Green Light

National Newswatch is breaking the story: Garth Turner will definitely join the Green Party!

And why not?

As an independent MP, he'd disappear into the obscurity of the backbenches, kept alive in the news only by his blog and the occasional inflammatory press release.

As a Liberal, he would become a focus of resentment for other caucus members who felt that he was being advanced at their expense. And he might be a distraction during the leadership race, unwelcome by all camps, even Joe Volpe's.

But as the very first Green MP in Canada, he vaults to the top as the party's official spokesman in Parliament. He can claim to be giving the party the legitimacy it needs to be taken seriously as something other than a jumped-up third party.

And of course, the media opportunities will be even more plentiful than before.

Never mind that Turner would sit far to the right of the rest of the party: this is his ticket to political stardom!