17 March 2010

Conservative Spam: Ignorance, Arrogance, and Lack of Governance

Today, I received the most recent spam from our beloved Conservative Party of Canada. I usually took these straight to the garbage bin, but I happened to glance over the name of the MP that sent it. My MP is Brian Murphy, Liberal, representing Moncton–Riverview–Dieppe, New-Brunswick. However, today's waste of taxpayer money hasn't been brought by Murphy, it has been brought to you by Leon Benoit, Conservative, representing Vegreville—Wainwright, Alberta.

On one side of the two-dimensional piece of garbage is the typical "The Conservative Party rocks, Michael Ignatieff sucks!" campaign propaganda. On the other side is some attempt at slandering Ignatieff, and a great demonstration that the Conservative Party doesn't understand democracy.

The first two images are relatively uninteresting, but the third shows a few things.
  1. Calling America his 'country'.
  2. Signing on a backroom coalition power-grab with the NDP and the Bloc Québécois.
  3. Trying to force an unnecessary election during a global recession.
  4. Does this sound like a man who is putting Canadian first?
  5. Michael Ignatieff is not in it for Canadians, he's just in it for himself.
Now concerning #1, Ignatieff has dual citenzenship. It's not the first time they attack people for dual citizenship. Would the Conservatives take a shit on Michaëlle Jean for calling Haiti "her country"? I doubt it. It is funny that the Conservatives are trying to strike the anti-American cord, since they are the ones who constantly bent over backwards for the Americans, and tried to turn Canada into the United States of George Bush by covering up torture, and would rather prorogue government for three months than face the heat they deserve for turning a blind eye to violations on human rights.

Which brings us up to #2, the coalition. It is a shame that the coalition didn't work, it is one of the most democratic process, and probably the most productive one we could ever have gotten. It would have marked a new era of Canadian politics, one where a party is forced to work with others. A coalition would be the pinnacle of democracy, and again, the Conservatives prorogued government rather than face the heat for trying to cripple their opponents. The Conservatives also have a very short memory, since they attempted the same thing in 2004, when they wanted to join forces with the Bloc Québécois.

And concerning the rest, the Conservatives lost any moral high-ground they might have had when they broke their own law by calling a snap election in 2008. Right now, Canada has a government that supports torture, bullies their opposition, refuses to govern, and which spends taxpayer money on slandering their critics rather than address them. Anything would be better than that.

If the Conservatives want to see people who only are in it for themselves, they only have to look in a mirror and at their own leader.