Editor:

How quickly things turn in federal politics.

Stephen Harper started off the current session promising to co-operate with the opposition parties but, within a few weeks, he is back to his usual tricks.

Our current prime minister is obsessed with power and will do anything, including ignoring the recession, to keep it.

Canada needs a leader that acts quickly and decisively to save our jobs and pensions — not some fanatical ideologue.

D. Theobald

Kamloops

Harper has no majority

Editor:

So the Tories are talking about an insult to democracy by having a prime minister no one voted for.

Is it not rather an insult to democracy for Stephen Harper to govern as if he had a majority when, in fact, he garnered less of the popular vote than he had before the last election?

One would think having only 30 per cent of the seats would mean he has to put his malevolent partisanship behind him and to try to gain the confidence of the House.

Being the best at soliciting corporate funding does not equal democracy in action and Harper’s spiteful actions in withdrawing funding from the smaller parties not only diminishes him in the eyes of the Canadian public, but could very likely cost him his job.

Anita Strong

Monte Lake

Economic plan needed now

Editor:

Where is the Conservative’s stimulus plan? 

Every government in the Western world except for Stephen Harper’s recognizes the need for economic stimulus. 

These are not normal times and Harper’s lack of leadership and do-nothing approach will not protect Canadians from the suffering and hardship that a deep recession will cause.

J. MacPherson

Kamloops

Time to share government

Editor:

We really have an incompetent prime minister.

Switzerland has picked its government from the four leading parties in its parliament since 1957.

Why not in Canada?

Stephen Harper blew a great opportunity to be a statesman.

Why not pick a cabinet out of all four parties according to the percentage of the popular vote they received?

If the cabinet is 35 members and a party received 10 per cent of the votes, it receives three cabinet ministers and so forth.

Everyone’s vote would have representation in the government.

Now that is democratic government.

Even with a majority of members in the House, the prime minister should be compelled to pick his cabinet from all the parties according to the above formula.

We are in an economic crisis. We need all the talent of parliament in the government, not just those in the minority party.

And there is a precedent. Winston Churchill’s war cabinet was a coalition of all the parties in the house, even though his party had a majority.

That was a true statesmanly act.

J. Exner 

Kamloops

Opposition opportunists

Editor:

I’m writing to express my outrage over the tumult in Ottawa.

I am sickened by the underhanded tactics of the opposition parties.

The fact is Canadians just spent $300 million on an election where they chose a Conservative government.

The Liberals, on the other hand, received their lowest vote share since Confederation.

And yet now we’re staring down the possibility of Prime Minister Stephane Dion.

How is this possible?

The motive of the opposition parties is clear: this isn’t about the Conservative economic plan, it’s about the proposed cut to public funding for political parties (which has already been removed from the agenda).

The Liberals have said the NDP policies were bad for the economy, but now they want to govern with them?

And they want to give Jack Layton, who has no governing experience, a money portfolio?

If you think the economy is precarious now, just wait until Layton’s making spending decisions.

How dare the opposition parties pull this move?

This is a slap in the face to Canadians.

Chelsey Tennant

Kamloops

 Act like adults

Editor: 

When I was a teenager, I had the vague notion that perhaps a coalition type of government would be excellent.

All the input from various viewpoints would bring the leaders together to a position of wisdom.

How naive!

This bit of common sense presupposes our elected officials actually want to help govern for the benefit of the people. 

With Ottawa’s current fiasco, it appears the only thing in which most of them are interested is being the boss.

Some want it so badly they are willing to align with any party out there, whether they agree with them or not, just so they can be considered boss.

Anything but work with the elected prime minister. 

Act like adults?

Have a think tank?

Seek solutions? 

Discuss even temporary compromises that could let us weather the storm? 

Why would anyone want to do that if they couldn’t be boss?

“No way! My way! Or I won’t play!”

 Why can’t a group of supposedly intelligent people, if they are unwilling to give up their political welfare dole, just say: “No, Mr. Harper, we don’t see that as an acceptable solution. Let us help you find a different way to cut taxes to stimulate our economy. We can do this if we work together.”

 That would take too much maturity, wouldn’t it?

 C. Carbol

Kamloops