In Search of Presence

Dear Mr. Kamp;

First of all, I would like to thank you for standing for office and serving your country in Parliament. Whether I agree with your politics or not does not change the fact that the job of Member of Parliament is one with little reward and much hardship. Any Canadian willing to run in increasingly hostile election campaigns and serve their country in Ottawa deserves our respect and admiration. Thank you, Sir.

I am writing this letter today to ask you to stand up for what is right and decent within your caucus: Demand the resignation of your leader and our Prime Minister, Mr Harper.

On September 7th of 2008, an election was called by Mr Harper in contravention of his own election law. Why he did this has been the subject of much speculation, however it has now become clear to me that Mr. Harper had been informed that his government would run a deficit in the 2009 fiscal year. Mr. Harper knew that if he held an election in 2009 as he had promised, he would be hard pressed to win a majority while having brought this Country once again to deficit. So he called an election.

During the 2008 election campaign, Mr Harper insisted that electing a Liberal government would result in a deficit, while never once informing Canada that his own government would do the exact same thing. He implicitly, if not explicitly, promised during this campaign that the Conservatives would not run a deficit. I respectfully submit to you, Sir, that he lied.

In failing to win a majority, Mr. Harper was presented with a dilemma. Once the Liberals could elect themselves a new leader, one capable of organizing a proper campaign to defeat him, they could and would topple his new minority government on the deficit and issues of the economy. It is my opinion, Sir, that it is likely that the Liberals would have won a minority, if not a majority, in such an election campaign.

Seeing that the Liberal's leaderless, and incapable of fighting him effectively in an election campaign, Mr. Harper struck at the opposition parties on all fronts, in order to force a non-confidence motion. Threatening to eliminate the political party subsidies, while knowing full well that in doing so he would bankrupt all political parties except his own, was a measure that no opposition party could support. During a time of economic crisis, Mr. Harper played politics in order to force an election, and win a majority, instead of presenting solutions to real problems affecting real Canadians.

I have always respected Mr. Harper for his keen political insight and world class strategic mind. He is, quite possibly, the best politician Canada has seen in a very long time. However, this time Mr. Harper misread the Liberals and the NDP. The Progressive Coalition was born out of desperation by three political parties brought to an unprecedented brink, not because of their policies or agendas, but by a Prime Minister more interested in power than in governance.

Mr. Harper has lost the confidence of the Parliament. His unprecedented move to prorogue parliament in order to avoid a confidence motion demonstrates that he has no interest in governing responsibly, nor in allowing the majority of Canadians their rights in government.

Mr. Harper has stained the reputation the Conservative Party of Canada. He has ignored the traditions of great Conservative leadership, personified in such Canadian heroes as Joe Clark and John Diefenbaker. Mr. Kamp, your leader has broken faith with you, your caucus and your party.

When Parliament convenes once again in January, it could be a great thing. It could be a Parliament joining together with one voice to announce an economic stimulus package and a budget that will help Canadians find new jobs, allow Canadian business to compete on the world stage, and allow the reputation of Canada to regain what this repugnant episode has cost us. But this can not be done under Mr. Harper's leadership.

Please, Mr. Kamp, I beg you. Demand that your party become the great institution it once was. Demand that your party act in the best interest of Canada, not itself. Demand Mr. Harper's resignation.

Sincerely;

Brian G. Rice

bgrice@bgrice.com

Mission, BC

I don't care if you support the Liberals, NDP or the Bloc. Please, donate to their war chest in order to counter the Conservative attacks against the decision of the majority of our elected representatives. The Conservative party is the only party to have come out of the last Federal election with money in the bank. If the Coalition is to fight Mr. Harper in the unprecedented Constitutional crisis, they need our help.

http://www.liberal.ca/

http://www.ndp.ca/

Thank you.

Don't worry, things can't possibly stay interesting enough for me to keep blogging about this indefinitely.

***

As I sit here thinking about what will happen tomorrow when Mr. Harper heads to meet with the GG, there are a few ideas I wish to share:

1. While I think that proroguing parliament is a blatant and transparent act of political cowardice, if the GG allows it, it is just as legitimate a tactic as the attempt to form a coalition. For all you coalition supporters out there: fair is fair. You may not like it. You may call Mr. Harper impolite names because of it. But don't stoop to his level by whining about his right to do it. We're supposed to be better than them, remember?
2. For my Conservative friends: please don't mistake my support for the coalition as support for the Bloc, or the separatists. I hate that the political necessity is to get into bed with the Bloc. However, Mr. Harper tried to play partisan games during a national emergency. He has demonstrated that he is untrustworthy, and he must be stopped, whatever the cost. Gilles Duceppe is actually less of a political threat to Canada than Stephen Harper right now.
3. On that note, I have a further point. Whatever their eventual political ambitions may be, the members of the Bloc caucus are duly elected members of parliament. They disagree with the way Canada is run, and they have chosen to work within the system to affect change to that system. You and I may not agree with the changes they want to bring, but there has to be something admirable in their participation in a process they disagree with in order change it. They are doing more for their beliefs and province than most people in Canada.
4. Do you really want to stop the coalition? Do you want to see us get back to a functioning parliament that solves our economic problems and can effectively govern our country till we can reasonably hold another election? If you do, then ask Mr. Harper to resign. He has proven himself to be an egoist to rival Mr. Cretien. Ask Mr. Harper to resign, and then ask the Conservative caucus to sit with the Liberals, the NDP and the Bloc to present an economic stimulus all parties can agree on, and a budget that reflects the wills and needs of all Canadians. Then announce an election date that happens after the Liberals and Conservatives can hold leadership conventions. Hold an election where instead of name calling, each party presents their plan for the country, and allows the nation to vote on issues instead of voting out of fear. I think you will find that supporters of the coalition have fewer problems with the Conservatives as a whole, and more a problem with Mr. Harper specifically.
5. A final note to my Conservative friends. Kick those former reform guys out of your party, and reclaim it in the name of the Progressives. Joe Clarke was a statesman with honour. Even Brian Mulroney had more class than these reform guys. Stop voting against parties, and start creating a party that you can once again vote for. You'll be better for it, and so will Canada.

      

http://www.playauditorium.com/

This is potentially the most amazing puzzle game I have ever played.

I am going to ask you and all your friends to apply for a job.

It is not a good job. It involves a lot of hard work for not great pay (especially since most of you are lawyers, doctors and accountants and make more money now). You'll have to set up two households, one where you live now, and one in Ottawa. You'll spend a great deal of time travelling, not only between your old home and your new home, but also around the rest of the country. You'll be expected to work long hours, and sacrifice everything in your life for this job. Anything that you or your family does that anyone in the country might consider wrong will be blazoned across the newspapers, and will result in you being fired, even if the issue is private.

To get this job, you are going to have to spend a great deal of money convincing a large panel of your peers that you deserve the job. You, your family and your friends are going to have to go into debt if you have any chance of getting the job. But don't worry. I'll help you out there.

See, for every vote you get from your peers, I'll give you some money. Not a lot of money, but enough to pay off your debts so that when you have to re-apply for the job in a few years, you'll be able to go into debt all over again to try and get the job. So it all works out in the end.

But wait! Now that you have the job, I am going to change the rules. Now you aren't going to get that money. Sorry. Now you and all your friends are going to have to go bankrupt. You'll have to give up the job, and you'll have no way to re-apply when it comes time to. No one will lend you any money, you have no way to pay it back.

...

And people wonder why we can't attract good candidates for public office.