Excerpted below is an edited transcript of an e-mail exchange that took place between National Post editorial board members on Tuesday morning.
Marni Soupcoff The Conservatives seemed so genuine about their "no more business as usual" campaign. Then came their deal with Liberal David Emerson and their choice to reward him for crossing the floor with a plum Cabinet post. Suddenly, we were transported back to the days when only the horribly naive would actually believe what politicians say.
What an insult to those who, just a couple of weeks ago, cast a ballot for Emerson. And what a glaring lack of principle on Emerson's part. Only one thing changed between the time that he was still a Liberal and the time he became a Conservative: his prospects for personal advancement.
Jonathan Kay Marni, chillax. The collective media freak-out over Harper's Emerson pick is way overblown.
Admittedly, some of Emerson's constituents might not be thrilled. But as Belinda Stronach's re-election shows, ordinary voters care less about this sort of thing than the punditocracy.
Moreover, I think we have to look at the big picture. As a minority PM, Stephen Harper needs as much leverage as he can muster. With the addition of this one extra MP, the Conservatives now have the numbers to pass legislation in conjunction with any other single party in Parliament, including the NDP - something that wasn't true before Emerson's defection.
Adam Radwanski It's funny you think real people don't care about this sort of thing, Jon, considering our editorial last summer suggesting people were turning away from politics because of "crass opportunists" like Belinda Stronach.
As for what this does for the Tories, they weren't elected primarily to advance specific policies - it was because they promised to change the way things are done in Ottawa. Now, they're already practising the crass politics the Liberals were run out of town for, and abandoning accountability by naming a Public Works minister who won't sit in the House.
You can twist yourself into a pretzel trying to defend it, but if it were the Liberals, you'd be apoplectic.
John Turley-Ewart Adam and Marni are rightly disappointed that Harper welcomed Emerson into his Cabinet. It was a Starbucks move by a Tim Horton's government. And a large number of Canadians voted for a Timmie's style of leadership - good, inexpensive, unpretentious and clean.
Nevertheless, Harper's government will not be judged on the merits of the Emerson decision when the next election rolls around. What will matter to voters is if the Conservatives keep their promise to reduce the GST, implement their daycare agenda and make government more transparent as a guard against future Adscams.
Adam, Jon's realism is ultimately more relevant than the frustration you and Marni feel right now.
John Geiger Given the tenuous nature of the Conservative minority, they'd be fools not to welcome Emerson. It gives a firm kick to the Liberals when they're down, and frankly says a lot more about Emerson than it does the new government. He was touted as a possible Liberal leadership candidate, he was one of the party's "star" candidates - and let's face it, he's the best thing the Liberals had west of Ralph Goodale.
It is a deft blow, one that demonstrates Harper can play by Liberal rules and win. It also shows he has the kind of political instincts needed to produce a Tory majority government. Marni and Adam can join with the Toronto Star editorial board to form a support group if they'd like, but at the end of the day they should remember that Harper's job is to deliver the country from evil.
Radwanski On behalf of Marni, who would probably fit in much worse at the Star than I would, I have to take issue with that line. You're just mad because she's acting like a conservative, not a Conservative.
Gerald Owen Voters vote for individual candidates, not simply for parties; the people of Vancouver-Kingsway did choose the mutable Mr. Emerson.
If we voted for party lists, under proportional representation, then the Emerson-Stronach-Brison Syndrome (ESBS) would break out almost every week. That's what politics is largely about in countries with PR: members of numerous parties in a fragmented legislature crossing the floor, back and forth. Beware of anything labelled as "democratic reform."
