The Rintrarian Archive

What follows below is my response to an email forward I received.  The original email was from Chuck Strahl to his supporters.

______________________

Subject: Re: Our Federal Government needs serious prayer!

This [the forwarded] email is full of lies and half-truths. The thing about democracy is that it only works when people work together for the common good of the whole country. Stephen Harper and the Conservatives have demonstrated time and time again that they are only interested in their own wants and needs. They do not care to work with others. The rule on the playground is that the kid who does not play well with others will end up playing alone. That is the position Harper put himself into.

Harper, before the election, was trying to rule the country as if he had a majority. Because the Liberals were in a bit of a predicament, they played along with the Conservatives. It was a game of chicken: two people speeding toward each other, both praying the other person would swerve out of the way. Before the election the Liberals always did. Now Harper tried to play the same game but the Liberals had a plan.

A coalition of parties working together is exactly what a democracy looks like. Each of the parties in the coalition will have to put aside some of the ideas which make them different and look to where they have common ground. As such they will be working for the majority’s interests and not a small group.

Harper demonizes the NDP by calling them socialists and the Bloc by calling them Separatists. But in order for the three groups to work together they will have to put aside their more extreme ideas. Therefore, this coalition is not socialist and it is not separatist. Any group can sound evil if their politics are boiled down into one word. The word I would choose for the Conservatives is Fascist or authoritarian. Harper controls his party like a dictator. He does not have them speak to the press and he wants to choose which reporters have access to the Members of Parliament. This is a restriction on freedom of information.  Harper also keeps us in the dark as to what his plans are to solve the economic crisis.

I believe that minority governments are best because the parties must work together in order to get anything done. Harper and the Conservatives have refused to do this, otherwise this would not have occurred. As such, everything that is happening is his own doing. There is no reason for anyone to complain because this is something which the Conservatives have done to themselves.

At any rate, the government does deserve our prayers. But our prayers should never be ones to tell God what is best. To demand that the Conservatives stay in power is to try to force the hand of God. We deserve a government which serves the interests of a majority of people and, I feel, that that is a government which is willing to work together. And the Conservatives are not doing that.

I will quit my rambling.

Take care.

——————–

[forwarded email below]

Subject: Our Federal Government needs serious prayer!

_______________________________

A Political Crisis?

By Chuck Strahl MP

November 29, 2008

Last week I sent around an update on Canada’s economic situation, with the observation that it wasn’t a very enjoyable subject to write about. Unfortunately, this week it appears that our economic woes are morphing into a political crisis of sorts, at a time when we can least afford it. What’s happening in Ottawa is bordering on the absurd, but its impact would be felt most harshly by Canadians, not political parties. It is potentially a shame of historic proportions.

The Throne Speech I wrote about last week has now been passed. The Opposition Parties apparently had no trouble supporting the direction of the Conservative government, and in fact, they let it pass “on division”, which means they didn’t even want a stand up vote! When the Finance Minister tabled his economic update, though, things got ugly, mostly because the speech made reference to politicians and political parties receiving less from the government coffers. Suddenly, the Liberals and NDP want to form an alternative government, apparently by joining forces in a coalition, and supported by the separatist Bloc Quebecois.

This unholy alliance is trying to paint a different picture, of course. They say they simply want to spend more money to stimulate the economy, but when asked for details, it’s pretty thin gruel. Apparently they’re prepared to take the ‘ready, shoot, aim” approach to spending, and agree to some blank cheques without even knowing what will actually help specific industries, without knowing what Barak Obama has planned, and without working in concert with the other G-20 countries. It is a recipe for a fiscal disaster.

More importantly, it is a democratic disaster. During the campaign, Liberal leader Stephane Dion said he would not and could not have a coalition with the NDP, because their policies would destroy the economy. Apparently that principled position has now gone out the window. Now we have the prospect of the Liberals (with 77 seats) joining with the NDP (with 37 seats) to unseat the democratically elected Conservatives (with 143 seats) . Of course, the only way to do that would be with the support of the separatist Bloc Quebecois, who bring their votes to the table in exchange for their separatist agenda. It is almost beyond belief, but apparently the back room discussions amongst these parties are happening as I write this note.

As I said last week, our Conservative government has been preparing our economy for over a year to weather this world-wide economic storm as best we can. We have brought in almost $200 billion dollars in economic stimulus over a 5 year period, by lowering taxes across the board and in every category. We have freed up billions more by adopting Bank of Canada policies and mortgage protection that have increased the availability of credit and addressed liquidity issues, without costing the taxpayer too much and without risking our country’s core stability. The IMF, the World Economic Forum, the OECD and other international organizations are united in their opinions that Canada is in the best shape of any industrialized nation in the world. Now the left-leaning parties in Parliament are willing to risk it all in order to gain power through the back door, power that was denied to them in a general election.

In order to diffuse this crisis, our government has agreed to separate the political party financing issue from the confidence vote, and we’ll be bringing it back to Parliament in a stand-alone Bill for a vote next year. Whether a person believes the taxpayer should be forced to pay for political party finances will be debated and decided at another time. I’ll be supporting the Bill when it comes to a vote, and we’ll see what happens. For now, Canadians should be appalled that we could be thrown into a democratic and constitutional crisis by an attempt to gain power at any cost, to overthrow the democratically expressed will of the Canadian people, all at a critically important economic time for us all.

I’m uncertain where all of this is going, but it is entirely possible that the Conservatives could lose the confidence of Parliament and be forced into an election within days. You can’t run the government without revenue, and we simply must have the authority to pay the bills and stick to the agenda already approved in the Throne Speech. But it is also entirely possible that the Conservatives could be forced from government by the Liberal/NDP/Bloc coalition, if the Governor General agrees. Canada deserves better than either of these options, and we’ll be working hard to keep everyone focused on the economy, jobs, and a sound budgetary plan. We believe Canadians want us to get on with governing. But I just don’t know what will happen, and I share Canadian’s shock and anger that we’re teetering on this abyss at this critical time.

The vote to bring down the government will now take place on December 8th, so Canadians have a week or so to express themselves before that critical moment. I urge everyone to write a letter-to-the editor, call a radio talk show, circulate this article (or others) through their own email list, and contact political parties with their opinion. A strong grassroots reaction may be the only thing that stands between us and a Prime Minister Stephane Dion and Finance Minister Jack Layton.