Canada gets first Green Party MP

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- Canada's Parliament in Ottawa had its first Green Party member Monday after an independent told reporters he had signed on to the fringe environmental group.

MP Blair Wilson, who represents an area near Vancouver, British Columbia, announced Sunday he had joined the environmental party, the Vancouver Sun reported Monday.

He was originally elected as a member of the Liberal party, but left to become an independent after allegations arose that he didn't properly record election expenses in 2006. The Elections Canada agency cleared him of serious wrongdoings, but said he had violated the law on three occasions during the campaign, the report said.

However, the Green presence in Parliament could be short-lived, as it was widely expected Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper will call an election for mid-October later this week, the newspaper said.

Norman Ruff, a semi-retired politics professor from the University of Victoria, told the Sun he had doubts Wilson would be re-elected because of the election fraud allegations.

"Mud sticks," he said. "He's still going to have difficulty escaping that entirely. Most people remember the controversy without remembering the outcome."