Editor: Here we go again — four federal elections in seven years. They are coming too fast and furious to allow enough time to write individual letters about each issue, so I’ll just share some random thoughts about this election.
The opposition parties have toppled the government because they say we need change. Well, we happen to be one of the most stable economies in the world. The opposition wants to change that to what?
Come to think of it, Michael Ignatieff has even told us how he will change our economy: by increasing GST and corporate tax. I always thought that more spending money in consumer’s pockets was good for our economy. Is there a chance I’ve been wrong about that?
Do you think this election is more about about political careers, and not really about the good of Canada? With the fourth election in seven years, the parties are all spending money on the election. There you have it. All that spending is good, right?
Ignatieff claims Stephen Harper is undemocratic. Wasn’t it a Liberal who declared the War Measures Act back in October 1970? That Act took away all our rights during its existence. Now how democratic was that?
Doesn’t the Senate have a majority of Liberal-appointed senators? Now that’s Ignatieff- style democracy. And, those durn New Conservatives want to change that. The nerve.
Remember that the Alliance merged with the old Progressive Conservative Party to create the New Conservatives? And that the Alliance had derived from the Reform party? Hard to keep track of those pesky Reform fellows. You know, the ones who wanted to make it necessary for Senators to be elected?
And the New Conservatives want to change our justice system. What? Take all those spending criminals out of the shopping malls. Besides, it makes no difference at election time because prisoner or not, here in Canada they too can vote for their favourite fed. Now how weird is that.
And the Bloc, what can you say about a party whose main priority is the breakup of Canada? Come to think of it, what can you say about any Conservative, Liberal, or NDP who would consider any kind of alliance with the Bloc for any reason?
They certainly would not be doing it for the good of Canada.
Can you imagine a coalition government where the separatist Bloc, the Robin Hood NDP, and the mafia Liberals have access to our taxes? Oh my.
Then there’s the Green Party. I wish them well, but a fringe party with a single focus will not change anything, except dilute the vote. Take a lesson from the Reform Party. Canadians are too conservative, in an non-political sense, to accept drastic changes.
And besides, winning will require a follow-up act of governing, not just planting trees. I’m cynical about fringe parties, but not about the reality of climate change.
So, is this federal election good for Canada? Some might think it is, but I say enough already. We need government, not a bunch of politicians that stampede every year or so.
So let’s get on with the election, and get back to work for Canada, and you too Gilles Duceppe. Our destiny is Quebec’s too, like it or not.
Brian G. Wood,
Langley