TimminsToday received the following letter from Ben Lefebvre, who says he thinks minority governments work for everyone, "despite the naysayers:"
It appears that the Trudeau minority government has survived its first real test having garnered the support of the Singh NDP after intense negotiations.
I think that is a good thing for the country despite claims from Liberal stalwarts such as Ralph Goodale and John Manley, both of whom have suggested that the NDP claims to having delivered for Canadians is a false narrative.
Most of our media pundits have also been saying that the Liberals have moved so far to the left that there is no longer any need or room for socially conscious left leaning parties in this country. I beg to differ.
How convenient would it be if there were only two parties to choose from, both catering to business interests as usual instead of those of their constituents.
We live in a multipolar world that requires accommodating the interests of the many. We are no longer subject to the dictates of our imperial masters. We have the right to chart our own course, to expect that our social programs will be improved and that our national sovereignty will be protected at all costs.
Given that we now know how much money was made available to combat the Covid-19 pandemic it will be rather difficult for any future government to make the claim that running comparably miniscule deficits in difficult times is unimaginable or even impossible.
Imagine what could have been accomplished with a small fraction of the investments required to save our economy and the livelihood of millions of Canadians. Imagine how many good paying jobs that could have been created with a national childcare program like the one Quebec has had for years.
Imagine what could be accomplished with the billions of dollars in savings that a national pharmacare program would produce while ensuring that Canadians would never again have to choose between putting food on the table or paying for their life-saving medicines.
Imagine how many lives could have been saved if our seniors had been taken care of in publicly owned long term care facilities that delivered the care standards we should all expect in our “golden years.”
Imagine how the contribution made by those well compensated care givers could make through their taxes, helping pay for a better education system that could hire even more well-paid teaching staff.
These are the type of programs proposed by the NDP for nearly 60 years that still resonate with most Canadians, programs that only seem to enter the consciousness of our political leaders when we have minority governments. So yes, minority governments do work for the majority, despite the naysayers. One way to ensure we have more of them is through a revamped electoral system promised in the 2015 election campaign.
Trudeau’s claim that consensus could not be reached before rescinding his promise to end our antiquated “first past the post” electoral system was and still is his most egregious broken promise. We can do better!
Ben Lefebvre
Iroquois Falls, ON
