Toronto voters refused to elect a single Conservative to the House of Commons in last month's election and Stephen Harper responded by leaving Toronto representatives out of Cabinet, He found ways of putting Vancouver and Montreal, who also refused to elect CPC MPs, on the inside by enticing a Liberal to switch parties in return for a Cabinet post (Emerson is stating publicly he switched because he could do more for his city as a Cabinet minister than as a backbencher - so he is admitting he was offered the post in exchange for switching.) and by appointing a party official to the Senate to represent Quebec and dole out patronage.
But nothing for Toronto? Well maybe not.
With one more Conservative in the House of Commons, the Cons, plus the NDP and one Independent have a majority. Hmmm - maybe the fox is sly.
Think about it this way - Jack Layton and Olivia Chow will be calling a lot of the shots and pushing an NDP/Toronto agenda.
After yesterday's audacity, it would hardly be surprising to learn that Harper and Layton have struck a mutual-support deal (or will do so soon, before the House meets and the budget comes up for a vote). Maybe even NDP representation in Cabinet for a real coalition. (Jack's father was in the Mulroney government).
It seems implausible when considered in the context of Harper's pledge to rush de-implement the national child-care strategy and the federal provincial agreements already in place and the promise of more corporate tax cuts but it's no stranger than yesterday's developments. Jack and Olivia have worked desperately to get to Ottawa together and I wouldn't put anything past them in their quest for power and influence on the national stage and can hear them rationalising anything as "doing it for working class people in Toronto".
If it happens - remember where you read it first.
