Like most everyone else on the Sunshine Coast, we were surprised to find out that supposedly dyed-in-the-wool Liberal Blair Wilson suddenly found his Green soul over the weekend. Interestingly enough, our not-so-esteemed member of parliament chose to make the announcement to the Big Boy papers only with an embargo (don't print order) attached. We're scratching our heads wondering why, considering the drubbing he's taken from most of them in the past few months. But then we suspect Wilson subscribes to the any-news-is-good-news policy shared by headline hunters the world over.
Right now the argument is raging over whether to include the Green party and its leader Elizabeth May in debates in the forecasted federal election. Considering that the Greens raked in a measly six per cent of the vote in the last federal election (the one where Wilson edged past Conservative John Weston), we're not completely convinced Canadians are interested in what the Greens have to say. However, should democracy prevail, at least there will be one female voice in the scrum.
It's interesting too to find out that Wilson is the immigration critic for the Greens. Considering he was largely a no-show when he held that portfolio for the Liberals, we can't imagine that assignment will benefit anyone.
Canadian politics are increasingly becoming an opportunist sport. You don't like your party, don't want to play by their rules, don't get to be the most important person in Ottawa's sandbox - just wait a week and change your party. Most of us blasé Canadians will simply shrug our shoulders and say, "business as usual."
Perhaps we ought to realize that regardless of the colour of the stripe, a skunk is still a skunk. And maybe it's time for the powers that be to wake up and realize that the reason integrity and politician seldom appear in the same sentence is because they are mutually exclusive concepts.
So now on the Sunshine Coast we have our choice between someone who used to champion the dope party (the Marijuana Party), someone who is a dope, a newcomer no one knows - and oh, by the way, a would-be politician who spends his off time in Africa helping the poor and ill. Mr. Weston, you're looking better by the day.
