Socialists and Separatists

Harper's not the only one doing the name calling. Ignatieff was upset Harper teamed up with the NDP not long ago and extended parliament. He complained about Harper's new love for Socialists referring to the NDP. We really need to over come the name calling and we really need to stop exploiting the same old stereotypes which are simply false.

Long ago I heard it said that no two people agree on every issue. To that claim I added likewise no two people disagree on every issue either. No matter how far apart two people are politically, there will some some issue that those two people agree on. Common ground so to speak.

Let's talk about the common misconception that the left will be soft on crime while the right will be hard on crime. Well Gordon Campbell was sure a limp fish on crime while Bruce Ralston, Mike Farnworth and Adrian Dix have been very proactive on crime.

I was invited to Dianne Watts nonpartisan coalition on crime press conference she had shortly after she was elected. I saw Penny Priddy there and asked her about it. She just raised her hand and said "I'm here because I'm a mother. When it comes to crime I'm more right wing than most of my opponents."

Preston Manning tried to get us to rise above linear politics when he challenged us to look beyond the left and right and instead look at issues. This is what we still need to do. That vision was lost when Harper merged with Mulroneyism to get elected.

Harper casts anything the bloc has to say aside by labeling them Separatists. Yet in the referendum on Quebec Independence, almost half the people in Quebec voted to separate. That was significant. You can't refuse to listen to anything half the people of Quebec have to say and claim you have any desire for what's best for Canada as a whole.

At one time the Reform Party was labeled as Separatists yet that was untrue. Their platform was if Quebec really wants to separate, the sky will not fall which was true. Alaska functions quite well being separate from the rest of the United States.

There was an absurd editorial in the paper recently saying we should blame the Bloc for the division in Parliament. That is nonsense. Quebec voted to stay in Canada, by a slim margin, but they also continue to elect the Bloc which wants to represent the interest of Quebecers. What's wrong with that? At least they're honest about it. All the other provinces have their greedy little mitts held out seeing what party will promise them what during an election. It's no different.

Tell me this, if the Bloc really wants to put the needs of Quebec first, then don't you think there will be common ground on crime since crime affects Quebec just like it does the rest of Canada? There is common ground between Socialists, Separatists and Neocons. A minority government needs to find that common ground and move ahead with that. A minority government needs to stop being so arrogant and stop refusing to listen to anything the other parties or the voters of Canada have to say.

Harper refused to take the amendment on the anti crime bill. He stacked the senate just like Brian Mulroney did for the GST after Harper campaigned on a promise to establish an elected senate. Harper has broken a lot of campaign promises. He has become a bold faced liar and that is very disturbing.

If the stacked Senate accepted the Liberals amendment to the anti crime bill, it would have passed and become law. Yet Harper refuses to compromise when wisdom directs him to. When fiscal responsibility directs him to. Which leads us to the other false stereotype.

Harper isn't being fiscally responsible. Pork Barrel Campaign promises to get elected are not fiscally responsible. Neither is lying about how much your budget is going to cost and hiding the real figures from Parliament when you ask them to vote on the budget. That kind of dishonesty is not fiscally responsible.