January 02, 2001
One of the biggest threats to our society today, and has been for too many years now is the "ME, MYSELF and I" syndrome, and like the NIMBY (not in my back yard ) syndrome it becomes, over time, self destructive.
An important part of knowing who we are and what we want is knowing where we came from.
To understand the true meening of Canadian Conservatism we need to understand the French, English and First Nations traditions from which this country was formed. From the French and English we inherited the Judeo-Christian beliefs that all our laws and customs are based on. From the Aboriginals we received the traditions of respect for the land and nature as well as everyone working for the good of the nation.
Unlike our good neighbors to the south of us, our nation was not born out of revolution, but evolution, and as such we do not take as much pride in it as we should.
In the recently held election the Conservative views were held up for ridicule by the mainly socialistic main stream press, particularly Stockwell Day and the Canadian Alliance platform, as this platform was the one that offered the most threat to the liberals. If we are to assume that the conservative beliefs and those of the CA and PC parties are the same then it becomes more important that those of us who hold these truths become more vocal.
To reach this goal it is imperative that conservatives enter the next federal election united under one banner.
We conservatives have been accussed of everything from being Holicost deniers to being neandathals and bigots, that would be amusing except for the fact that many voters who do not know our history believed it.
And one thing we must never forget or neglect, "A lie told often enough and loud enough becomes a belief"
We are the same bigots that appointed the first Afro-Canadian to be a Lieftenant Governor, the same neandrathals who chose a woman to lead our party and to a greater extent than members of the other 2 major politcal parties believe in the Monarchy.
As for being neandrathals, here in Ontario it was G. Howard Ferguson a conservative Premier from 1923 to 1930 who introduced the first Deptarment of Welfare in Canada and also the first Old Age Pension Plan. Between 1943 and 1948 under the leadership of Col. George Drew the first Labour Laws and the first Anti-discrimination Laws were introduced. Under Leslie Frost 1949-1961 the first laws requiring equal pay for equal work for women was passed. All these programmes were introduced and passed Provincilay long before the Federal Government did anything.
Conservatives are neither neandrathals nor bigots, we believe in the rights of the individual and the right to pursue our destinies without interference, but for those less fortunate then the Government should be there, but only then. We believe that our elected officials should be the only ones who make the laws, not unelected Supreme Court Judges.
The true Conservative believes that if the fishermen in Atlantic Canada is hurting or if the farmer on the prairies or the miner in Ontario are hurting then we are all hurting, and as such we all pull together, we do not pit one segment of society against another for the benifit of gathering votes.
To those presently in the PC party that believe in more Government then please join the Liberals where you belong and the rest of those that believe as I do join us today.
Stanley T. Smith |
