David Emerson

MacKay later also said that there was no comparison between Emerson's switch and that of Belinda Stronach. Reynolds also defended Emerson's switch, saying that Vancouver Kingsway got the better end of the bargain since "instead of having someone in opposition, they have someone who is a cabinet minister of a new government." As Minister of International Trade, Emerson will have key influence on matters relevant to constituents of Vancouver-Kingsway particularly as The Greater Vancouver Area prepares for the 2010 Olympics. The defection also has the support of Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan, British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell, the Vancouver Board of Trade, former Prime Minister Kim Campbell, as well as several prominent businessmen in Vancouver.

In 2009, he was named co-chair (with Paul Tellier) of the Prime Minister's Advisory Committee on the Public Service. He also became a member of the International Advisory Council of the Chinese sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation.

In 2008, Emerson joined private equity firm CAI Capital Management as a senior advisor.

On May 26, 2008, Emerson was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs following the resignation of Maxime Bernier, though it was reported at the time that Emerson's appointment to the position would be brief. In a cabinet shuffle on June 25, 2008, Prime Minister Harper finalized Emerson's position as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

On September 2, 2008, it was reported that Emerson would not run in the 2008 federal election, citing the lengthy commute from Vancouver to Ottawa as the reason. Also, he wanted time to spend with his son, James, his daughter, Elizabeth, and his son-in law, Patrick.

The 2006 election saw a rematch between Emerson and Waddell. This time, Emerson won handily, defeating Waddell by nearly 10 points as the Liberals nearly swept Vancouver.

Gaining regional representation in Cabinet from key metropolitan areas, such as Vancouver, according to Harper, was key to the decision in asking Emerson to cross the floor. Indeed, 2006 marked the first time in decades that a centre-right party had been completely shut out in Vancouver. However, Emerson's Conservative opponent, Kanman Wong, claimed on February 10, 2006, that Emerson was seriously considering crossing the floor during the run-up to the election. Wong added that he would have stood down in Emerson's favour had he done so.

In any case, Emerson's decision was kept secret from his Liberal colleagues, the press, and even most Conservatives until February 6, 2006, when he arrived at Rideau Hall, the official residence of the Governor General, for the swearing-in of the new government. In addition to his International Trade portfolio, Emerson was given responsibility for the Pacific Gateway and the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, areas of particular importance to the riding of Vancouver-Kingsway and in general, the Greater Vancouver area. He was ranked third in Cabinet in the order of precedence, behind Harper and House Leader Rob Nicholson, by virtue of his appointment to the Privy Council in 2004.

In a letter dated Monday February 6, the Vancouver Kingsway Liberal riding association requested that Emerson repay $97,000 spent during his re-election campaign. Emerson has stated that he does not intend to repay any expenses, arguing that he has raised large sums for the Liberal party from his corporate connections. On February 8, 2006, Emerson described Liberal attacks on his defection as a sign of "deep sickness" and said that his children were being treated with hostility at school because of his defection. Harper called the attacks on Emerson "superficial", the switch was made "in the best interests of not just British Columbia but good government". Emerson has given some thought to resigning over the furore, but told CBC News in Vancouver on February 10 that he would not resign or run in a byelection. Aside from that appearance, Emerson cancelled a telephone press conference on February 9 due to traffic.

According to an online poll from The Globe and Mail, 77% of respondents wanted Emerson to step down and run in a by-election. A similar online poll conducted by Maclean's magazine showed 66% wanted Emerson to run in a by-election. Ipsos Reid in mid-February 2006 conducted a poll of British Columbians and found that even in staunchly Conservative areas of the province, respondents were 75% in favour of a by-election being called.

On March 3, 2006, Ethics Commissioner Bernard Shapiro announced that he was launching a preliminary inquiry into conflict-of-interest allegations against Emerson and Harper. Shapiro says he will look into what influence may have been wielded in the decision by Emerson to cross the floor. On March 20, 2006, Shapiro stated that he was "satisfied that no special inducement was offered by Mr. Harper to convince Mr. Emerson to join his cabinet and his party". He found no wrongdoing on Emerson's part and recommended a parliamentary debate on floor crossing.

