David Emerson in a letter to a constituent reminds us again that he truly is clueless as to his role in representing our riding:

As I have stated on many occasions previously, I will continue that dialogue in earnest with all of my constituents - remaining accountable to them in the next federal election. David Emerson

First of all, The Campaign to De-Elect David Emerson must point out that Emerson isn't being honest with us. We have made a number of formal and informal requests for meetings with David Emerson. Most requests have been completely ignored; as reported in these pages, our formal request for a town hall meeting, designed to give Emerson the opportunity to be accountable to his constituents, was flatly rejected.

Of greater concern, Emerson continues to live under the illusion that he is accountable to no one except once every few years on election day. That he can do anything with complete impunity including breaking many committments and promises, and dropping support for policies and programs that he sold himself on.

Emerson was elected by the people of our riding to represent us, and to represent a certain set of views in the House of Commons. He was elected to defend Kyoto. He was elected to oppose participation in U.S. Ballisitic Missile Defense System participation. He was elected to support a real national child care system. He was elected to support the Aboriginal Accord. He was elected to support immigration.

Now, in each case, he is or will be doing the opposite of what most constituents in this riding elected him to do. When Emerson agreed to join the Conservatives, despite being elected just days before as a Liberal, he also explicitly agreed to vote against many programs and policies that he previously supported. Programs and policies that got him elected.

No one in this riding voted for that.

Whether or not one agrees with the stand Emerson took when he was elected, the crux of the matter is this: if our votes are to mean anything, elected members of parliament or provincial legislatures have to stand for something. Emerson, by his very action, stands for nothing.

Emerson works for some mythical constituency, but it isn't ours, and by his actions its been clearly proven that he has no intention of working for his constituents or representing their views.

The only way Emerson can clear his name is to resign and run again in a by-election to earn a legitimate mandate. Has he the guts, the true grit, if you will, to face the voters today?