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Issues and Debate. Also consider the debate and the issues on the French page. We invite all Liberal members and supporters to write letters to the editor, make public presentations, and engage in political issues. We can post your material here. This is an open forum. Note that the Liberal Party of Canada and the SDSG Federal Liberal Association do not assume any responsibility for and do not endorse the material submitted by the authors. Why Canadians rejected a coalition - MacLeans, Dec 29th Bah humbug! to your editorial for implicitly endorsing Mr. Harper's shutting down Parliament. What are the prospects for democracy in Canada, if the media fail to be vigilant about the democratic principles of Parliament when an autocratic prime minister acts to flout those very principles? Coalition is Democracy in Action. The recent debate over the coalition government in waiting has three distinct issues that cannot be confused with each other. For one, the debate for and against the coalition is largely split along lines of partisan politics. Canadians Will Support Coalition Government Harper’s “Reform” Government’s so-called economic statement was little more than a partisan attack on women, labour and their political opposition. And, their forecasted surplus of $100 million in each of the next two years was unrealistic if not dishonest. Start a brushfire The Ottawa Citizen, Published: Thursday, November 13, 2008 Re: Dance of deception, Nov. 11 Hats off to columnist Andrew Cohen for his fine exposé of the Harperites' shafting of plans for the Portrait Gallery of Canada. Good grief, these people aren't fit to run a corner store, let alone a country. Here's to Mr. Cohen's eloquence in starting a brushfire of protest across the country, like the one against the cuts to the arts in the recent election. Peter John Robertson, Morrisburg History will be kind to Dion Dion was the guy who stood nearly alone with the guts to do and say the right things in a most difficult time. All the cheap shots and piling on by relative nobodies will look petty and short sighted, if remembered at all, in 40 or 50 years. Voters are the losers with First-Past-The-Post The culprit in this failure of democracy is the voting system that we call First-Past-The-Post (FPTP). It was designed over two centuries ago when voters had a clear choice between two parties. What have Canadians gained? Let me get this straight. Stephen Harper breaks his promise on fixed election dates and gets his reformist Conservatives returned to a minority government ... Vote Liberal on October 14th and be Proud Again October 14th will be an historic day in Canada. Canadians will choose to either accept the challenges of the 21st century or continue to live in denial. Acronym anarchy -- vote for change Time was when PM stood for Prime Minister, the man or woman we elected to take care of our country's best interests and the most pressing issues of the day. Brochures campaign funding through backdoor Over the past two years I have been incensed by not only the number, but content of flyers mailed through the Parliamentary print house and paid for by tax dollars. I find many across Canada are now voicing this same concern. An election to divide and conquer It is a disgrace to Canada and to the democratic process to see politicians use an election to create divisions in our society based on envy, jealousy, and suspicion. My own personally biased musician type opinion. . . The September 24, 2008 Toronto Star carried a story saying that Prime Minister Stephen Harper believes that ordinary Canadians do not support nor care about art or artists in this country (ergo, he cut funding drastically). I, and thousands of other Canadians think his is dead wrong on this issue. What is a country, a people, without a vibrant arts community? Fear of the Green Shift Readers have written that they can't understand the Green Shift concept. Putting a higher price on what we want people to use less of seems pretty simple. I can only conclude that people don't want to understand because once an idea is accepted then there is a responsibility to change. Why does Harper need to demean Dion? I once heard the tale of one of Pierre E. Trudeau's sons being quite smug at the parliamentary cafeteria upon his cracking a demeaning joke about Joe Clark. Conservative Website Smear I have just been looking at the web sites of the New Democratic Party, the Bloc Québécois, the Liberal Party of Canada, the Green Party – and the Conservative Party of Canada. On all of the sites I saw sections on the party’s vision and programme, videos