The Crux of It All

Had enough yet folks? I write what follows as one who was a life-long Liberal until recently. I am a Liberal no longer. This is why.

I am quite sure that those of us who pay attention to the Gomery Commission are witnessing the destruction of the Liberal Party of Canada through self-inflicted wounds. But that collapse, important though it be, is not really the point. The Liberals by scrabbling in the most unscrupulous ways imaginable to obtain, and retain, the perquisites of office have corrupted a great national party, betrayed the trust of the Canadian people, fomented distrust about our parliament and played into the hands of the Quebec separatists, thereby placing in doubt the continuation of our nation. These greedy, political manipulators, with their envelopes stuffed with thousands of dollars of our public money, have done great damage to Canada. It is this I cannot forgive ... and nor should you.

Consider the import of what is being revealed by Mr. Justice Gomery? After Auditor General Sheila Fraser uncovered skullduggery in the sponsorship program, the Liberal party spin masters went into communications overdrive justifying the initiative on the grounds that it was a vital component of the Liberals national unity strategy, i.e., required to demonstrate a federal presence in a province ruled by the separatist Parti Quebecois provincial government.

One may or may not argue with this shaky premise, but one thing is clear. The criminal actions of so many Liberal party members become even more indefensible in light of their stated premise that this program was necessary to keep the country together. To engage in corrupt activities with a program they themselves said was vital to the survival of our nation places them beyond the pale.

Much of the money sloshing around Liberal party circles was being spent to circumvent legislated electoral spending limits the Liberals themselves introduced and passed into law. While they fully expected the opposition to have to abide by the electoral spending law (spending limits and disallowing corporate and union financing), and the citizenry to have to abide by the electoral spending law (the limits on third party advertising), they themselves were above such petty considerations.

How many Liberals in this current minority parliament won their parliamentary seats because they were able to call on the unlawful support of what Mr. Corbeil told Judge Gomery were the "fake volunteers" in the "undeclared section?" What would the current parliamentary balance of power look like had fair elections been held in Quebec? We know this. In the 2000 general election:

Mr. Corbeil, the Quebec wing's director general from 1998 to 2001, told the inquiry that during the 2000 election there was a parallel campaign operation that focused on some key ridings, flooding them with extra campaign workers and resources.

The Liberal Party of Canada has subverted the very process by which we Canadians elect representatives to our parliament. This is nothing less than an attack on our democratic rights as citizens. The same Liberal politicians and party workers who love to mock the Americans for the "hanging chads" of the 2000 Florida vote count were busy at the time committing criminal acts to circumvent our most central right as citizens; the right to elect those who govern our country.

The next time you are tempted to dismiss the Gomery testimony as not really important, think about what the Liberals were doing (and would be doing yet if they weren't caught red handed).

Answering questions from his lawyer, Guy Bertrand, Mr. Corbeil said the Liberal strategy of visibility in Quebec was aimed at eliminating their Conservative rivals and making voters associate the Liberal Party with Canada.

One of the great moments in Western civilization took place in England, the home of our parliamentary traditions. This was the signing of Magna Carta by King John at Runnymede on June 15, 1215 AD.

63. Wherefore we will and firmly decree that the English church shall be free, and that the subjects of our realm shall have and hold all the aforesaid liberties, rights and concessions, duly and in peace, freely and quietly, fully and entirely, for themselves and their heirs from us and our heirs, in all matters and in all places, forever, as has been said. Moreover it has been sworn, on our part as well as on the part of the barons, that all these above mentioned provisions shall observed with good faith and without evil intent. The witnesses being the above mentioned and many others. Given through our hand, in the plain called Runnymede between Windsor and Stanes, on the fifteenth day of June, in the seventeenth year of our reign. [emphasis is mine]

At Runnemede was born the idea that even the King must obey and respect the law. From that crucial day has developed and flowed the democratic liberties and institutions of the English-speaking peoples ... our great political gift to the world.

The Liberals were knowingly taking away your right to the aforesaid "liberties and rights" which are central to a democracy (as our American cousins would say) of the people, by the people and for the people. And they were doing it, not to save the country, but to eliminate their Conservative rivals, and to buy political power and influence, so as to enrich themselves with your money.

If our Sovereign is so constrained, so must be the Liberal Party of Canada. The House of Commons last night passed a motion demanding this corrupt government resign. Mr. Martin says he doesn't have to obey the expressed will of our parliament because the opposition motion was on a procedural matter rather than on a confidence measure such as his now grossly bloated and much amended budget bill. This same Mr. Martin a couple of weeks ago refused the opposition their scheduled opposition days in the House of Commons in which they could bring forward a vote of confidence. Parliament has now ceased to function in any reasonable manner. It is up to us, the people, to demand a remedy this ugly impasse.

Dwell on these thoughts ... and cast your next vote accordingly.