During the past month or so, you have been asking Canadians to tell their M.P.'s that we want them to support the five priorities of the new Government:
- Accountability
- Lowering the G.S.T.
- Tougher Sentences for Crime
- Addressing Health Care Needs
- Supporting parents’ child care choices through direct assistance and by creating more daycare spaces
The problem is that my M.P. rarely if ever answers my letters. In fact, lately I fear I may be black-listed since I called her up on something at an all candidates' debate during the election, and she was not pleased.
Even if she did reply, I can predict the answer - It would be whatever Bill Graham or the ghost of Paul Martin told her to say. She is accountable to the LPC; not her constituents. I am a Canadian without a voice in Ottawa.
Someday I hope the residents of Kitchener Centre decide to elect an M.P. who actually listens to us, the people, and not the party line.
Yours truly,
Joanne (a frustrated Kitchener Tory)
35 comments:
Well said! Keep speaking up Joanne - eventually you will be heard!
then go to your mayor or councillors, what about your MPP?
Ha!!!! They're ALL LIEBERALS!!!!!
(Spelling intentional)
I am suffocating in a cesspool of Grits.
I love your blog as there is always something interesting and fresh on it. Well said and keep it up, we all love you and your opinions!
Thanks, Vicki. I sent a copy of this letter to the PMO.
I have already sent two letters to my Member of Propaganda, asking that she vote in accordance with the government's five priorities.
Please send a letter to your own M.P. and ask him/or to support the government policy! Thanks.
Living in Waterloo I share your frustration Joanne. I'm very pleased with Elizabeth Witmer and the work she's done over the past number of years. I'm now going to focus on the municipal elections this fall, and try to work to make sure that Conservative minded individuals get elected.
We need to take small steps, and continue to remind ourselves to look for opportunites to make progress, if were ever going to see a big change.
Your blog is a great tool to help this cause - keep up the good work.
Gerry, thanks so much, not only for your encouragment, but also for reminding me not to lose hope. We'll get there with baby steps.
Yes, you've got Elizabeth Witmer. She is an amazing lady. I have so much respect for her. Maybe someday we'll have that kind of talent here.
Well hopefully the fear of some vague Supreme Being is growing in the mind of your MP.
The thought of not being re-elected can temper the actions of even a semi-intelligent politician.
It's not likely in any event that Mr. Harper 'needs' her vote as much as he 'needs' the people of this country to start participating in their democracy.
I will say this for my Liberal MP -Francis Scarpallegia: he has been responsive.
Having said that, he's also googled himself and found out I'm the only one who talks about him and when I do, its tp urge him to cross the floor to the Tories.
Well written, and I agree completely. I have John Godfrey in my riding, and I sure know he wouldn't take any letters from me seriously.
MM - Well said. Candians must get involved. We've been asleep at the wheel far too long, and the left has high-jacked us all. The problem with my M.P. is that she talks a great talk so that people get sucked in without even realizing it.
CC - That's funny! I was thinking the same thing about my M.P. She is just so well liked! That is the problem. It's hard not to like cotton candy and fluffy whipped cream. That doesn't mean it's good for you though.
William, thanks for the support. You have a great blog, BTW. I hope some of the Tories here check it out. Good stuff. And you have just one-upped me, because having John Godfrey for an M.P. would be my worst nightmare!
cotton candy isn't a vegetable? oh, oh, am I every in trouble...
Yes, well I think our cyber-dentist would have something to say about that!
It is if it's made from sugar beets.
Otherwise it's a fruit.
Joanne, don't feel bad. Harpers my MP... he doesn't write back either.
I've got scads of form letters and bumperstickers though.
Thanks, Joe Calgary. At least you know which way Harper will vote!
I wouldn't feel so bad if she would just acknowledge my letters, and maybe say, "Hey Joanne. You know, there is actually one idea I could live with. The rest are garbage, but I have opened my mind enough to agree with something".
But no, she can't find anything she likes in those five points. She's shot down every one, and she especially hates the child care plan.
Joanne,
Have you tried writing to your MP and asking what amendments they would propose to Harper's legislation? Or how about what their view is on each individual issue?
Obviously since you have a Liberal MP in your riding, they aren't going to support Harper blindly. But I think if that is the case, then you should want to know what their position is and what suggestions they would make to each priority or how they would contribute to the discussion.
If you have an MP worth their salt, they'll have an opinion on how to alter or contribute to the issues.... if not, then you really are not only in a bad spot, but have crappy representation.
*Sigh* Dear sweet, idealist Riley:
Yes, I have tried writing to my M.P. on numerous occasions, as well as calling. But as I have previously posted, she is able to highjack your train of thought and jettison it to the moon. There is no logic in her spin of platitudes.
