I am not a Stephen Harper supporter. I am troubled by the way he seems to run things as prime minister. His controlling of Conservative party members in government seems wrong to me. His MPs must do as he says or face severe consequences such as being cut off from lucrative perks of office or being outright expelled from the party. The payment of money to Senator Mike Duffy seems to me to have been manipulated by Mr. Harper and yet he claims he knew nothing about it.
As a resident of Toronto, I am troubled by the behaviour of Mayor Rob Ford and his refusal to answer questions fully regarding the scandals around him. It bothered me when he was identified as a bully at a Toronto Maple Leaf hockey game a few years ago. He berated the people sitting in front of him and acted in a threatening manner toward them. Then he claimed he was not at the game until proof was found that he was indeed there and acted in an inappropriate manner. It was only when he was caught that he apologized. It seems he will not admit to any wrong doing unless he is caught outright.
What bothers me the most is that both of these men will still get a lot of support if they decide to run for re-election. They will tell voters that they are solely responsible for many positive things that happened in the country and the city during the time they were in office. They will ignore all the negative things that happened during the time they were in office. There will be many people who will vote for them.
The fact that so many people will vote for them is not the worst of it for me. The worst of it all will be that almost half the people who have the right to vote will not do so. Therefore even if they agree with me that these people should not be re-elected they will approve the conduct of those who are currently in office by not showing up to vote.
The great irony of it all is that even though all of this makes me crazy, I must also acknowledge that this is also what is so wonderful about the country that I am privileged to live in: Canada.
There are many people in the world today who cannot do what we do here. They cannot read, let alone write about how they do not like the leaders of their cities and their country. Even though I am writing to you today about how dumb half the people are in my city and my country because they don’t come out to vote, they have the right and they have the freedom to be that dumb. I will defend the right for them to be so dumb.
How often have you heard how lucky we all are to live here? Yet if you look to your left and your right, you will probably see someone who does not bother to vote. They just accept that they have freedom handed to them without having to bother to come out and vote.
I wish that when people voted, they received some kind of card or sticker or something that acknowledged that they showed up. That way when we come upon people who complain about the way things are going, we can ask to see the sticker or card. If they don’t have it we can say, shut up! You don’t have the right to complain because you didn’t vote. Or by the same token we can say, okay, you voted, you have the right to complain. We can also point out that they have the freedom to complain without being forced to vote. We are not forced to do anything in this country.
On this Canada Day, be happy that you are not forced to come to the lawn on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to celebrate loudly, although I wish you would. Be happy that you will not be forced to sing the national anthem, although I wish you would. Remember how you have the freedom not to do these things. Somewhere, on July 1, please stop and even if it’s quietly to yourself, think about the great treasure you have.
As an immigrant on November 25, 1953, I thank you Canada. Thank you for my freedom.
Heino Molls is publisher of REM. Email [email protected].
