Forget Coalition, Someone Needs to Show Some Leadership
I’m becoming more than a bit weary of the Liberals spending so much time on infighting and jostling than they are on being the Official Opposition. Lately I see a lot more in the news reports about the mechanics of the party and speculation about the makeup than I do anything else. I suspect I’m not the only Canadian feeling this way.
It is becoming rather apparent that Bob Rae is playing games towards trying to push Ignatieff out as leader. Should that happen and Rae takes the helm, this Liberal will abandon ship. There’s also been talk about forming some sort of either pre or post-election coalition with the NDP. Forget that people, you really think I’d be a Liberal if I wanted anything to do with Layton?
So, what exactly do I want to see?
I want to see the Liberal party take a stand and stick to it. They don’t really need to hunt too far to differentiate themselves from the Conservatives. As for the NDP and the Greens, adopt what is good in their platform and show the rest for the tripe it is.
As an environmental disaster of epic proportions unfolds in the Gulf of Mexico why are Canadians not hearing the Liberals hammering the government over their failure to halt deep sea drilling off of Newfoundland until the oil companies can show they are capable of overcoming accidents like this?
Why are they not hammering the government over their quiet relaxing of environmental rules for the oil companies? Why are they not taking a clear stand against Bill C-9 and the parts of it which the government is attempting to ram through as a money bill and thus a non-confidence vote.
Why are the Liberals not working with the other Opposition parties to propose and pass amendments to the bill to cut out the parts which are not truly budgetary measures? There is opposition to the bill in its current form in the Senate, so there is support to break the bill up in both Houses.
Why are the Liberals not showing some fortitude in standing up for Canadians? Canadians know the Harper gang are a bunch of bullies. They need to be stood up to, instead they are running roughshod over Canadians, our parliamentary traditions and practices and most importantly our democracy. They are running roughshod because the Official Opposition isn’t taking stands on issues and daring the bullies to let Canadians decide which Canada they want.
Yes, the Official Opposition has taken a stand on the governments refusal to release unredacted documents on the detainee issue and is showing signs of standing up to the government over their latest fiat on political staffers appearances before parliamentary committees. Don’t back off on either of those issues, they are important to how our democracy operates.
What they are not important to is Canadians every day lives. When are the Liberals going to take some serious stands on what matters to Canadians. There are many questions, let me touch on a few.
Do Canadians want to spend billions on building and maintaining prisons as part of the Harper gang’s so called tough on crime policy? Do Canadians want to spend those billions on sentencing laws which have already been shown to be ineffective and extremely costly in the USA?
Do Canadians want an effective, efficient and inclusive health care system, even if it means paying more taxes?
Do Canadians want to maintain the status quo as our environment deteriorates around us or are they ready and willing to support the changes needed to ensure the viability of this country for generations to some.
Do Canadians want funding for programs and groups to be based on fairness and need or political dogma? Are Canadians willing to continue to allow their politicians to build bigger and thicker firewalls against public disclosure of their actions?
Are you getting the picture here? Canadians need to see the Liberals proposing answers to these questions and having the fortitude to fight an election on those answers. Harper hasn’t climbed out of minority range in the polls because Canadians know not to trust him with even more power. We hunger for a viable alternative.
Yes, the Conservatives have attacked Ignatieff at a personal level. To a point they have done a number on him but to an even greater point Ignatieff has allowed that number to define him instead of ignoring it and forging forward by showing Canadians just what he and the party stand for. To put it more succinctly, “Where’s the beef?”
notice: The content of this post contains my opinions and my right to express them. I will respect your right to express your opinion in the comments as long as you’re not abusive and you respect my right to my opinion.
Related posts
| Print article | This entry was posted by PattiM on 6/6/2010 at 5:46 am, and is filed under Canadian Politics. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |
