by Gary McHale
April 6, 2011
As a life-long conservative it sickens me that our Prime Minister cares so little about Law & Order and the people of Haldimand County that he handpicked Julian Fantino to be a Conservative MP for Vaughan. I understand the desire to be in power and to have a majority at any cost but you cannot sell your principles so quickly then expect to regain them later. As the Bible says, "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul."
We are once again faced with voting for who our Federal leaders will be. For many the childish antics in Ottawa and the fact that MPs rarely listen to the public, causes them to give up hope and they simply refuse to vote. For many others they will vote mindlessly for or against a party simply because that is what they do every election.
In many ways it is hard to blame people for giving up. The Conservatives have created a myth about being financially prudent, being a law and order party and being against higher taxes. However, the greatest debts were under Conservatives - Mulroney and Harper. Mulroney brought in the Youth Offenders Act which has been altered many times since it was so bad. And let's not forgot that it was the Conservatives that brought in the GST.
The Liberals have not been much better. They repeatedly promised to get rid of the GST but didn't and then publicly denounced Harper when he lowered it to 5%. It will be a generation before people forget about the Sponsorship scandal. The Liberals have been great at creating the myth that they care about health care and social programs and that the Conservatives are for big business.
Meanwhile, it was the Liberals that cut funds to health care, social programs and transfers to the provinces for several years. The party is virtually bankrupt because it has been unable to recover from receiving so much money from big business which cannot donate today - they are unable to get average Canadians to donate to the party. Furthermore, the current big business tax cut they are saying Harper is giving was actually passed into law with the help of the Liberals.
We also shouldn't forget that both parties create outrageous attack ads. In the last election Harper stated he wanted army bases spread out across Canada in order to help in local emergencies - in particular he was referring to the Red River flooding in Alberta and the ice storm in Quebec. The Liberal attack ads clearly stated that Harper wanted armed soldiers on street corners in Toronto - they wanted the public to believe Harper was doing an armed takeover of Canada.
Furthermore, we should also recall how quickly so-called principled members of parliament can cross the floor. After Belinda Stronach failed to be the Conservative party leader she jumped ship to the Liberals. However, the worst example I know is when David Emerson went from being a Liberal to a Conservative in less than 24 hours. In the 2006 election Mr. Emerson, as a Liberal, won a riding in Vancouver and in his victory speech on election night he stated he was going to be Harper's worst nightmare. The same night Harper phoned Emerson and before morning Emerson became a Conservative.
Let's face it the vast majority of politicians will sell out their own families to gain an extra few votes. Four months ago Tony Genco ran for the Liberal party against Conservative candidate Julian Fantino, but last week Genco announced his support for Fantino stating, "The Liberal Party that I joined over 20 years ago in university has disappeared." Of course, Mr. Genco doesn't explain how in four months the Liberal party has changed.
In truth we get the leadership we deserve. When we vote someone like Diane Finley back into office we send a powerful message that politicians can buy our votes and that we don't really care about the quality of our local MPs.
I cannot think of one policy that has helped Haldimand that Finley can say she got for her riding. Yes, I read her advertisement that states, "Getting Results for Haldimand" but, really can anyone provide one policy that wouldn't exist if Haldimand had voted Liberal?
The mere fact that Finley signed the petition against Fantino but Harper handpicked Fantino proves that Finley has no say in what the Harper government does. She is powerless to provide anything for Haldimand and her lack of action proves she really doesn't care to help Haldimand.
The solution to the problem appears to be what Quebec has done for many years. Quebec voters look at what is best for them. If a politician refuses to represent their interest they kick the person out. Over the years all politicians have learned that if you want to run in Quebec you better say and do what the local voters want. Quebecers punish all politicians for their failure to listen.
Most other areas in Canada vote blindly for or against parties because it is what we have always done. In many cases we vote out of fear - fear of a particular party or fear of losing health care or fear Quebec will separate. While some may see Quebec as being spoiled and self-serving, we must admit it does work - demand more from your elected officials and punish those that don't comply.
Since there is little fear the Liberals will win this election, we are once again attempting to use this Federal election as a means to send a powerful message that ignoring the issues in Haldimand will cost them votes - not just one riding but several ridings.
We are planning on printing 250,000 fliers under the heading Conservatives against Racism and distribute them through the GTA, London, Oshawa, Waterloo/Kitchener and Norfolk. Our message is clear - any government that continues to stand by and allow the police and Ontario government to violate the law will pay a price.
You could help Haldimand influence dozens of ridings. If you can help financially or with handing out fliers then contact Merlyn Kinrade at 905-765-5131.