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www.DavidEmersonLegal.com is about legal aspects of the switch of political parties by MP David Emerson soon after the 2006 Canadian Federal Election.

David Emerson was re-elected as Liberal Party MP for the riding of Vancouver-Kingsway, British Columbia, in Canada’s 39th Federal Election on 23 January 2006. Two weeks later, on Monday 6 February, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that Mr. Emerson had joined the Conservative Party and appointed him to his cabinet. Mr. Emerson’s switch of parties was controversial: there was some support, but criticism was considerable and widely voiced by the general public, people in Canadian political life, and individuals in the media.

Mr. Emerson announced early in September 2008 that he would not seek re-election as an MP in Canada’s 40th Federal Election, to be held on 14 October.

Eighteen legal initiatives launched or proposed

Eighteen different legal initiatives were launched (12) or proposed (6) with regard to Mr. Emerson’s switch of parties in 2006. These initiatives included:

(L-1^1-8)   Eight inquiries launched:   Did Stephen Harper and David Emerson violate Sections 8-10 and Principles 2(b), 2(c), and 2(e) of the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons?

Ethics Commissioner Bernard Shapiro released a report on 20 March 2006 which stated that neither David Emerson nor Stephen Harper violated the House of Commons Conflict of Interest Code.

(L-2)   One inquiry launched:   Did David Emerson violate Subsection 482(b) of the Canada Elections Act?

A request for an opinion was made to Commissioner of Canada Elections Raymond A. Landry. Senior Counsel to the Commissioner said in a 15 March 2006 letter that David Emerson did not violate the subsection.

(P-2)   One inquiry proposed:   Were the rights of David Emerson’s constituents violated under Section 3 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms?

This question has been asked by Vancouver lawyer Peter Dimitrov.

Table 1 gives a breakdown of the 18 initiatives. For an overview of the initiatives, see Figure 1 on the Overview of 18 Legal Initiatives web page.