Campaigns are Campaigns, and Promises were Promises

"Campaigns are campaigns." This is what John Reynolds, the Conservative Campaign co-chair, has said to justify what he, Mr. Emerson and the Conservative Party have done. This belies a deep flaw within their thinking. Campaigns are the only time that people can hold the government and the political parties accountable for their actions, and take an active role in the political process. What happened to all these wonderful promises about accountability and trust? Clearly, the Conservatives have admitted that they will do whatever it takes in order to win an election campaign. It doesn’t matter if what they say is true or not - as long as it gets them votes. It seems to me that there is some real problem within the mindset of the government if that is what they think. That is not how our country works - elections are the time for people to see what is true about the parties, not to be willfully deceived. Mr. Emerson was one of those people who have gone down that path. He has deceived his constituents, and has betrayed their trust. A poll released recently has stated that there was no way that Emerson could have won had he hot been running under the Liberal banner - that was not possible. The least he could have done would be to sit with the party that got him elected, even if it was in opposition.

Now, there is another issue that has come to light in recent days: the importance of the opposition. The office of the current Prime Minister stated that Mr. Emerson decided to cross the floor rather than "wasting his time in opposition". You heard correctly, the PMO just stated that the opposition is a waste of time. They stated that the government should rule by divine and unopposed right. They have effectively stated that there is no place for political discourse in this country. They are wrong. Political discourse is integral to Canada - it prevents dictatorships. To call the opposition's role a "waste of time" is to insult our nation’s most fundamental principals.