by Fainne Martin

Garth Turner is an economist, a reporter, a businessman, but mostly an MP with a mission – to give the people what they voted for. With his prolific and now famous blog, (www.garth.ca), he shook up a secretive and magisterial government.
His daily reporting of the goings on in Ottawa, offered to his constituents, and anyone who wants to look at what life is like on Capitol Hill, are well-written, fair-handed and sincere. He offers a blogging forum, which encourages reader feedback, and constantly updates the video reporting on the site. And, if that hasn’t made him accessible enough to his constituents, then the 14 forums he has held in his riding over the last eight months, just might.
It is hard to imagine any MP who made himself more available to the people who voted him in. Further, his commitment to the environment and the middle-class has given him credibility well beyond his riding. And, for this he is booted out of caucus?
In contrast, pre-floor crossing MP David Emerson has not held a single town hall meeting with the voters of his Vancouver-Kingsway riding (www.realdemocracy.ca) since he was elected.
Here are samples of Turner’s blog over 10 days, leading up to, including and after his outing:
OCT 11: While there are lots of other issues for MPs and government to worry about these days, none is of greater long-term importance than the environment.
Canada has just suffered more than a decade of inaction in which global warming has taken hold, our air quality deteriorated, and many species have sadly disappeared. This must end, and while governments have a major role, we as individuals count even more.
OCT 13: Greenhouse gases, global warming, climate change – Canadians hear these phrases every day from environmentalists, governments, and the media. We are told our air is polluted, the oceans at risk, world temperatures are rising and the planet as we know it could be far different for our children.
But do voters and taxpayers believe it? Is the environment a key priority for them, or just the latest hot topic for politicos?
OCT 17: As I have stated, climate change is a defining issue, and this is a landmark time for a generational government. Either we will rise to the challenge, or we will not.
A new green plan was not one of the government’s vaunted five priorities. It was not even a campaign promise, with the environment relegated to a trashing of Kyoto and a practical tax credit to get people on the train and the bus.
OCT 18: So, being kicked out of the Conservative Party is unfortunate, and I’ll be going back to my riding soon to explain things to those voters who wanted a Tory to represent them. But no party – in fact, none of us – has a lock on perfection. The irony is that I’ve been a Conservative longer than most people who call themselves that these days, and my beliefs have not changed. I did not leave my party, or my convictions, at the caucus room door.
Now, I’ll be the best MP I can. Count on it.
OCT 19: More than a few reporters who claim to be in the know, tell me I was thrown overboard from the Tory caucus yesterday for a good reason: the green plan. The fear apparently was that I would criticize the Rona Ambrose (Environment Minister) effort and perhaps even vote against it, since my views on climate change are well-known.
Well, here’s an irony for you – I may not even get to vote on this wimpy document, because the Clean Air Act appears to have self-destructed the day it arrived. All three opposition parties have said plainly that they will vote against it, which means (a) it won’t become law and (b) Harper will likely spike it, since he’s not the losing kind.
I’m sure you know the details by now. No new gas guzzler standards for five years. No smog and ozone targets for 20 years. No slashing of greenhouse gas emissions for more than 40 years.
OCT 21: It is a humbling experience to stand before one’s electors, especially in a crisis. Especially when you have no hard answers for them. Especially when the most powerful man in the country has just done his best to render you inconsequential and irrelevant in their eyes.
“You tell us you have had a falling-out with your political boss,” a man in his thirties said. “But you are wrong. Your bosses are in this room, and you have not fallen out with us. We will support you.”
But can one man change the system, I asked? The room thundered in applause amid shouts of “You bet.”
And then we voted.
(1) Resign your seat - zero
(2) Negotiate back into caucus – 17
(3) Join the Liberals - zero
(4) Go Green – 17
(5) Stay independent – 31
As the room emptied, my hand was shaken. And shaking.