This letter is in response MP James Lunney’s guest column (The NEWS, March 6) and to express my thoughts on how bad things have become in Canadian politics.
I was at the Parksville and District Chamber of Commerce meeting which Lunney wrote about. Not once was Mayor Chris Burger personal in his remarks. He referred to the federal and provincial levels of government and did not criticize Lunney or MLA Michelle Stilwell personally. In my opinion, Lunney missed the point of the mayor’s speech. The mayor took issue with how senior levels of government have ignored our Island.
Instead of going on a personal attack, someone truly interested in representing his or her constituents would find more ways to work with the municipalities to improve this perception. Not bestow the party line and rehash all those things the Conservative government has given us over the last 10 years. Everything on the list that he cites was no more than any other constituency could have received. So self congratulation was a moot point.
Why is it that Lunney, after making a number of somewhat valid points in his column, felt it was necessary to personally attack the Parksville mayor for his opinions? Have you noticed his “Conservative government” consistently takes that same approach? Perhaps this is why people have little use for politicians and have essentially disenfranchised themselves from Canadian politics.
We have allowed the complete reversal in the concept of democracy. Democracy is derived from the Greek word for “power for the people” which is certainly not what we have today. Whether Burger meant to say it or not, it is what I took from his speech. I heard that if we had a true democracy with true grass roots representation we would probably not have the BC Ferry issues or would not be begging for crumbs to maintain our single aging railroad line. The list is endless as to being overlooked by both levels of government. We on Vancouver Island deserve the respect of senior levels of government and the representation of those we elect.
This Conservative government and our MP must stop these personal attacks and stand or fall on their own accomplishments. The voters must start saying loud and clear, we don’t want this type of top-down government. We want what every other major country with a Westminsterial Parliament has, put back the power for the people through true free votes and real representation of the grassroots.
Ed Mayne
Nanoose Bay