Dear Editor:
I recently corresponded with an acquaintance who is the political polar opposite of myself, and he commented that those running in the provincial election would do anything – including abandoning their party affiliations and convictions – to get themselves elected. After some thought, I had to conclude he was absolutely correct!
Lorraine Brett, who has been a Conservative Party member and PC candidate (outside New West, I might add) all of a sudden finds religion in the Liberal Party.
Jonina Campbell, a staunch defender and member of the NDP/DLC, as well as an elected NDP school trustee, has unexpectedly abandoned her party to see how she will look in Green should she be elected.
Then we have our current MLA, Judy Darcy, who left her comrades in the Ontario Communist Party only to parachute into New West as an avowed NDP/DLC member.
My question then is, “Who really are these people?”
Clearly, even they are wrestling to find the answer. How can we be asked to elect people who have demonstrated no conviction, little integrity and, perhaps more importantly, zero loyalty? If the candidates don’t understand themselves, they certainly can’t understand their constituents.
No one in their right mind can go to an all-candidates meeting with these three and believe what they say.
No matter who you vote for, you are not getting a real Liberal, a real NDP/DLC or a real Green representative. The only way to describe these three candidates is disingenuous and opportunistic.
But who is to blame here? The ambitious, opportunistic candidates or their party executive? Once upon a time, candidates were vetted to ensure they lived the life and walked the walk of their party’s mandate. You knew who you were voting for and what they stood for.
Today, these executives have failed in their fiduciary duty to put forth “real” party candidates for the citizens of New West to elect.
For the first time in my voting life, I am considering staying home on Election Day unless an alternative “real” choice enters the race as an independent.
Paul R. Thompson, New West
