Clear Conscience

THE LITTLE PERSON IS NOT POWERLESS. WE CAN BE HEARD. Write. Write. Write.

Canadian politics does not capture world imagination, my dear American friends. We can barely control our own apathy. However, at present, the government finds itself in a minority position in the House of Commons and the opposition is threatening to 'bring it down.' Most Canadians want government which works. Something is clearly not working in Ottawa. The balance of power is held by three independent members whose votes are endlessly courted. A member of the opposition crossed the floor yesterday...so the imminent threat of another election has been stayed. However, before that happened I ranted off a letter to the CBC. It was chosen as letter of the day for May 16, 2005. Click on the title above to read my letter in context, or read it as is, below:

LETTER OF THE DAY | May 16, 2005

"We need honour, loyalty, the courage to admit mistakes, the vision to correct them. We need politicians of principle. We need parties that will work together for the common good of the people."


Mr. Kilgour thinks there is a clear consensus for an election. It appears, since the votes of the independents are needed to bring down the government, that Mr. Kilgour, and not the people of Canada, hold the power to bring about this decision.

This is Mr. Kilgour's fifteen minutes of fame. Does self-interest or truth motivate him? Will he be returned in this now seemingly inevitable election?

WHAT WE NEED IN CANADA IS NOT A CLEAR CONSENSUS BUT A CLEAR CONSCIENCE!

We need honour, loyalty, the courage to admit mistakes, the vision to correct them. We need politicians of principle. We need parties that will work together for the common good of the people. We need politicians who will set aside narrow personal interest for the sake of fairness and good manners, as Ed Broadbent did in his recent abstention.

Canadians are tired of the behaviour of politicians. We are ashamed of the carping and sniping across the floor of the house during question period. We are exhausted by inquiries that drain the public purse and produce, not justice or improved policy, but endless posturing, rhetoric and constant national anxiety.

We are quickly becoming a neurotic nation, twitching and writhing in our own endless self-examination and bearing the collective shame of our elected officials.

Where are the clean hands and pure hearts?

Amongst the BQ, who if elected to power, would set as a first priority the dismantling of the nation? In the compromising Conservatives, who in their quest for power are willing to sacrifice social programs that define our national identity? With the fratricidal Liberals whose only possible defence in the present situation is ignorance? With the NDP whose idealism has grown weary in waiting and whose only hope of influence is functional minority government?

Mr. Kilgour please, not consensus but conscience.

If we must have an election, then let us have the courage to fight it based, not on the performances of past governments, but on the reform of parliament itself. Let the self-righteous remember their own follies and the dishonoured their higher goods.

Let us have humility and grace and an honesty that goes beyond facts to intentions. Let us have clear consciences, and a moment of silence.

Connie Knighton | Bracebridge, ON