It is interesting reading knee-jerk conservatism these days. The local Sun Media newspaper here in Barrie gets a glance when an occasional free copy comes our way. We particularly like checking on the editorial page where you can read Libertarian, Green or Conservative political views but apparently never Liberal. Last week it was the turn of local Conservative MP John Brassard. His attempt deserves some comment.
John is a fireman by trade and looks good in a suit and tie. Watching him on city council prior to him moving to Ottawa was an exercise in boredom—other than when he could talk about fire department business. Now that he has staff and writing assistance, he can start to broaden his perspective.
He starts out with the statement on the environment that we all have to do something about greenhouse gases as long as it does not cost us money, or jobs. He is especially opposed to carbon taxes. He figures that with the reality of the American election we will have to have less regulation, slash business taxes and cancel all commitments to protecting the environment. This guy is a regular boy scout!
In an electoral district full of commuters and farmers, he rails against taxes on fuels. He notes that Canada only contributes 1.5 per cent of our planet’s greenhouse gas emissions. He considers a carbon tax to be misguided and thinks there should be a better way. He does not tell us what it is.
Not satisfied with dissing the federal Liberals, John takes a few swipes at the Ontario bunch who make fun of his pal Patrick Brown, the Ontario Conservative leader. He thinks that the Wynne government is driving good manufacturing jobs out of Ontario. This is surprising when you consider the number of companies that fled during the nine years of Conservative government in Ottawa. Brassard refers to Ontario as a ‘have not’ province and might not be aware that Ontario has actually been showing some recovery in the past year.
He concluded his diatribe by asking if the reader has confidence in Kathleen Wynne and Justin Trudeau dealing with Donald Trump to look after the needs of their families. It seems he does not. That will make it interesting when we get to see who’s button he is wearing at next May’s federal Conservative leadership convention.
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Copyright 2016 © Peter Lowry
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