Just heard on CTV that Garth Turner has been suspended from the National caucus!
More to follow.
Update: Rahim Jaffer just announced that the suspension is due to breach of confidentiality; especially in his blog.
Robert Fife just said the PM had nothing to do with this. It was the Ontario caucus that brought up the issue.
Link now available - CTV.
BIG UPDATE: Stephen Taylor takes the Garth Turner challenge!!! Also lots of other buzz at Blogging Tories.
THURSDAY UPDATE: CTV has done us a big favour here, by citing certain quotes from Garth's blog that may have been the catalyst for the big push.
38 comments:
I know I'm pissed
Yeah, that seemed to come out of nowhere.
All your work with him...
Surprise, surprise... (snort)
You guys sound surprised.
I know I agreed and disagreed with Garth on varying topics, but the one thing I was sure of was that his PR approach was going to come back to bite him in the ass. You can't publicly fire shots across your colleagues' bows and expect them to be happy. And it's not like both members of the caucus' and conservatives in general (noticably on his blog) weren't warning him all along that his bling-bling attitude might look nice and shiny, but it will drag him under in the end.
I imagine if he took their advice and toned things down just a bit, this whole thing could have been averted. But I guess he figured that being the self-appointed press rep of the party, he shouldn't have to listen to anybody else's (or rather "everybody else's" considering the unanimosity of the vote) concerns and respect the need for caucus members to be free to speak openly without fear of reprisals.
Too bad he didn't, for everybody's sake.
This is more boneheaded nonsense from Harper's two toadies - Brodie and Buckler.
By trying to change the channel from the Globe/CTV poll, they have actually made it worse for Harper.
Now, Garth will be a martyr, and the headlines will be "Moderate Tory expelled".
Idiots.
Harper needs to fire these two before they do more damage.
I'm not giving up on him though Jo, I got to know him as an MP. He has a big mouth but he is a great MP and politician.
When is the last time you heard Rona speak like she used to?
surecure -- the "(snort)" indicates that you have contempt for what preceded it. In other words it's meant to indicate facetiousness or sarcasm.
anon must be a Liberal, pissed that Mr. Leak won't be able to get at confidential info anymore.
Imagine sitting in the Ontario caucus, discussing 'confidential' up coming issues/programs, only to see them appear on the Turner report later (or maybe even 'leaked' to the media).
there was nothing confidential leaked on his blog, I've read it for months. If there was something like that I would of blogged about it too.
Sara said...
there was nothing confidential leaked on his blog, I've read it for months. If there was something like that I would of blogged about it too.
I think you're missing wilsons's point (neo-con strategy): Once someone is no longer a "conservative" its time to diminish, vilify and expose them for the traitor that they are.
Sara, I know what you mean about Rona.
You actually thinkthat Garths demise is a bad thing?
I'm not so sure.
PGP - I'm still recovering from the shock, but I don't blame the caucus for taking this action. He was too into grandstanding and not a team player in any sense of the word.
He was accessible though.
I always wondered why he bothered to run as a Conservative. It seemed to me that he just wanted to be an MP again, just not a conservative MP. It has been clear from the get-go that he was determined not to be part of the team. Well, now he's got his wish. He should have run as an independent in the first place (of course, he might not have won). He will probably be a good independent MP. But why cause all this trouble in the first place? It's almost as though he was daring them to turf him. I have to question his motives as to why he ran in the first place.
"I always wondered why he bothered to run as a Conservative."
Because he was a Progressive Conservative last time he was elected?
He was also Minister of Revenue last time he was an MP. He may have assumed he would be in Cabinet again.
spelled: ass-u-me
Not everything that goes on in Caucus is for public consumption, so, if you have a member who you are not sure you can trust to
"keep it behind the doors", how can you effectively go about your business? That being said, this should have happened long before now, they waited far too long to pull the trigger.
Platty, I agree. Garth and I have had our good and bad times in the past, as you know. I admire his chutzpah, but trust in a caucus is paramount.
I could see this coming too. It was only a matter of time.
joanne and sara,
don't kill me after tonight.
i haven't been a fan of his since the Emerson crap.
today's just the point - MPs are supposed to be independent champions for their constituents....
where was that thinking when it applied to Emerson?
And when he portrayed those who DON'T object to the EMerson switch as morally bankrupt - well, that pissed me off.
Garth ran as a CPC to get elected.
I get a real kick out of liberals (small or large L) that talk about him being a Finance or Revenue (whichever) minister.
Because they are the same ones that laugh hysterically whenever Kim Campbell is mentioned.
To summarize, Kim Campbell is a joke, but being a minister in her gov't makes you a true blue, dyed in the wool Conservative worth keeping come hell or high water?
