May 23, 2012

Hand-delivered to: The Honourable Diane Ablonczy P.C. M.P. Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas and Consular Affairs) 1107 - 17th Ave NW Calgary, AB T2M 0P7 Dear Minister, I am writing and hand-delivering this letter to your Calgary constituency office to express my deep concern about Bill C-38 and the direction in which Stephen Harper is taking my country. Over your sixteen years of service to the riding of Calgary-Nose Hill, you have filled numerous important positions. I believe these diverse areas of service give you a unique perspective not only on your riding, but also on our country. I note your strident support of transparency and accountability in government, concepts fundamental to a true democracy. It is my observation that you have practiced these principles consistently in your work as our elected representative, and your diligence in these important areas is very much appreciated. As background, my parents' families homesteaded in northeastern Alberta in 1911. My parents married in 1932, farmed and raised their five children in the same community. My family has worked and contributed to the development of this country as farmers, entrepreneurs, employers, employees and responsible parents for over a century. Of late, I have been devoting my time to educating my family, friends and acquaintances on the contents of Bill C-38, and on the Harper regime's riding rough-shod over our country and democracy itself. While I understand the need for economic growth, I do not believe it has to be at the expense of our environment or, indeed, some of our very fundamental rights and freedoms. Responsible stewardship considers all the stakeholders, and need not mean an either/or solution; either economic growth or environmental responsibility and preservation of rights and freedoms. I am particularly concerned about the manner in which the massive Bill C-38 is being rushed through with little time for debate. This Bill tosses aside some twenty years of environmental protection efforts and replaces them with a process in which the federal government has final approval over major environmentally sensitive projects. This begs the question: why have environmental hearings at all? Or can we expect these to be so rushed, secretive and cursory as to amount to no hearings at all? Canadians, all of whom have a stake in our environment, will not be heard unless they live within some unspecified range of a project. Thus, my concern for the pristine waters off our west coast hosting up to two VLCCs per day will go unheard, as will my opposition to running pipelines through stunningly beautiful, sensitive areas of northern British Columbia.

Also unheard will be my concern that the pipeline capacity will be nearly twice what is being approved, and that this accelerated capacity can be implemented at any time after the initial approval of the lower capacity with no consultations or hearings. This accelerated oil flow will increase risk in the areas of the pipelines themselves, and will result in increased tanker traffic with associated increased risk. Almost everyone agrees that the never-ending environmental review processes had to be streamlined in order to move viable projects forward. I don't believe any of the other parties opposed the idea. But no one outside of Stephen Harper's inner circle saw the need to gut the processes, and to replace them with a dictatorial, exclusionary one designed to facilitate the rapid harvesting and sale of our natural resources. All of this is contained in a so-called Budget Bill. This Bill deals with some sixty other issues and Bills besides the Budget. How can this possibly be in the interests of the country, or indeed, of democracy itself? As a Reform Party MP faced with an Omnibus Bill in 1994, Stephen Harper said, In the interest of democracy I ask: how can members represent their constituents on these various areas when they are forced to vote in a block on such legislation and on such concerns? We can agree with some of the measures but oppose others. How do we express our views and the views of our constituents when the matters are so diverse? I am speaking now in general terms, not just in terms of the environment. Stephen Harper is behaving not as a prime minister with responsible stewardship of the country in mind. Instead, his are the actions of a CEO of a private company in which he has principle ownership, and which is now in liquidation. Everything must be done quickly and with no thought for the future. Not only must everything be done quickly, but so much is being done under the cloak of secrecy. Life experience has taught me that whenever something must be done quickly and secretively, it is always because it is either illegal, unethical or principally for the good of the party doing it. I fear for our democracy. I see it being eroded in so many of the Bills under the so-called Budget Bill, a 400-page document with only limited debate being allowed. My only hope is that our country and its institutions one day will be able to rebuild and recover from Stephen Harper's assault on their very core. I take great exception to a prime minister who refuses to celebrate the anniversary of the country's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. How petty, how small-minded, how partisan, how unstatesmanlike. I expect Stephen Harpers dislike for our Charter lies with the words, "rights" and "freedoms," concepts that appear to be foreign to his plans for this country. I watch Question Period in the House of Commons frequently. I am appalled by Stephen Harper's palpable sneering contempt for the Canadian people. I loathe to see him, day after day, rising to evade questions asked on our behalf, tossing off snide, cynical, meaningless comments and diversions such as the silly remark about the NDP not wanting to fight Hitler. We never did get an answer to the serious, sincere question that prompted that ridiculous and disrespectful response. The question was: Will Canada be extending its presence in Afghanistan? Just yesterday, Stephen Harper announced (in Chicago) there will be no extension of Canadas presence in Afghanistan. Why would he not simply have responded to the question in the House, "We will be making an announcement about that shortly"? Instead, he chose once again to be contemptuous, evasive and disdainful to the people of Canada. I loathe, too, to watch other Conservative MPs rise in response to serious questions from the Canadian people only to read irrelevant talking points in monotones, or to offer sneering, irrelevant attacks on the questioner.

Our very election process appears to have been defiled by the Harper Conservatives as well, once by using a shady trick to hide campaign overspending for which they were found guilty in a court of law, and now by suspected voter suppression currently under investigation. The election process is at the heart of our democracy, but democracy it seems, is just one more enemy to be crushed by the Harper regime. These are desperate times for Canadians. When have we ever before seen a "Rogue Page" in our Senate, a citizen writing to the Queen (twice) to beg for some protection from our bullying, secretive, prime minister, or so much discussion in newspapers and on the Internet about our democracy in peril? I share those feelings of desperation. I do not know what to do. Should we ever have another meaningful election in this country, my hope is that Canadians will send a loud, clear message to Stephen Harper, telling him that this country does not belong to him. It is not his to gut and sell as fast as is possible under the guise of job creation and economic growth. My hope is that Canadians will, indeed, "stand on guard" for Canada and for our continued freedom. As my elected representative, I am appealing to you to take whatever action is available to you to stop this destructive, cynical attack on our country by Stephen Harper's regime. You have served this riding diligently for the past 16 years, and I trust that you do not support this assault on the core of our democracy, either. I note again your position over the years in support of government accountability and transparency. I urge you to act in whatever way you can to rein in this dictatorial, secretive government before it is too late.

Yours very truly,