth May. I don’t think anyone can suggest that loosening target emissions restrictions and moving the target date to 2050 from Kyoto’s 2012 is an improvement.
Many Ontario MPs were not happy with what he was saying on his blog, and I’m sure all those old western Reformers who been read the riot act about speaking out and straying from the party line were not at all happy with this former PC Ontario MP who was getting away with straying from the party line.
For the moment Turner is kicked out of the Conservative caucus, but I don’t think that will last long. The Green party is actually a pretty conservative party, in fact if you’re a leftie and want to vote with the environment as your primary issue I’d recommend the Marijuana’s part (they’re on a roll) over the Greens. But for Turner its a great fit.

Ultimately, in kicking Turner out he might have gone from being just another back-bencher to the first sitting Green MP in Canada (to the best of my knowledge) — and I think he’d love to have that distinction, it’d be the closest to leader of a party he’s ever been.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 19th, 2006 at 22:26 and is filed under General, Headlines: True, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.