Dear editor,
Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver, who reminds me of Barney Fife in the Andy Griffith show, wrote recently that:
“These groups threaten to hijack our regulatory system to achieve their radical ideological agenda. They seek to exploit any loophole they can find, stacking public hearings with bodies…”
Mr. Oliver is a member of Parliament and we all know that members of Parliament are expected to ‘toe the party line.’ Mr. Harper was happy to stack his side of the House (and the Senate) with bodies that would buy into, and vote with, the ideological agenda of the prime minister and cabinet.
They have forgotten the root of the word Parliament — “to speak or confer.” MPs no longer speak or confer, they are as rubber stamps, dutifully voting “yes” to the ideologically driven proposals of those who would prefer to rule by dictate or decree. We, the citizens, would like to have Canadians involved in Canada.
Member of the Conservative caucus may be muzzled, and they may want to muzzle us, but we are encouraged by the words of His Excellency The Right Honorable David Johnston in his speech to Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge when they arrived at Rideau Hall, Thursday, June 30, 2011. He said in part:
“As you begin your journey, I would like to encourage you to engage with Canadians about their dreams for building a smarter, more caring nation as we approach 2017, the 150th anniversary of Confederation. Your ideas and support are key to the Canada we envision.
“May you find, as your great grandfather did during his 1939 Royal Tour to Canada, that your visit gives the Canadian people: ‘a deeper conception of their unity as a nation.’ ”
Yes, indeed, we-who-are-without-muzzles are united in our desire to build a smarter, more caring nation. In fact, we are getting smarter, and getting a deeper conception of our unity as a nation, by the minute.
Bob Stiven,
Comox
