Monday, 24 June 2019

So, You're Just a "Fiscal Conservative"?

Conservatives get really upset when others think conservatives are racist, homophobic, misogynist, science deniers... They get really upset when it is suggested they might try to suppress the vote, or cheat in elections. 
They get irate if it is suggested they want to dismantle the Canada Health Act and throw us to the wolves of American Insurance "pay up or die" medicine. They don't like it when people express the opinion that conservatives only care about the wealthy and big corporations. 
I hear so many people say, "Yeah, I vote conservative, but I have nothing against queers or brown people. I'm fiscally conservative and the conservatives are better managers of our money." 
The thing is, in fact, the conservatives of late have been terrible financial stewards. Between them, Mulroney and Harper are responsible for the vast majority of Canada's national debt. 
Did you know that Harper, in a desperate effort to produce an artificially balanced budget before the 2015 election, sold our GM stocks at a loss and sold off Canadian property (that's OUR property, not his) to put money in the coffers? 
 Foreign Properties fire sale

So, really, saying the conservatives are more fiscally responsible is not a defensible reason to vote for them. If you look at what else they do, not related to money, conservatives are incredibly hard on Canadians. Our neighbours, our families, our community. 
Look at Ford's government, cutting assistance to families of children with autism. Cutting funding for health and education. cutting regulations designed to protect consumers, workers, and the environment... There is a detailed list here.
Look at Kenney's government, only a month old, and already cutting protections for LGBTQ2S+ youth, denying public service employees (that's teachers and nurses among others) the right to negotiate their contracts
Both Ford and Kenney are denying the students of Ontario and Alberta (our children) access to sex-ed that is relevant to current issues like sexting, consent, even knowing the correct names for parts of their bodies. 
And look back at Harper. What did Harper do? The list is very long. Destroyed science libraries, chose to visit pandas instead of meeting with First Nation's youth who had WALKED to Ottawa to meet with him... 
Cut Veteran's services, cut Status of Women's offices, shut off acceptance of refugees, ignored MMIWG, removed protection from our lakes and waterways, sent our young men and women into a war zone that was not our war... 
Prorogued parliament several times to save his own ass. Tried to vilify the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. Cut off media access. Only held town hall meetings that allowed vetted CPC supporters.  Shut down debate over and over and over... 
Fired and vilified whistle-blowers like Linda Keen and Richard Colvin. Was the only PM in Commonwealth history to be found in contempt of parliament. Wasted our money on Economic Action Plan billboards and ads... 

Not to mention ads bought in Eastern Europe to tell Roma people they were not welcome in Canada. And ads in the US to promote the CPC and the pipelines
He brought in draconian and unconstitutional sentencing laws that have been shown in other jurisdictions to be completely ineffective in making communities safer. Apparently to satisfy a primal urge for vengeance among his base. 
He brought in boutique tax credits to pander to people who already had money and ignored those who didn't. He brought in a taxable child benefit. He suggested a "barbaric cultural practices tip-line" "Hey Old Stock Canadians! Report your ethnic neighbours!" 

During Stephen Harper's watch, there is a list of Canadians who suffered at the hands of foreign governments while Canadian officials did nothing. These included Omar Khadr, and also Abfousfian Abdelrazik, Mashir Makhtal, Huseyin Celil, and Suaad Hagi Mohamud. Perhaps their names were too foreign-sounding. Perhaps Harper and his government could not bring themselves to really believe these people were real Canadians. I mean, really, real Canadians. Old Stock Canadians. Like, say, Brenda Martin, a white Canadian woman who was jailed in Mexico and who the Harper Government went to bat for, even flying her home on a government aircraft after obtaining her release.
It reflects an absence of compassion or empathy. It reflect a callousness towards others that is alarming. When it comes down to it, that is a trademark of the current conservative parties. A callous disregard for the value of life unless the person is someone they approve of or someone who could be useful to them. And if you think the CPC is under new management, well, conservative insiders say Harper is still pulling the strings and running things from an un-elected position behind the scenes:
Andrew Scheer hired Hamish Marshall, co-founder of the racist hate-propaganda site, The Rebel, as his campaign manager. Georgette Burke, founder of an anti-Islam group is one of his advisors, A Trump campaigner is now a UCP MLA in Alberta. 
The CPC freely associate with racist/misogynist/homophobic groups. They want US gun laws and US nukes on our land. 
They cheat in elections. In 2006, with the "In and Out" Scandal.  In 2008, with the CPC Ethics Minister convicted of breaking spending rules.

In 2011 with voter suppression and robocalls.

In 2013, Labrador MP Peter Penashue was forced to resign over illegal campaign donations.
Even their own leadership election within the CPC appears to be suspect.
They show no regard for the environment. They pander to their base and their donors. No one else matters. 
If you can know all this and still say you vote CPC because you are only fiscally conservative, you are saying one of two things. Hint: neither reflects well on you. 
You are either saying you actually are a racist/homophobe/misogynist and it just makes you mad when other people know it, or you care more about money than people. There's no way around that. That's really sad. 
Essentially, in case I did not make it clear earlier. if you vote CPC you are complicit. You don't get to cherry-pick parts of a platform. It you vote CPC you are saying you agree with all that they are. Racist, homophobic, misogynist. It's a bundle. No substitutions.

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