Letter: Upcoming choice – Coalition compromise or ideological intolerance
Dear editor,
Doesn’t Stephen Harper get it? “If we do not get a majority, the Liberals, the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois will combine and they will form a government … If we do not win a majority, this country will have a Liberal government propped up by the socialists and the separatists,” Stephen Harper said in Sudbury, where Progressive Conservative Stephen Butcher was bumped as the last Tory candidate in favour of an evangelical Reformer after running as a Conservative in 2004. The snubbed Stephen Butcher ran as a Progressive Canadian in 2006.
But “socialists and separatists”? There is more to fear from the neocon continentalists who got us into this mess in the first place. The last time Harper tried this failed gambit he had to beg the GG to prorogue parliament to save his party and his leadership. He cares not for the country.
Rather a coalition compromise than ideological intolerance; rather parliamentary democracy than a dictatorship of one.
Brian Marlatt
White Rock, BC
I read the above article at least twice, but still didn’t really understand it. :(
Anyone saw PQ’s ad on the TV showing the most unflattering photos of Stephen Harper and Michael Ignatief
underneath the 2 photos are these 2 lines:
deux partis
un regard
he he he
Give me a break. Cry me a river. Ideological intolerance? The Conservatives are governing from the clear centre with some centre-right leanings. That is clearly not ideological; the Conservatives are moderate. Take for example, stimulus funding, continued social programs, tax credits and tax cuts. As a political science student, this platform sounds more pragmatic than ideological. That’s exactly the reason why the Liberals can’t find much on which they differ from the Conservatives since they both support stimulus funding. All these allegations of “neocon” are just so childish. The letter is just rhetoric with no concrete substance whatsoever.
When people write such uninformed letters, it really reminds me how ignorance is bliss.
why don’t you talk about appointing tory loyals and right-wing thinkers to high courts, tribunals, committees etc etc when harper championed on accountability? why was ablonzcy got demoted when she was found out sponsoring the toronto pride parade? why don’t they do something about bountiful which is obviously breaking every canadian criminal law but go after muslim women for wearing veils?
i don’t like many things about the liberals and ndp. but they are more related to “core canadian values” that differ us from our neighbours in the south.
harper would be happy to agree with you on this: “it really reminds me how ignorance is bliss”. he’d love to rule over ignorant citizens … one way is being blocking the media from getting to him and his government
sn, you should check out the facts please.
- Ablonczy was not demoted; she is still the Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism as she was first when first appointed.
- Appointing partisans to public office is a wide practice, and isn’t a matter of accountability as long as they are ethical and qualified.
- “Bountiful” and “Muslim women wearing veils” are two totally different subject matters. On the issue of veiled women, the government has a point in that elections officials need to match ID and the face before letting people vote. It makes sense.
- On the issue of Bountiful, BC, the provincial government has already brought the issue to court but was unsuccessful. Anyway, you seem to have double standard. On one hand you say Canada should be more tolerant; on the other hand you seem to disapprove of these Mormons.
Since taking office, the Conservative government has among other things:
- Issued an apology and compensation package for the Chinese head tax survivors
- Issued an apology and begun national healing regarding the Indian residential schools
- Increased the immigration rate and made it easier for people to immigrate to Canada (less paperwork)
- Spent millions of dollars to help immigrants in this country
- Doubled aid in Africa
That doesn’t sound very ideological to me at all. That sounds a moderate, responsible government.