"if not, then you really are not only in a bad spot, but have crappy representation."
Yes, sadly that is the truth.
If you wish to learn more about the wise gems that she epouses, please check Hansard on Monday April 10 at 13:35. You will read how Karen Redman expresses her concerns with the 5 priorities.
She opens with: "One would think that after 13 years in opposition the new government would have made constructive use of that time".
I'm thinking, maybe the Liberals should have made good use of that time too? In government????
Riley, I could go on and on, but it's just too painful!! I'm getting a very queasy feeling right now. Gotta run!
It could be worse j(tb). You could live in Ottawa South where you would have a pair of McGuinty's.
O.K. That WOULD be bad! Two McGuinty's! What a nightmare! How do you manage to stay sane?
Well thats democracy for you Joanne, the devils in the details. I'll be honest I'm not much of a fan of Redman myself.
But I do see your side. In Hamilton I'm drowning in a sea of NDP orange. My riding though is held by the sexist, fundamentalist Christian, Bush supporter David Sweet. It's ok though, we university students have fun terrorizing him.
The rest of Hamilton is held by do-nothing NDPers, who disgust me as much as Liberals disgust the rest of you.
You never really get what you want politically, but you always have a good time fighting for it.
Zac, I'll trade you my Redman for your Sweet! lol
Why do you say he is sexist, BTW?
Yes, I am having a good time fighting it, I must admit. ;)
Fortunately I live in Nepean-Carleton and not Ottawa South. N-C is a Conservative bastion. It is a riding loaded with knuckle-dragging neo-cons doing a great job impersonating soccer moms and hockey dads driving overstuffed Dodge mini-vans.
dc - Too funny! I'm relieved to hear that you are actually not the victim of political McGuinty duplication. I couldn't think of a worse fate.
I dont think my other post came up, but it was an overly-lengthy response to why Sweet is sexist. His comments are available at sweetwatch.blogspot.com.
My point though was that he wouldn't let women canvass for him during the election or even work in his campaign office. It was very shocking. Plus some of his comments when he was CEO of Promise Keepers Canada were very sexist.
Also, from personal experience he is also racist and homophobic. During and after an all candidates debate at McMaster, he refered to natives at the Six Nations reseve in Caladonia as "uppity" (this was during the infant stages of the dispute) and refered to the homosexual rights movement, notably GLBT movement, as offensive to "god loving Canadians" and that their concerns were "unimportant" to him and Harper (while I dont believe that Harper actually believes this, it shows his stupidity).
After he was confronted about his comments in the parking lot by a small group of students, he told us that our concerns were "meaningless to him because we dont vote"
He's a real winner....
You still want him?
Zac, wow! If what you say is true (you are Liberal after all, so this is a reasonable qualifier), then I'm really suprised that he got elected! Sometimes people think things but they have the social grace not to utter everything that crosses their mind. Politicians need this ability in spades!
Trust me..its true, unfortunatly. Check the sweet watch website for more jaw droppers.
Zac, I had a quick look at that site. It is obviously run by someone who is out to demean Sweet. The comments they site are likely something from several years ago.
What if you decided to run in an election someday, and somebody dredged up something from a blog that you said that would be considered to be a political no-no? At what point is there a statute of limitations on what people say?
Wow! So Emerson is a Buddist! I didn't know that!!
Well I don't plan on running anyday. I've met too many politicians to want to jump in, I'm happy criticizing from the side lines.
But I will admit that while much of the site is dated, and the author isn't obviously a sweet fan (although I can assure you he is not a Liberal), from meeting sweet myself, I believe that he still holds true to much of his beliefs. Hopefully he can represent the riding with honour and leave that behind him, but I'm not so sure.
But you still didn't tell me how he won the riding!
My riding is very geographically odd, Joanne. Its Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale. Ancaster is one of the richest postal codes in southern Ontario, they vote Conservative. Westdale is where McMaster is, its filled with left-wing students, they vote NDP. Dundas is mostly middle class and tends to vote Liberal and Flamborough is farm country and went Conservative this time. It takes almost 6 hours to drive from one end of the riding to the other. The left wing vote is split, allowing Sweet to come up the middle.
That may be how several ridings became Tory; capitalizing on the left wing split.
Has Sweet said anything outrageous within say, the last 6 months?
Nope, shielded under Harper's cone of silence I guess.
Perhaps, I can be too rough from time to time, I can see your point Joanne. Perhaps I am too partisan from time to time. But, after meeting the man and discussing the issues face to face, I don't agree with what he stands for.
Well, you have a right not to like your M.P.
I'm just saying that sometimes people can change or they at least learn how to tone down the rhetoric.
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