about the party, the leader, the candidates, how to get involved, etc. So opportunistic Re: Afghan mission enters election fray, Sept 11: Published in the Ottawa Citizen, Saturday, September 13, 2008: How easily Stephen Harper bends with the wind when he's facing the electorate. What happened to his earlier declaration that it was pointless to set "arbitrary deadlines" for the mission? It is so typical of him, with his high-minded vow to set fixed election dates, which he proceeded to break when it suited him. These are the actions of a self-serving opportunist, not the country's leader. PJ Robertson, Morrisburg Sabourin "Outguns" Lauzon Over the years I’ve supported all three major parties, the NDP, the Conservatives and the Liberals. But each time I’ve voted for the best person available and that person didn’t always win. I did my job and voted with deep concern for the riding. Now how about everybody else doing the same? Harper and his pals can't be trusted Never mind the excuses, never mind the pretence of consulting with leaders of the opposition parties, in calling an election now before October 2009, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has broken his word on fixed election dates. Worst AtrocitiesPeace in Iraq, if Iraq can be said to be at peace today, was bought by years of destruction and slaughter of innocents on a monumental scale, following an invasion which was nothing less than an act of aggression on trumped-up evidence. So much is clear to anyone paying attention, including historians worth their salt. Mr. Lauzon: Your flyer is disrespectful.When I see my tax-money being spent by Mr. Lauzon to circulate a cheap demagogic piece of junk mail on a subject of prime importance, I cannot stay silent. Why is Harper a Wimp?Embassy, July 23 '08: (Re: "If we Don't Step Forward, No One Will," and "Another Scorcher For Harper," July 9) Why is Prime Minister Stephen Harper such a wimp on climate change? And what business does he have presenting Canada as a country of wimps on climate change? For that matter, if Mr. Harper can't or won't show leadership for Canada on humanity's most pressing challenge, how can he in good conscience continue as Canada's leader? PJ Robertson, Morrisburg Ontario Lauzon makes himself visibleLetter to the editor in The Chesterville Record, Wednesday, July 16, 2008. You have to hand it to Guy Lauzon MP. He knows how to make himself visible, the way he floods our mailboxes with pictures of himself and party spin. At the same time, you have to wonder how many trees are sacrificed to produce this flood of self-promotion, and who pays for it -- we taxpayers of Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry? PJ Robertson, Morrisburg, Federal Liberal nomination candidate for Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry Conservatives Waste our Tax MoneyYou would hardly know that the federal election of January 2006 was over. Harper’s Conservative Party of Canada pursues its attack advertising like we were still in an election campaign and like they were still the Official Opposition. Give us Sufficient Facts, not AssertionsWith his letter "Real action on the economy" (May 28), Guy Lauzon serves up the usual Harperite mix of self-congratulation and fear-mongering. Conservatives are alienating Parliament Hill media: Liberal The Hill Times, May 12th, 2008 Re: "Media biased against the Tories, writes one Conservative," (The Hill Times, Letters to the Editor, May 5, p. 9). Has it not occurred to these letter-writers that the government of the day, whether Liberal or Conservative, can expect to be in the media spotlight, and that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has, with his excessively autocratic and secretive ways, not to mention his well-known anti-media bias, to a large degree intensified the spotlight on his government? In other words, the Conservatives by alienating the media, have only themselves to blame for their media woes. By the same token, Canadians can be thankful that the media decline to dance to the Conservative tune. PJ Robertson, Morrisburg, Ont. Harper's Smart MoveA letter to the editor of The Ottawa Citizen, Thursday, May 15th, 2008. Re: Conservatives won't commit defence strategy to paper, May 13. It is a smart move by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. It is much easier to kick in $30 billion to the military-industrial complex than to address child poverty, native rights and climate change. And except for media reports, there's no paper trail. It creates no problems at re-election time -- who's going to take the media's word against your party's if you renege? PJ Robertson, Morrisburg, Ont. Letter published in Globe and Mail, April 16, 2008. About that muzzle ... First it was "misspeak" and "misspoke." Now it's "misimpression," as in " 'Minister Bernier very quickly corrected the misimpression that had been left from some earlier comments,' Mr. Harper told reporters." What will Canada's mistake of government think up next? PJ Robertson, Morrisburg, Ont. See you in court, buddy!Why then is it tolerated in Canada's Parliament? More urgently, what can be done to restore dignity and decorum to Parliament? Liberals' Strategic CompromisesHowever, I would urge him to view the Liberal compromises with the Conservatives both on the budget and on Afghanistan as strategic...in the spirit of the old French maxim, "reculer pour mieux salir" - roughly translated as "take a few steps back in order better to leap forward," when the time is ripe. The Minister and the CarpetLetter to The Globe and Mail, February 27th, 2008 All things being equal, your point that the Chief of the Defence Staff, however admirable, must always be answerable to the government of the day and its minister of defence (Gen. Hillier Steps Out Of Bounds - editorial, Feb. 26) is surely right. But when you have a strong military leader and a weak government, what then? Defence Minister Peter MacKay, you say, "should haul Gen. Hillier onto the carpet." Good luck! P.J. Robertson, Morrisburg, Ont. Tories AvoidersIt's pathetic this Conservative government hasn't the guts to take a lead on green ideas and climate change for Canada as a whole, and instead passes the buck to the provinces. Full letter...Simon Doyle´s front-page story has the makings of a Gothic thriller.Intrigue and speculation! Maybe the PM is rationing his photo-ops so as to make "more of a splash" with the public at times of his choosing, muses Mr. Harper´s biographer, William Johnson. Do we have a rock star on the Hill who´s a tease? More Afghan fallout Published as the lead letter in The Globe and Mail, January 30th, 2008 How to capitalize on the new detainee policy in Afghanistan and our top soldier's outrage (Detainee Fallout: Take Few, Free Quickly - front page, Jan 29): General Rick Hillier for PM, Stephen Harper for boot camp. PJ Robertson, Morrisburg, Ont. Harper's Decisions Not Based on LeadershipThen there's Mr. Harper's unprecedented habit of using an international stage to take pot shots at Canadian institutions and opposition parliamentarians (most recently at Montebello and Canberra). That's petty-mindedness, not leadership. Bullying is wrong way to settle nuclear fight Wherever the truth may lie in this rift between the government and its agencies, is name-calling a helpful way to heal it? It's a copout The Ottawa Citizen, Published: Wednesday, December 05, 2007 Re: Kyoto was a failure so Harper's new approach is right, Dec. 3. It must be a comfort to letter-writer Larry Comeau to be so sure of the right approach. What is right about Canada taking a back seat until China, India, and the United States sign on? That's a copout, not leadership. Canada can and must take a lead -- Stephen Harper either won't do it or he can't. Peter John Robertson, Morrisburg. It is Easy being a Conservative The Harper government’s recent tax reductions show how easy it is to be a Conservative. Thirteen years of the previous government redressed federal finances, enabled annual surpluses, invested in the future while reducing taxes, and put Canada in an enviable economic situation. It is easy being a Conservative; they merely inherited a success story and they ask for their money back. Triangulation or Theft So, Stephen Harper's long-time political associate Tom Flanagan has a new book out endorsing Harper's pragmatic approach to transforming Canada ("If you don't like me, I can change!" National, Oct. 1). Senate Snarkiness Stephen Harper's habit of using an international stage to trash Canadians and Canadian institutions he disagrees with (in this case, insulting the Senate in a speech in Australia) is cheap, nasty and unworthy of Canada's prime minister. So much for his standing up for Canada. Sustainable society needed at home first If the goal of Canada's mission in Afghanistan is to help build a sustainable society in that country, how will changing the minister of defence help to bring that about? Never mind that the new minister has a track record of accomplishing precisely... what? Likely In Shock! After receiving their notice to pay for the Capital Water Project, South Dundas householders - especially the elderly and people on fixed incomes - were likely in shock. |
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