Saddest Hour for Canada’s ‘Democracy’

Saddest hour for our 'democracy'

MP Ed Fast, Special to the Times Tuesday, December 2, 2008 The political antics of last week in Ottawa rank as some of the most bizarre ever seen in Canada. Allow me to put this into context. First, and most importantly, we are in a time of global financial uncertainty. It's not the end of the world, but for many Canadians, it understandably feels that way. Things will improve with time, as they always do, but in the meantime, Canada needs strong leadership. During the past year or so, many governments around the world refused to believe that an economic storm was brewing. Others expected an economic slowdown but took no preventative action ahead of time to soften the blow. Only one government saw storm clouds on the horizon and immediately took steps to limit the damage. That government was Canada's Conservative government. During the past two years, we've dramatically reduced the GST and personal, business and corporate taxes and put more money into the hands of Canadian individuals and businesses struggling to survive tough economic times. The opposition parties voted against these measures. Instead of "squandering" our surpluses as some partisans allege, we've paid off close to $40 billion against our national debt. And we've put limits on certain types of high-risk mortgages so that our markets won't be swamped by thousands of foreclosures and bankruptcies. The opposition parties voted against these measures. We've made changes to the Bank Act to allow the Bank of Canada more flexibility to strengthen and support our banking system. And we've protected seniors by reducing the requirement for RRIF withdrawals. The opposition parties voted against these measures. Yet, our Conservative government has garnered kudos from around the world. The World Economic Forum announced that Canada has the safest banking system in the world. The international community acknowledges that Canada is in the best position to weather the world economic crisis. And now, countries such as Britain are following our lead and reducing taxes such as their version of the GST. Because of our sound stewardship, our financial house is not crashing down around our ears. The bottom has not fallen out of our real estate market. And that's why our government did not panic when we delivered our Economic Update last week. That's why we didn't throw billions and billions of dollars of taxpayers' money at so-called "stimulus" programs as the opposition parties had demanded. We've already taken the most important steps to stimulate our economy. That's why last week we outlined steps to keep our own government spending under control. Like capping government salary hikes, including those of MPs and senators. Like eliminating that pesky little item of taxpayer subsidies for political parties, over $100 million over four years. Think about it. You, the taxpayer, are forced to subsidize the separatists and every other party whether you support them or not. The separatist Bloc gets 86 per cent of their so-called "fundraising" from your pocket! We believe parties should have to raise their own funds for political purposes from individuals. Like we do. Like Barak Obama does. Unfortunately, the Liberals, NDP and Bloc don't share that view. That's why the Liberals and NDP are willing to band together in an unholy alliance with the party whose goal it is to split Canada in two - they need your money. And if they can't get it from you voluntarily then they'll expropriate it from you by forming a coalition to seize power. That's why the Liberals have called in Jean Chretien, their former leader from the sponsorship scandal days, to advise them on how to usurp our democratically elected government. After suffering their worst election defeat in Canadian history, the opposition parties are now seizing power by the back door - this, after voters gave our Conservative government a stronger mandate just two months ago. This couldn't come at a worse time, as the world economy continues to founder. If you are angered by this blatant attempt to subvert the will of Canadians, let the NDP and Liberal MPs know.

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