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Letter to Editor
ShareNDP, Bell keep getting further behind the times
Published: October 02, 2008 6:00 PMDear editor,
With every federal election campaign that passes, I think that the NDP gets further and further behind the times.
This weekend they unveiled their platform, billions of dollars in new spending, with the usual vague references to getting the “corporations” or the “rich” to pay for it all. Throw in the same worn-out and tired old horse of class warfare, the wealthy this, the corporations that, and you would swear that it was 1968, not 2008. Aside from a few tweaks, they could have photocopied their platform from 20 years ago and it would be hard to tell the difference.
I have noted that the current round of NDP campaign ads speak of leadership, both with reference to Jack Layton and the NDP versus Mr. Harper and the Conservatives.
The NDP have been in existence since 1964; to date they have never formed a government, in fact they have never formed the official Opposition. One would think that they offer the same big promises because they know, but will never admit, that they will never have to deliver.
This time they want to pull the troops from Afghanistan next year and use the money from the mission to fund their agenda, so in other words, their promises are to have a price paid in soldiers’ blood. So this is leadership?
Speaking of being behind the times, and of leadership, Ms. Bell has continued to carry on her opposition to the softwood lumber deal, as she calls it. This was an important piece of legislation, yet for some reason, when the bill came to the third and final reading, she missed the vote, on her own cause célèbre!
In spite of the collapse of the U.S. housing market, and the corresponding drop in demand for lumber, she continues to blame the treaty for all of the losses in forestry jobs.
This is not an ongoing negotiation, it is a treaty with another nation, it is signed, and is in effect; it has been for over two years. I don’t know what Ms. Bell’s objective is, but some in her party have suggested that it be torn up.
The treaty may not be ideal, it may not be perfect, but if it is torn up we will have nothing for the foreseeable future.
It’s curious that Ms. Bell is talking about the lumber agreement again, since she has said little about it since the treaty came into effect. In fact, she has said little at all, aside from echoing official NDP talking points. A. Foster,
Courtenay
