Letter: Can you really trust parties that constantly fight themselves?
By Letter to the Editor on June 28, 2022.
Dear Editor: Anyone intending to vote conservative in the next provincial and federal elections should do four things.’ Firstly, read the words of Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner, one of the most highly respected conservative politicians in Canada. In her refusal to run for Alberta’s UCP leadership, Ms. Rempel Garner said the following about Alberta’s and Canada’s Conservative Parties. “In both parties there have been squabbles that have erupted in the pages of national media: public meltdowns, nearly missed physical fights, coups, smear jobs, leaked recordings and confidential e-mails, lack of consensus on critical issues, caucus turfings, people harassed to the point where they resign roles, and hours-long meetings where members have been subjected to hours of public castigation.” Remember, this is a description of fact from a high-ranking insider in the conservative movement. It is not the mere opinion of either me, or of the last person who happened to be walking down the street. Secondly, remember, political representatives are elected to serve people. Everyone agrees on this. Thirdly, forget politics for a moment, and pretend you are running a business, or a charity, or perhaps a service club, or some other organization which needs to hire another organization to provide its service. Would you hire an organization described as above, by one of its own? Fourthly, ask yourself how the conservative parties you support have come to be in the condition described by Ms. Rempel Garner? In my opinion the answer to question four is that moderates in conservatism are overpowered by others in that movement. Those others are motivated by fear, suspicion, mistrust, disaffection, petty provincialism and even hatred. They look back, not for the wisdom of the past, but to avoid change and progress. They want to return to the past, a desire which makes it impossible to build a future. They fear facts, justice, truth and best evidence – such as science – preferring, instead, the intellectually dishonest faux comfort of social media echo chambers and confirmation bias. So long as this state of affairs exists, the Reform Party and the Wildrose Party, though they do not formally exist, will punch well above their weight in conservatism, to its detriment. Yours truly, Gregory R. Côté 15-14
