Elections are opportunities – opportunities to speak up on the vital issues of the day and to influence the political process by choosing our elected representatives. Between elections, it can often seem that we, as citizens, are powerless. Too many political leaders ignore what Canadians want and pander to noisy special interest groups or manoeuver to get themselves re-elected, with little concern about the needs of the nation. The mainstream media exclude socially conservative voices. Too often, we are like spectators watching political games being played before our eyes, but which we are powerless to affect. But on election day, we can become involved and make a difference. And we must.
For the past dozen years, the Jean Chretien and Paul Martin-led Liberals have been arrogant. They have treated Canada as their own private property. In the sponsorship kickback scheme, nearly half of the $250 million spent on promoting federalism in Quebec ended up in the bank accounts of advertising and PR firms connected to the Liberal party or sometimes, even the Liberal party itself. Judge John Gomery himself called it a kickback scheme, when he noted that simple oversight procedures were not put in place, which made it easy for the program to be exploited by the government for partisan gain.
To the Chretien Liberals in charge of the scheme, it was only natural that the public treasury be raided to benefit their corporate friends and themselves. After all, the Liberals began to believe what political scientists have long said: the Liberals are the natural governing party. Believing that is dangerous to a democracy, but the Chretien and Martin Liberals went further. Instead of succumbing to the Liberal belief that Canada was theirs to govern, the leadership believed that the country was theirs to do with what they wanted.
And if the public purse is not off limits from partisan raids, why, then, should anything else be?
Last year, the National Post found that 60 per cent of judges appointed by the two Liberal prime ministers since 2000 made contributions to the Liberal party in the years leading up to the appointments. Furthermore, if you took professors and public servants out of the mix, 72.4 per cent of lawyers making it to the bench contributed financially to the Liberal party. Justice Minister Irwin Cotler’s response (five months after the revelations) was to belittle these findings’ significance: “You could probably find out that 60 per cent of people who applied for a judgeship go to hockey games. So what?”
What condescension. The difference, of course, is that hockey players do not appoint judges. But the Liberals don’t even pretend anymore to care about being accountable – to anyone.
Thus, the party that thinks it can get away with using taxpayer dollars to finance its own re-election bid or handing out judgeships to party supporters will have no compunction about imposing the leader’s views about what marriage is upon the whole of Canada. After all, Canada is here for them to do with whatever they wish – some social engineering here, a little social engineering there and the Canadian furniture will be set up exactly how the Liberals like it.
But Canadians must know that while Paul Martin hid behind a Supreme Court reference decision, the fact is that same-sex “marriage” was pushed upon this nation by the prime minister and his justice minister, Irwin Cotler. They ignored five millennia of human history, the teachings of every major religion, the entire common-law tradition and Canada’s own statutes on the issue to impose their own definition of what marriage is upon some 32 million Canadians.
By the time the current election campaign was under way, Liberal party president Mike Eizenga was claiming that same-sex “marriage” is “anchored” in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and that the Charter is the essence of Canada, “a fundamental aspect of our national character.” Thus, to be a real Canadian, one must embrace same-sex “marriage.” Martin expanded on this idea in the first leaders’ debate, when he suggested that those who do not endorse same-sex “marriage” are unqualified to run for public office – although he backed off from those comments when it was pointed out to him that about one-quarter of his caucus opposed same-sex “marriage” in the vote last June.
Raiding the public purse. Selling judgeships. Redefining marriage. Defining who is a good Canadian. All in a day’s work for the Martin Liberals. And why not? As the party in power, is Canada not there just for the Liberals to do with it whatever they want?
No, it isn’t. The Chretienites and Martinites may think so, but we are still a sovereign people. We still choose our representatives. And our participation in the democratic process lends their authority legitimacy.
Canada needs men and women of integrity in Parliament. We need MPs who will stand up for life and family and stand against the kinds of leaders who will impose their personal and partisan agendas upon the nation. MPs and candidates who defend the sanctity of human life and the uniqueness of the opposite-sex definition of marriage are precisely such people. If they are willing to do the right thing on these moral issues, there is good reason to believe they will do the right thing on government ethics and accountability. The MP who respects the commandment to not kill is also likely to respect the commandment to not steal.
It is not often the elected elite ask for our opinion, but on election day they must take notice of what we say. We can demand decency and integrity. We must demand it. It is our right. Canada deserves better than what Martin (and Chretien before him) have had to offer.
On the other hand, we wonder where the moral leadership is on the part of the Conservatives. Stephen Harper is willing to mention the topic of same-sex “marriage,” but seems unwilling to do anything about it, having already conceded that he will not use the notwithstanding clause of the Charter to override a judicial commandment to enact same-sex “marriage.”
The Interim endorses no party and no leader. We encourage you to become informed about the issues and the candidates. Check out the Campaign Life Coalition Voter’s Guide online at www.campaignlifecoalition.com or call CLC toll free at 1-800-730-5358. Engage your local candidates when they are stumping for your support or during all-candidates debates.
If all men and women of goodwill joined in voting only for pro-life candidates, Parliament would have a pro-life majority and the politics on the Hill would be radically different – that is to say, better – not only because we would have the numbers to enact legislation protecting innocent human life and defend family, but because, no doubt, there would be more ethical people in the House of Commons.
It is not only the unborn babies and those vulnerable to euthanasia that need pro-lifers to vote their principles this election, but all of Canada.
