Open Letter To Canadian Patriots

If you have had enough, then now is the time to act. We need to demand ‘transparent accountability’ to the Canadian people. We need to do it through letters, telephone calls, faxes and if necessary public meetings. Although the media has given this issue some coverage, very soon they will turn to another sensational story and forget this one entirely, unless we demand otherwise. There is nothing this government would like more than for the public to tire of the fight and go back to allowing them to rule as the ruling class elite is wont to do. You deserve answers. You deserve change and only you can affect that and make it happen. CAP has expended its energy and resources to the limit of what is humanly possible during the election campaign to try to bring these issues to the public. We have broadcast the facts on our website (www.canadianactionparty.ca) in the hopes that the public would at least be curious enough to find out what has been going on. All of our candidates attempted to bring the issues forward during candidate debates, but were virtually ignored by media. We will continue to fight on behalf of all Canadians, but we need the people who want these changes to help us to make it happen. We are willing to help, we will use all our resources as we have done since our beginnings. Ultimately, the ball is in your court. What are you going to do? Join us in this very critical battle or wring your hands helplessly? Yours sincerely Catherine Whelan Costen Canadian Action Party President & Communications Director February 14, 2006 Dear Members of Parliament I think it is abundantly clear that the Conservatives campaigned on accountability and standing up for Canada, but that on day one they dropped the ball. It should also be very clear by now that Canadians have had enough of the spin, the rhetoric and the arrogance of politicians. We don’t want the pretense of democracy - we want democracy! Canadians are watching and are not at all impressed with Mr. Harper's appointing a member to the Senate who wouldn't even take the time to run in the election and another who clearly was elected to bring Liberal policy to parliament. He claimed on election night he would be a strong part of the opposition, he would be in the Conservatives' face, and that is what the people in Vancouver-Kingsway riding apparently wanted. What they got is something entirely different! This is not accountability to Canadians. What are you going to do to stop this? Canadians want a by-election in Vancouver-Kingsway. Canadians do not accept the Tory appointment of an unelected member to the Senate(when they campaigned on an elected senate), surely there must be someone elected by the people who can fill these positions. This is the way the news is reporting and for the most part this is the way Canadians see it, only worse; 'Since then, Emerson's work on the softwood lumber file has been questioned, he's contemplated quitting politics and his cabinet reward has formally been referred to Parliament's ethics commissioner by the NDP. -Michael Fortier, the unelected Conservative campaign co-chairman who was elevated to cabinet and given a Senate appointment, told reporters he hadn't run for office because he didn't feel like it. -Gordon O'Connor, the new defence minister, is being challenged because of his past work as a military procurement lobbyist. His new job will put him in charge of massive spending on military procurement. -Ted Menzies, the affable Alberta MP, was made parliamentary secretary for the francophonie and official languages, although he speaks no French. -Ontario MP Garth Turner, a former cabinet minister in the Brian Mulroney government, spoke openly about his disdain for Emerson's floor-crossing and was called on the carpet by Harper - only to write about the dressing down on his web site. Turner now plans to introduce a private member's bill calling for floor-crossers to face voters in byelections."http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Politics/2006/02/10/pf-1436121.html I would like you to tell me clearly if you support this process that Mr. Harper has taken. Mr. Turner's legislation may work for the future, and we certainly want recall legislation included in any such bill, but that will not address the current unaccountable actions. Are you standing with Mr. Harper, Mr. Emerson and Mr. Fortier? Is Mr. O'Connor's appointment acceptable to you? What floor did Mr. Emerson cross? There was no floor at the time of his appointment. Many Canadians recognize,(although he wouldn't discuss it during the election) that Mr. Emerson's involvement in the Security and Prosperity Agreement (the plan for Fortress America by 2010) is critical to its success and that is perhaps why he was so easily embraced by Harper's government. Many Canadians do suspect that the plan for fortress America is underway and that both Liberals and Conservatives are pushing it through without a mandate from the people. This is not democracy! If cabinet ministers can simply be appointed, then why waste our time and money on the pretense of an election? If members can run on a party platform simply to ensure their election, but not represent the people once they are elected, then Canadians are not being served in a democratic process. True, Canadians are angry about the Liberals mismanagement of our public purse, but we are equally angry about the total arrogance of government that seeks to reward their friends and uses our money to do it. We are angry at the years of unaccountability to the people, by both Liberal and Conservative governments, the lack of democracy in the electoral process and the lack of transparency in all areas of government. We are angry that both the Liberals and Conservatives have been pursuing a 'war agenda' that we the people are against! It is not now nor has it ever been the children of the elite that are sacrificed in wars; rather it is the middle-class and poor youth who are sent to do battle for the elite. Many Canadians refused to vote in this last election and many have stated the reason is because the system is flawed beyond anything that resembles a democracy. If you expect Canadians to respect your position as an elected member of our government, then you must earn that respect through your actions and those actions must pay the greatest respect to the people of Canada. If you continue to support a system which rewards backroom deals, follows mandates of your parties rather than the people of Canada, arrogance towards those who elect you and a total disregard for reforming the electoral, Parliamentary, and senate system to make these processes truly democratic, then you will continue to reap the contempt of the Canadian people. I look forward to your position and comments on this issue, but most of all I look forward to real action to remedy the democratic deficit in our country. Every Canadian who aspires for a truly democratic country needs to stand up now! Every party spoke about accountability during the election campaign, now it is time for you to work together and give Canadians the government we deserve not the one, we keep getting! Yours truly Catherine Whelan Costen Canadian Action Party President & Communications Director cc: Members of Parliament; Media, Leaders of Canadian Political Parties [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on February 16, 2006]

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