Dear Editor:
Next Monday, April 28, we must not give the Conservative Party of Canada the reins of power. The leader of the CPC is the antithesis of a progressive thinker and does not have the whole of Canada’s interest at heart.
His anti “woke” statements that he made repeatedly until his handlers got him to tone things down, are very telling. On March 28, Poilievre stated, “A Conservative government would put an end to the imposition of woke ideology in the federal civil service and in the allocation of federal funds for university research.”
It can be inferred from this quote that Poilievre wishes to stop funding research into mitigation of discrimination against most Canadians (i.e – women, non-white, Indigenous peoples, people with disabilities, 2SLGBTQIA+ people). He wishes to end programs in the federal government that do the same. Is this the Canada we want?
We are dismayed by what Trump is doing to his country and to the rest of the world. Is this the future we want for Canada?
Here are a few other reasons not to vote for the CPC with Poilievre as its leader:
– he has promised to defund the CBC;
– he works hard to insulate himself from the media;
– he has not promised to maintain important social gains made under Trudeau, such as Pharmacare, the Canadian Dental Care Plan, and $10/day daycare;
– we cannot trust him to stand up for public health care;
– is he a puppet of the fossil fuels conglomerates, does he believe in anthropogenic climate change and the need to reduce our carbon footprint?;
– Poilievre has promised to put “Canada First.” Sounds great until you realize that his plan is to greatly reduce foreign aid spending;
– Poilievre says he is tough on crime and wants to use the notwithstanding clause to institute unconstitutional measures. Really? Just look how that is going in the U.S.; and
– why won’t Poilievre get security clearance?
The last thing we need in this country is a prime minister whose character is questionable, is not thoughtful, does not consider new evidence that may modify his position, denies access of the press to ask the important questions, and is focussed on appealing to his right-wing base rather than all Canadians.
Mark Carney said in his book “leadership is the acceptance of responsibility rather than the assumption of power”.
Let us vote for that.
Paula Menzies,
Fergus