On April 27, 2006, Prime Minister Harper announced that Canada had reached an agreement with the United States on softwood lumber. Working closely with Minister Emerson and Canadian ambassador to the U.S. Michael Wilson, this landmark agreement resolved a dispute disrupting Canada–U.S. relations since 1982 when U.S. lumber producers first petitioned against Canadian softwood lumber imports under U.S. countervailing duty law. Previous Liberal governments had enacted two five-year deals, the last one expiring March 31, 2001. Since then, Canada had been locked in costly domestic and international litigation as U.S. lumber companies charged Canada with dumping subsidized lumber into the U.S. market.

On September 12, 2006, Emerson and U.S Trade Representative Susan Schwab officially signed the deal in Ottawa.

The softwood lumber deal was passed on December 6, 2006, and received Royal Assent on December 12, 2006.

Emerson attracted some media attention in December 2005 with a comment that NDP leader Jack Layton had a "boiled dog's head smile". While the term is translated from the common and mild Cantonese insult "烚熟狗頭", Emerson said that he believed it to be a humorous phrase indicating a person with an "overextended grin". Emerson said that his wife, a Cantonese speaker, used the phrase to describe him when he posed for pictures.

Bypassing the nomination process, Paul Martin appointed David Emerson as the Liberal candidate in Vancouver Kingsway for the 2004 election. In the general election, he narrowly defeated Ian Waddell of the New Democratic Party (NDP) by 1,351 votes. Waddell had previously represented Vancouver Kingsway from 1979 until 1988, when the riding was abolished and Waddell transferred to Port Moody—Coquitlam.

In 1998, Emerson was appointed president and chief executive officer of Canfor Corporation, a leading integrated forest products company and Canada's largest producer of softwood lumber. With 8,100 workers and annual revenues of $3.2 billion servicing 10% of the U.S. market, Canfor operates pulp and paper mills as well as 19 sawmills across British Columbia, two in Alberta and one in Quebec. Despite US duties and a higher Canadian dollar, Emerson managed to increase profits and raise share prices through a major acquisition deal and efficiency upgrades, which increased capacity by 30% while reducing production costs by 24%.

From 1992 to 1997, Emerson was president and chief executive officer of the newly created Vancouver International Airport Authority.

In 1986, Emerson was appointed president and chief executive officer of the Western & Pacific Bank of Canada. He transformed it into the Western Bank of Canada — the only regional bank to survive and prosper. Four years later, he returned as deputy minister of finance and was quickly promoted to deputy minister to the premier and president of the British Columbia Trade Development Corporation.

In 1975, after working as a researcher for the Economic Council of Canada, Emerson moved to British Columbia and joined the public service. In 1984, he became deputy minister of finance.

Emerson was born in Montreal, Quebec. He attended the University of Alberta and obtained his Bachelor of Economics degree in 1968 and his Master of Economics degree in 1970. He then went on to Queen's University where he received his Ph.D in economics.

Part of the Emerson controversy stems from Vancouver Kingsway's voting history. The riding has long been one of the more left-leaning ones in Vancouver; most election battles take place between the Liberals and NDP. Vancouver Kingsway previously existed from 1953 to 1988 and elected a Progressive Conservative candidate only once, during the 1958 Tory landslide. It has not elected a Conservative or any member of its predecessor parties—the PCs, the Reform Party of Canada or the Canadian Alliance—since its recreation in 1997. The Conservative candidate in 2006, Wong, finished a distant third with only 8,700 votes—12,000 votes behind Emerson and 7,000 behind Waddell—and 19% of the total vote. In the 2004 election, the Conservative candidate, Jesse Johl, finished with 16.5% of the vote. Both totals were far less than the combined PC/Canadian Alliance vote of 34.4% in 2000. The NDP's vote share of less than 16% in that 2000 election jumped to more than 37% when Emerson first ran in 2004.

David Lee Emerson, PC OBC (born September 17, 1945) is a Canadian politician, financial executive, and economist. He was formerly the Member of Parliament for the riding of Vancouver Kingsway. He was first elected as a Liberal and served as Minister of Industry under Prime Minister Paul Martin. After controversially crossing the floor to join Stephen Harper's Conservatives, he served as Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics, followed by Minister of Foreign Affairs.