Skip to content

V.J. Shave needs to open eyes, then vote

Never in my life have I seen a prime minister revel more than Stephen Harper in the damage he has done to Canada.

Lake Cowichan’s V.J. Shave can vote as s/he likes, but before casting his/her ballot, s/he should open the mind and seriously consider how that vote is being cast.

Never in my life have I seen a prime minister revel more than Stephen Harper in the damage he has done to Canada.

This is the prime minister who brought in the repressive Bill C-51, the “Fair” Elections Act that disenfranchises native people, students and anyone who happens to be unlucky enough to be homeless.

This is the prime minister who prorogued Parliament several times only for the purpose of cutting off debate and truncating democracy. This is the prime minister who negotiates trade deals behind closed doors where no voter can see and hear what is happening.

This is the prime minister who — during an election campaign, no less! — had his ministers sign the last secret trade deal, the Trans Pacific Partnership.

This is the prime minister who removed protection from thousands of Canadian lakes and rivers for the purpose of benefitting his friends in huge corporations. This is the prime minister who has built more prisons, despite clear evidence that criminal activity has decreased.

This prime minister will never bring in a proportional representation voting system, shown to be more democratic than first-past-the-post. This prime minister has sent six Canadian fighter jets to bomb ISIS, a useless operation that has shown little success, but has cost us taxpayers plenty and has further denigrated Canada’s international reputation as a peaceful country.

In short, this is the prime minister who has enshrined corporate power in such a way that the rule of democracy has virtually given way to the rule of big business.

V.J. Shave doesn’t seem to know that, without a healthy natural environment, nothing can live, including corporations. Nor does s/he know that there is more at risk in this election than the precious economy and the race to make profit the king-maker.

V. J. Shave’s blind assumption that only Harper can help Canada’s economy needs a reality check.

Former Conservative and current Independent Alberta candidate Brent Rathgeber had this to say: “Seven consecutive deficits, adding over $150 billion to the national debt, including the single largest debt in Canadian history, compromises the government’s fiscal capacity to deal with the current recession, which has seen almost 40,000 high-paying energy and construction related jobs lost right here in Alberta” (from an all-candidates forum).

Harper’s “balanced” budget last spring was possible only by selling GM shares held by the government and raiding the healthy EI account.

V.J. Shave should “get his/her facts straight,” open the eyes and vote with informed intelligence.

 

Manuel Erickson

Mill Bay