Letters to the Editor - Feb. 3, 2010
Tories Do Bluegrass, Greens Twist and Shout
I am pleased to read the responses from the Campus Green members and supporters detailing their tribulations against the Conservative Government during their spontaneous, grass-roots protest in December and I am delighted to see their passionate interest in the environment. While no specifics on environmental policy will be discussed in the following response, nonetheless a few points must be made.
While it made my day to see two comment pieces from Mr. Beddome and Ms. Beaudette in the last volume of The Manitoban, along with another letter to the editor from Mr. Weinberg published online, it is surprising they chose to submit a total of three responses to one article. Given their stance on the environment one may have thought they would have taken a conservationist approach and consolidated their opinions in a single response.
Allow me to congratulate Ms. Beaudette for demonstrating the unique ability to contradict herself in her own article. She states “I agree with Fernando that ‘the respectful exchange of ideas is important and empowering’” yet concludes her article by saying one would be correct in assuming “I have absolutely no respect for a conservative point of view.” Need I say more?
On the issues of proroguing, I would like to add that this does not directly affect the Green Party at all. While I am not shrugging off prorogation entirely – that discussion will, and has, taken place in a different discourse – prorogation does not have an impact on the Green Party debating their ideas in Parliament as they have not been chosen by the Canadian people to do so. If anything, it has given Ms. May the opportunity to be particularly emphatic about the failings of Canada’s democratic system- namely that her party has yet to win a seat in an election. I wish their party leader luck as she attempts to win a seat in the next election in whatever province she chooses this time around.
On that topic, I draw attention to Mr. Weinberg’s comments on democracy and allegations that the Conservative government is “out of step” with Canadians. I congratulate him on taking the moral high ground. In a democratic society the hallmark is that the citizens may cast a vote for whichever representative they choose. It is the votes that truly matter. On this front, in the 2008 election the Green Party received only 6.78 per cent, less than 1 million of all votes across Canada. Compare this with 37.65 per cent and 5.2 million votes for the Conservative Party and I will let the reader come to a conclusion, based on the facts and numbers, which party is more out of step with Canadians. Remember, it is a democracy.
The Campus Conservatives just wrapped up a successful “Campus Conservative Week” which hosted numerous speakers, including Mr. James Bezan, Member of Parliament and the Chair of the Standing on Environment and Sustainable Development, speak to students free of charge and bring the Conservative message on the environment on campus. Yet despite the Campus Greens’ efforts in organizing off campus protests and writing multiple letters to The Manitoban, none of their members were present for Mr. Bezan’s presentation. There, the Campus Greens could have heard Mr. Bezan speak, perhaps surprisingly to them, that Conservatives are conservationists and are taking action for the preservation of rural land.
Although the Campus Greens are decrying the prorogation of Parliament in Ottawa – in which they have no representation – they simultaneously pass up the opportunity to hear, ask questions of, and represent themselves to a Member of Parliament and Chair of the Standing Committee on the Environment right here at the University. This is indifference to environmental issues at its finest, and to once again quote Ms. Beaudette, “certainly indifference doesn’t qualify as commitment either.”
Having just wrapped up a successful Campus Conservative Week, which saw ours and the governments’ side of the environmental debate presented here on campus, the Campus Conservatives now turn their attentions to other events and their studies. It is a shame Campus Greens do not take as much of an interest in the environment as one might think. The Campus Conservatives take no interest in a further debate with those who are indifferent, not respectful of, and do not care to listen to the other side of the argument. After all, these are three prerequisites needed in order to have a meaningful debate in the first place.
Blake Hamm is president of the Campus Conservatives and has respect for opposing points of view, even when unreciprocated.
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Discussion
Re: Tories Do Bluegrass, Greens Twist and Shout
In the recent article, "Tories Do Bluegrass, Greens Twist and Shout”, Blaike Hamm makes the absurd argument that having seen no Campus Greens in attendance when James Bezan, Conservative Member of Parliment (MP), spoke at the University of Manitoba on January 18th, that this was evidence of "...indifference to environmental issues at its finest." This is absolutely ridiculous! There is any one of a numerous reasons why the Campus Greens may or may not have been in attendance, such as conflicting academic or work schedules. I can only speak for myself, but I had a group project due and was working on the project with my project partner accordingly.
Hamm should check his information when he criticizes the Campus Greens for submitting three letters. I was absolutely delighted to read Ms. Beaudette's letter, but I do not know her personally, and thus I had no idea that she submitted a letter with similar argumentation. I do know Alon Weinberg, and he was instrumental in the writing and editing of the commentary piece published in my name in the January 27 edition. Afterwards, Alon decided that he wanted to pen a few more of his thoughts and they were subsequently published online.
To state that the issue of prorogation "...does not directly affect the Green Party at all...", is offensive and undemocratic. The operation of Parliament concerns more than simply the 308 MPs. Inside or outside of Parliament all Canadians have an interest in the activities of our government. MPs have a duty to represent all of their constituents, not just those that voted for them. By extension, this means that the present Conservative government needs to govern in the interest of all Canadians, not simply in the interests of the roughly five million Conservative voters. I will accept that this minority government was duly elected in our present first-past-the-post system, but these five million voters only accounted for twenty-two percent of the registered voters who cast their ballot. This government then needs to be mindful of the concerns of the forty per cent of people who did not vote, and those that voted for another party; including, of course, the one million, and growing, Green Voters. To quote Hamm: "I will let the reader come to a conclusion, based on the facts and numbers...", to determine if the Conservatives had adequate support to unilaterally shut-down Parliament at tax-payers expense?
Perhaps more Campus Greens should have been in attendance when Bezan spoke, but what exactly does Mr. Hamm want? Perhaps he wanted Campus Greens to show up and pound a drum whenever someone was trying to speak? That is what the Campus Conservatives did during the December 16th, 2009 Copenhagen rally in front of Winnipeg South MP Rod Bruinooge’s Office.
The sarcastic tone of Mr. Hamm's letter is distasteful. Had Parliament not been shut-down, or if it had been simply adjourned, Mr. Bezan could be continuing with his work as Chair of the Environment Committee, but as with all other Committees it is now shut down post-prorogation. Perhaps Mr. Bezan made some good points regarding what the Conservative Government is doing? Unfortunately, and by Hamm's own admission, "no specifics on environmental policy" were discussed in his letter. The Campus Greens have no problem debating ideas, but if the Campus Conservatives really want to have a "respectful exchange of ideas" then perhaps they should stick to the issues.
Hey James: go hug a tree, you stinking hippie.
And keep throwing away your vote by voting for your pot-smoking buddies with the Green Party. It just makes it easier for us to win! =D
"Perhaps more Campus Greens should have been in attendance when Bezan spoke, but what exactly does Mr. Hamm want?"
Uhhhh, he wants nothing. It was YOU who wanted a debate!! (And no, screaming outside of a closed MPs office does not count as a "debate")
Mr. Hamm, as it turns out I am not a member of the Campus Greens, although we do see eye to eye on some issues. I would be more than happy to meet with you in person and have a discussion about the topic if you were willing to do so. The Manitoban can supply you with my details.