Conservative MLA Eddie Orrell announced on Friday that after having a "heart-to-heart" with Andrew Scheer, he wants to run federally as a Member of Parliament and will be seeking his party's nomination. MLA Alfie MacLeod is widely expected to do the same soon.

Since Orrell's announcement, I've commented several times that doing so would be effectively "abandoning ship". However, with what seems like a blue wave of Conservative support overtaking the country, I'm not entirely sure the idea of abandoning ship is the right metaphor to suggest. Maybe a better metaphor is sabotaging the ship's hull or snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. I'll explain.

The provincial PCs are in excellent shape right now with Houston at the helm, and surrendering these two seats could be a difference maker in favour of the declining Liberals. Just imagine the political legacy of being the one who caused your party to miss a majority by one seat.

Recent polls have not only suggested that Premier McNeil is potentially the least popular premier in Canada, but also that PC leader Tim Houston is closing the gap and setting the stage for a potential Conservative majority in Nova Scotia. Conservative voters need to take a pause and reflect on what that actually means for the people that live in this province.

With a majority, Orrell and MacLeod would not only get the chance to start leading health care reform in Nova Scotia but also making sure that PC leader Tim Houston follows through with his pledge of $15 Million more for the CBRM.

Giving up their seats and aspiring to replace the retiring Cuzner and Eyking surrenders their opportunity to play a part in doing so. And it's the people of Cape Breton that will pay the price for that decision if things go wrong.

These Conservative MLAs really couldn't be in a much better position right now to do good things for their Cape Breton constituents - if they stay put and follow through with unfinished business.

And despite that opportunity to help bring the Houston government into reality, it looks like they may both be directing their attention at personal goals of achieving higher office in Ottawa instead.

While I've joked that this makes them #secondpensionpoliticians (a sore spot for many voters who work a lifetime to achieve just one modest pension), the reality is that these men will have to do a lot to justify Federal runs to smart Cape Breton voters. Even if they successfully made their way to Ottawa, they'd be just two freshman MPs dropped into a much bigger and more sophisticated fishbowl than they've ever been in before.

Rodger Cuzner and Mark Eyking spent their entire careers without cabinet appointments and might end up being most affectionately remembered for political poetry and helping a beaver cross the road. And there are no clear qualifying criteria from either Orrell or MacLeod that jumps out as a strong case for them having a chance at making more of an impact than their Liberal predecessors.

At the provincial level, they have that chance now. But all signs seem to point to their willingness to surrender it.

"It’s well known that I backed another candidate other than the person who won the leadership race," Orrell told the Chronicle Herald referring to the new leader, Tim Houston. Although Orrell also pledged his loyalty to Houston as his leader in the same interview and suggested he'd do whatever he could to help get him elected, his comments weren't entirely convincing:

“I played a lot of hockey and team sports over the years... Sometimes, I didn’t necessarily like the coach but the coach is always right, no matter what happens. I’m a team player and he’s my leader and he will be my leader.” - MLA Eddie Orrell (referring to PC leader, Tim Houston's victory)

While the most rational argument is for Orrell and MacLeod to stay at their provincial posts to get the job done, they'll still have supporters if they abandon them. Both men are well liked, and Cape Breton voters often forget that a politician's choices affect all of the people in their community. We think in terms of what is best for the nice guy or nice gal, instead of what is best for everyone that lives on the island.

Imagine jumping ahead a few years into the future, and we could find ourselves asking if Orrell/MacLeod had stayed on as MLAs, could we have prevented a hospital closure, and would we have $15 Million more available to run the CBRM?

Even with this bigger picture perspective, some of the strongest advocates for health care in Cape Breton seem ready to pat Orrell on the back and wish him well. Indeed, we see many instances of what Behavioral Economics Professor Dan Ariely would call being "predictably irrational" right here in Cape Breton.

Maybe these two MLAs would be stronger negotiators at the Federal level than we realized. Thus far, someone clearly found a way to somehow convince Cecil Clarke that he wasn't the defacto candidate to run for Sydney-Victoria. Orrell and MacLeod (before he even announces officially) must be considered the frontrunners to represent Andrew Scheer's hopes to become Prime Minister, while Clarke is preoccupied with declaring library projects "dead" simply because there is confusion over how to apply for funding properly.

But the biggest question still remains unclear:

Why would these two MLAs abandon health care just before they have the chance to take the lead?

NOTE: The views expressed above are my own and do not represent lokol (goCapeBreton.com). Read more