Liberal exodus
So how many seats do the opposition Liberals have in the House of Commons? It's getting harder to keep track.
Ever since Vancouver Liberal David Emerson crossed the floor and joined the Conservative cabinet, just weeks after the January 2006 election, this Parliament has been a game of musical chairs.
The Grits had 103 MPs (of 308) on election night. Between then and the beginning of July, they had three resign, lost three to the Conservatives and gained two back (one in a by-election and one from the Tories). But the numbers keep changing.
Saskatchewan MP Gary Merasty is the latest MP to wave goodbye to the House of Commons and the Stéphane Dion-led Liberal party.
Merasty, a Cree and former Grand Chief of the Prince Albert Grand Council, announced his resignation yesterday and leaves officially on August 31st.
Former Liberal cabinet minister Jim Peterson officially leaves Parliament today. Former interim party leader Bill Graham took his leave on July 2nd. And that's not even it for this month: Vancouver Liberal Stephen Owen is scheduled to resign on July 27th.
Since Dion became leader in December seven Liberals in the House of Commons have either resigned, announced their intentions to resign or switched parties. At least 11 others have said they don't plan to run in the next election.
All that movement means there will be at least two byelections called in the next two months.
The prime minister must call the first byelection by July 28th. It's for ex-Liberal Jean Lapierre's Montreal riding of Outremont. (The NDP hopes to break new ground there by running its Quebec "star" candidate Thomas Mulcair.)
The second byelection will also be in Quebec, in the riding of Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, where the former Bloc MP Yvan Loubier resigned to run in the provincial election. He lost. That by-election must be called by August 25th.
About the Authors
- Rosemary Barton started her television career reporting from Quebec City where she covered the ins and outs of Quebec politics. She moved to the CBC Parliamentary Bureau in 2007. She also stood on the side of road awaiting U.S. President Barack Obama's motorcade for hours in the cold. When she finally spotted him, all of Canada heard her shriek, "I saw him!"
- Alison Crawford worked in Fredericton, Calgary and Winnipeg before returning to her hometown to work in the CBC parliamentary bureau. Her beats include the RCMP, justice, public safety and the Liberals. Alison credits her investigative skills as well as a national etiquette column and coverage of a ferret Christmas party, with having prepared her for covering national politics.
- Andrew Davidson is a producer for the CBC politics page in Toronto. He joined CBCNews.ca's national desk in 2006 and was the lead news writer for the website's 2008 federal election coverage.
- Chris Hall is the National Affairs Editor for CBC News. He's been a member of the CBC Parliamentary Bureau since 1998. That adds up to 11 budgets, four elections, three prime ministers and too many confidence votes to count. Chris started his career in print before moving to the CBC in 1992. Since then, he's worked in Toronto, Halifax and St. John's, as well as Ottawa.
- Leslie MacKinnon Leslie's been working in news and current affairs since newsrooms used teletype, televison was shot on film and radio tape was edited with a razor blade. She saw through The Journal's long run on CBC-TV, and since then has worked in Halifax, Toronto and Ottawa in the CBC's various permutations. Right now, she's a TV news reporter in the political bureau, and likes certain parts of Ottawa - the canal, the Hill - a lot.
- Janyce McGregor has been a television producer in the CBC's Parliamentary Bureau since 2001. She started her career working for Studio 2 on TVOntario. In 2005 her then-doctoral student husband persuaded her to follow him to the U.K., where she worked for BBC World Service Radio in London. Janyce is originally a farm girl from southwestern Ontario. Her most important job title is "Norah's Mom."
- Chris Rands has been a member of the Parliamentary bureau since 2001. He started at Toronto's AM Radio giant CFRB before moving to CBC's National Radio News in 1996. Chris has worked in Toronto, Moncton, Sudbury, Regina, Washington and St John's. Every time Chris walks up to the Peace Tower, he wants to throw his hat in the air like Mary Tyler Moore.
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