MP’s ‘negativities’ accomplish nothing
By Letter to the Editor on July 9, 2018.
We received updates from our Conservative MP for Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner. In it he reveals his predilection for confirmation bias (tendency to search for, interpret, favour, and recall information in a way that confirms one’s pre-existing beliefs or hypotheses) and paranoia (the irrational and persistent feeling that people are “out to get you”). He begins with a litany of perceived Liberal failures to govern, ignoring any of the several positive results of Liberal policy. For instance, Peter MacKay, former Conservative MP, lauded the Liberals’ application of retaliatory import tariffs on U.S. goods. This action has been commended worldwide. He is anticipates a summer of “extensive time connecting with constituents” presumably to hear their points of view. Will he pay attention to those views with which he differs? Earlier this year, the MP hosted a town hall meeting to discuss firearms Bill C-71. Several questions were prepared to present to the MP, but when the attempt was made to do so, the MP said, “Fred, I am not going to let you high-jack this meeting.” Thereafter I was shut out. He has an irrational fear of immigrants, believing that among those unfortunate people are any number of ISIS terrorists. On Nov 30, 2017 the Canadian Press fact checked this statement by Conservative deputy minister Lisa Raitt: “The Liberals are putting the safety of all Canadians at risk by allowing (Islamic State) fighters to return to Canada and proposing a ‘reintegration program’ and support services for them.” The insinuation is that the Liberals are soft on terrorists and the Conservatives are suggesting there has been a sudden influx of IS members into Canada, and that the government is welcoming them with open arms. “(Raitt’s) statement is trying to play upon people’s emotions in a reactionary way instead of being practical and realistic,” decides the Canadian Press and also “The statement implies things that are not correct. There are no factual errors in the statement — but there is an interpretation of the issue and the response of the government of the day to the problems posed by returnees. For those reasons, Raitt’s statement is mostly inaccurate but contains elements of truth.” The MP also believes that firearms Bill C-71 “targets law-abiding gun owners and tries to make them into criminals” and is an “attempt at bringing back the firearms registry through the back door.” The only justification for this seems to be his observation that in C-71 the words “registrar and reference number are clearly mentioned 28 times.” If the MP wants legislation to “address gun violence, gangs or rural crime” then he should craft a private member’s bill to deal with such issues, a positive step in his desired direction, instead of spewing negativities which accomplish nothing. Fred Lewis Medicine Hat 12-11
