'A new reason to be cynical'

Canadians are furious that one of their new prime minister's first actions was to persuade a political opponent to cross the floor, writes Anne McIlroy

Canada's new Conservative prime minister, Stephen Harper, has enjoyed what is perhaps the briefest political honeymoon in the country's history.

Mr Harper was elected on January 23 after promising to restore integrity, trust and accountability to Canadian politics. Canadians, hungry for change and feeling taken for granted after almost 13 years of Liberal rule, warmed to the cerebral, 46-year-old economist, who promised to treat voters with respect.

But he angered them almost instantly - not by steering the country too far to the right, as some had feared, but by convincing a Liberal to switch parties and sit in his cabinet.

When the former industry minister David Emerson appeared at the swearing-in ceremony, television commentators struggled to explain his presence. It soon became clear that Mr Emerson, who was elected as a Liberal in his Vancouver riding, had jumped to the Conservative team at Mr Harper's invitation.

Canadian politicians have switched parties before, but never so quickly after an election - and they usually offer a better reason than that their side lost.

The bait-and-switch move, along with other controversial appointments, provoked an intense reaction across the country, including among Conservatives.

Canadians were not impressed, and said so in letters to newspapers and calls to radio phone-in shows.

"Mr Harper suggested he would restore ethics and trust to government, said one typical letter, to the Globe and Mail. "But instead, Mr Emerson and he have just raised the bar on hypocrisy, dishonesty and political fraud to new heights. They have given us all a new reason to be cynical about politics."

There were calls for Canada to pass a law that would restrict party-hopping. In New Zealand, for example, the Electoral Integrity Act requires MPs to either quit or sit as independents if they switch parties.

"This looks like expediency, even hypocrisy," said one veteran Conservative MP. "We campaigned against this kind of stuff."

Mr Harper said he had expected "some of the superficial criticism." This was classic pre-campaign Mr Harper: cool and convinced he is right, but tone deaf to the emotional notes of politics. Voters in Vancouver were insulted that their ballots had apparently counted for so little.

There is little chance that Mr Emerson would have won as a Conservative or an independent after he vigorously attacked the Conservatives during the campaign, characterising them as heartless and saying they would exclude the "down-and-out".

But two weeks after voters made their choice, Mr Emerson made his, saying he could serve his constituents better if he were not down-and-out in the opposition.

The new prime minister wanted a voice from Vancouver around his cabinet table and had not elected any MPs from the west-coast city. He took a calculated risk.

By the time the House of Commons begins sitting, in six weeks' time, and Mr Harper gets on with the implementing the promises he made to cut taxes and improve healthcare, the outrage will probably have faded. But the move leaves a sour taste in the mouths of voters who expected better.

Mr Harper did not win a majority of seats in the Commons, and could be brought down by the opposition parties acting together. So if the electorate ends up voting again quickly, first impressions may prove important.

Not that the Liberals are in any position to bring down the Conservative government: the former prime minister and party leader Paul Martin announced on election night he would be stepping down.

So far, however, all the frontrunners, including the former Liberal ministers Allan Rock, John Manley, Brian Tobin and the former New Brunswick premier Frank McKenna, have declared themselves uninterested in the job.

This leaves the field open, should newcomers such as the author and academic Michael Ignatieff decide to go after the top job. Mr Ignatieff won a Toronto area seat in the election. For now, though, the party is in transition and in poor shape to fight another election.