Pick one, folks. And don't forget our friends Google & Google cache, so pick carefully lest you, too, get bit.
Chuck, I could never, ever get mad at you.
I was a bit in shock earlier, but after seeing Garth at that press conference... Well, the whole performance lacked class bigtime.
Grandstanding til the end.
I feel sorry for Sara who put so much effort into establishing a connection with Garth because he was interested in her proposals, but maybe he could still take that up as an independent. Look how much clout Chuck Cadman had!
"I get a real kick out of liberals (small or large L) that talk about him being a Finance or Revenue (whichever) minister."
Wow, I didn't check earlier, but he was only a Minister in Kim Campbell's cabinet.
Has it been established that he leaked confidential stuff in his blog? If so, what are some examples?
L.S. Check out Stephen Taylor's latest post.
L.S. Another example is one that Garth admitted to in his press conference - namely that the caucus was discussing gun control the day after the Dawson college shootings. Not a big leak, but still, what happens in caucus stays in caucus, right?
I went to Stephen Taylor's, he's onl;y showing that a blog entry was revised, but the original didn't appear to reveal anything more. It said something about "awhile back".
I think your example about gun control the day after Dawson is a better one. Not a real smoking gun, but the standard is not like in court cases. If it inhibits debate, that's enough to be a problem.
I'm sure that if they were not fed up with what they see as his various antics, they would have found another way though. Recall the soldier in Afghanistan whose blog was shut down because he was giving away tactical information. Just mentioning how long it took to go someplace was a leak in that case. I don't know if Garth's ouster is the culmination of escalating "official" warnings or not, but it would be interesting to hear what steps were followed.
chucker,
I'm not mad lol. I get it some people didn't agree with him. Yes, I'm more personally for him because of all he's done. We are allowed to agree or disagree too :)
RT, ahhhhh shut up... you don't know,,,the whole damn thing hurts and all you can say is nanananan told you so... so shut it until I can get over this, damn I don't even have a freaking drink...
SOmething still smells fishy though, his blog is not enough to throw him out.
I want the truth, that is what I'd like to see then I will make up my mind about what is going on.
jo send me an email will yah, my puter has a virus and I don't have your email on this one,,, I NEED TO VENT!
Sara - My email is on my profile. :)
L.S. On CBC they were giving possible examples. I can't remember the exact subject or wording, but one was something about the government sucking and blowing at the same time. Not a great way to refer to your party.
Also critical statements about environment policy, etc.
thats the email you said you don't see much...
I'm not a fan of GT but I have been impressed with his apparent willingness to speak with his constituents.
However can you really say that he was an effective respresentative?
Overall impresssion I got was Garth being all about Garth and the Joe Populist role an act for the benefit of his folks....
Could be wrong maybe but that's the way some of his tirades and tantrums appeared to me. Especially around the time the Harper insiders were figuring out the Cabinet positions.
Garth seemed especially petulant then.
He's probably not that bad but as an adult playing in the political arena it's probably also a good idea to get with the team playbook! Don't you think?
Dang... I get busy for a couple of days at work and the Conservatives kick Garth outta caucus. Not fair!!
There's gotta be more to this story.
Sara, I check it everyday! Sometimes messages go into junkmail by accident, but I check that too once a day.
There's gotta be more to this story.
This story seems to be like a strong onion - many layers with an acrid odour. But who's going to cry the most?
Could someone remind me how Garth let his constituents down? And since when is blogging grandstanding?
Not sure if he has let his constituents down, but here is a good post about the grandstanding.
This is interesting....Garth is like an Onion!
I think GT was pretty good about some important ISSUES. Showing that he did have an ear for his constituents concerns or that he had some original ideas and backbone was never a problem for anybody that I'm aware of.
However, being a "man of the people" does not give license to run your own show within a political party or any other sort of team environment. Don't you think that he's had plenty of opportunity to show a little more judgement in his communications and relationships? I do.
Whether GT has made a conscious decision to continue a toxic realtionship with party insiders or whether he just can't help himself does not really matter. His behaviour has taken him out of the process and that is NOT doing the right thing for his constituents.
I can tell you with confidence that people who behave like Garth in the private sector are pretty much guaranteed to find themselves free to seek new opportunities sooner rather than later. If the conservatives are running a business like operation then this was bound to happen.
PGP - Yes, Garth's constituents who voted for the party rather than Garth will not be happy.
Interesting to read Garth's blog. Most of his support comes from the Grits and Dippers. They are the ones that have egged him on the most.
All:
Perhaps Rahim Jaffer should be kicked-out for his republican leanings - which are out of line with the CPCs policy on the Monarchy. That would be more consistent and might/would draw real tory votes back into the CPC.
just sayin' ...
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