David Emerson and Stephen Harper keep stating that it is just a few partisan zealots asking for Emerson to face his constituents in by-election, but are there really 20,000 + zealots in Vancouver ?

Here's some numbers to consider.

More people have signed the online petition (now at 20,400 +) for Emerson to face the voters of Vancouver Kingsway than voted for him in the last election.

Major polls across the country , BC, and the east coast show similiar results.The results are below.
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As you may know, David Emerson, who was elected as the Liberal party MP for the riding of Vancouver Kingsway, recently decided to leave the Liberal party and sit as a member of the Conservative party. Stephen Harper immediately named David Emerson to the Conservative cabinet as minister of international trade with responsibility for the Pacific Gateway. Do you approve or disapprove of the actions taken by David Emerson ?

Somewhat disapprove
14%

Strongly disapprove
48%

Source: Ipsos-Reid
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 800 British Columbia adults, conducted from Feb. 7 to Feb. 12, 2006. Margin of error is 3.5 per cent.

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Thinking again about federal politics, please tell me if you agree or disagree with the following statement: David Emerson, the Vancouver Liberal who crossed the floor and was appointed to the new Conservative cabinet, should immediately resign his seat in the House of Commons and run in a by-election?

Agree
62%

Source: Ipsos-Reid / CanWest Global
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,000 Canadian adults, conducted from Feb. 7 to Feb. 9, 2006. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.

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Over two-thirds (67%) of Macleans.ca voters told us that David Emerson should step down and run in a by-election before being able to cross the floor.
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March 18th Halifax Herald.

The prime minister’s choice of former Liberal cabinet minister David Emerson, who was elected as a Liberal in January, as minister of international trade was given the thumbs-down by 58 per cent who either disagreed (35 per cent) or strongly disagreed (23 per cent).

"There is clearly discomfort with the Emerson appointment and the appointment of an unelected Conservative, Mr. Fortier, seems to upset people even more," Jim Meek, editor of the Inside Out Report, said in a news release. The Inside Out Report is published by Bristol.

The survey interviewed 1,800 Atlantic Canadians between Feb. 16 and March 5 and is considered accurate within 2.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

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It is obviously time for you to listen to Canadian voters and give us back our democratic rights. Run in a by-election now David Emerson.