Dear Ryan,
In July, the Toronto Star published a fake Braille Ten Percenter that, aside from the Member’s name and photo, was identical to the one you mailed to Yukoners. The content was designed by the Conservative Party propaganda team, the Conservative Caucus Research Bureau.
According to the House of Commons Board of Internal Economy rules, the Ten Percenters “must originate with the Member.” The convoluted rules around these publicly funded flyers have been bent to the point of absurdity. But this rule is very clear.
This isn’t the only example of brazen Conservative Party cheating. We’ve witnessed the robocall scandal, the fake lake, two charges of contempt of Parliament and numerous violations of Elections Canada rules.
An Ipso Reid Poll conducted in May of this year found that two-thirds of Conservative Party supporters doubted that the Prime Minister was telling the truth about the Duffy/Wright scandal.
So why would people support a party that cheats and a leader they regard as a liar?
The same propagandists responsible for the fake Braille flyer insist that the Conservative Government is very good at managing the economy. Is this true?
The job rate is falling despite predictions that the economy would grow this year. Manufacturing has diminished in the past decade. Yet the Conservative Government has failed to take a proactive stand on this issue, preferring to gamble our money on the possible future successes of the resource industry.
The cuts to civil service jobs mean that there are fewer people receiving pay cheques and fewer tax dollars collected. Fewer individuals are maintaining our infrastructure which in turn will lead to bigger costs years ahead.
The continuing Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers (PAFSO) strike is costing the Canadian economy millions in tourism dollars. Foreign workers are not there to meet the demands of industry. To ask for equal pay when one works in a frequently dangerous job is not unreasonable. Yet the Conservative Government stubbornly maintains its mean-spirited stance.
The recent barrage of television ads and Ten Percenters tout job training programs. These programs rely on the co-operation of the provinces and territories which is not forthcoming because the premiers know that good programs would have to be sacrificed for speculative ones.
On the industrial resource front, the government lurches from one grandiose pipeline scheme to another, failing to do their homework and alienating people both within and without the country. From the unstoppable oozing mystery spill in Cold Lake Alberta to the tragedy at Lac-Mégantic, Canadians are beginning to see that there are hidden costs to “streamlined’ regulations.
In most industries, the sharing of information is critical to success. Yet the Conservative Government does not welcome advice. It distrusts expertise and does not share information. It dictates. And the results of these bad habits are becoming apparent.
There is another chapter in the long disgraceful saga of SNC Lavalin, which administers our federal public building, the Elijah Smith. They were allowed to purchase major assets of the Atomic Energy of Canada commercial reactor division in 2011. It is being investigated for another corruption charge, this time in Algeria. “Every investigation gets us closer to the truth because clearly the company’s been deceived about a lot of things from certain ex-employees,” according to spokeswoman Leslie Quinton. (They must work from the same playbook as the Prime Minister.) Was there perhaps a civil servant whispering concerns into the ears of Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver in 2011? If there was, he certainly ignored them.
The former Parliamentary Budget Officer, Kevin Page, had trouble getting monetary information from the various departments during his tenure. He lamented that Members are unable to vote responsibly not having the information necessary. The culture of secrecy and fear created by the Prime Minister is not just harmful to the democratic health of our country. It hamstrings the government.
Last year, the Conservative Government lost track of $3.1 billion. No wonder.
The Conservative Government’s Nutrition North program has caused hardship in remote communities, including Old Crow, since its inception. Instead of providing a subsidy on shipping, (Food Mail Program), a subsidy was given to merchants who now have a captive customer base. Ryan, it is going to take more than “tweaking” to make this misguided program work.
Otherwise intelligent people are often taken in by Ponzi schemes and illiterate scams from Nigerian criminals. No wonder so many people are taken in by Conservative Party propaganda.
May you walk on the high road.
Respectfully yours,
Linda Leon
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