Unfortunately, my support is now on a razor's edge. And it all has to do with Julian Fantino.
It is my view that the Conservative Party is as much at fault over the Caledonia catastrophe as any other party. The Harper government has presented itself as a law-and-order party. It has brought in long-needed reforms. It has stood up to the lunacy of the farcical long-gun registry. And yet, it did not have the cojones to stand up to the rampant lawlessness and threats to our fellow citizens that has gone unchecked in Caledonia.
However, the actions taken by Julian Fantino -- from ignoring the rule of law, to blaming and trying to penalize the victims of violence to outrightly threatening the elected officials of Caledonia -- has been the most disgusting and disturbing action taken by a police official I have ever seen. I have nothing but utter contempt for the disrespect and cowardice displayed by Fantino.
The fact that the Conservative Party would welcome Fantino into the fold is like pouring salt on an open wound. In fact, that is exactly what it is. They have rewarded the actions of a man deserving of contempt. While Julian Fantino earned a reputation as a first rate policing leader, he pissed all over that reputation by ignoring his sworn duty and holding himself above the citizens who gave him their trust to do what is right.
As it is, I am at a crossroads. If an election were held today, I would still vote for Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party. But there is no way in Hades that I am going to donate to the party now. That money would better serve a victims of violence group than a party who gives a pat on the back to a man like Julian Fantino. And so long as the Conservative Party touts itself as the defender of law-and-order while turning their backs on the citizens of Caledonia, I will certainly not be rewarding their hypocrisy.
Posts
9 comments:
That is your opinion and on one issue you would consider hanging out with any of the other three?..Our Conservative Government has served Canada well. That was an Ontario issue and totally handled by that Government. You would have been happy to have our Prime Minister tell Ontario what to do? Seems very shallow of you, in my opinion, to like 90 percent or so of how we have been governed but because one man dares to put his name forward you walk off in a huff. You cannot change the past but you can guide the future and help heal the past. You are allowed to disagree but to take it as far as you do is very surprising. I am sticking by my government and if I have disagreements with them I will not air it in public, but try to get my message through privately via my MP or by letter to the PMO, not by threatening to take away my vote or money. You are new here to BT or just changed your name...(?)
You must have missed the last paragraph where I wrote: "If an election were held today, I would still vote for Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party."
As for changing the past, perhaps you don't realize that Caledonia is still occupied and the citizens still under daily terror. And, no, it's not just a provincial matter. First Nations land claims are Federal jurisdiction. Thus, the Federal government does have a hand in how it plays out.
For Fantino to be welcomed into the fold with as much gusto as Harper has seen fit to provide is not just tacit approval of how Fantino handled the situation; it is outright approval.
I give you qualified support. I would like to read Christie Blatchford's new book on the issue before I make a definitive statement. I am very angry at both of the governments involved.
The Ontario PM McGuinty has the most to explain since he controls the Ontario Provincial Police. Fantino had no choice but to follow Liberal political instructions.
Mike Harris got into trouble with the Indians that ended with an OPP shooting one of the native antagonists. No-one ever was able to prove that Mike Harris ever did anything wrong despite umpteen enquiries. All of that had to do with political interference.
I have a feeling that McGuinty is guilty of JUST THAT.
Federally we need to determine a gre deal.at
I'm really interested in reading Blatchford's book as well... put it on my Amazon wish list as soon as it showed up there. She was actually on John Tory's radio show on AM 1010 this afternoon and the stuff she was describing was ridiculous.
The native occupiers could assault people, steal cop cars (and run the cops over), burn bridges and hydro stations and the cops did nothing. But when four little old ladies set up some chairs in the DMZ and had a coffee... 53 cops showed up and literally picked them up and carried them out of there.
And let's not even get started on how you could have Mohawk gang flags and Palestinian flags flying... but if somebody brought a Canadian flag anywhere near there they'd get rounded up. Disgusting.
Sorry NB Tory Gal, but I think our author has a very good point here. Fantino's conduct as Chief of Police WAS disgraceful, and even criminal.
Like Surecure, I couldn't believe that Harper courted Fantino for a job as star candidate. If it were my riding, I definitely wouldn't vote for him. If McGuinty did indeed put the pressure on Fantino at Caledonia, he could have resigned and made a statement that he didn't agree with the way things were being handled there and his hands were tied - in other words, have some morals (as a chief of police, of all people, should have!!). Instead, he and McGuinty were 'politically correct' cowards and as Surecure said, had Canadian flags removed and the local old ladies and other long time residents harassed EVEN FURTHER by the police. The whole thing was (and still is) shameful and much of the blame should fall squarely at Fantino's feet.
And I think a blog IS a place where this should be aired. We're happy to loudly support and cheer on PMSH through most times, but we're not supposed to mention anything here when something doesn't seem right? C'mon....
I'll keep voting conservative as well but this is one action of Harper's that I don't support, and it's one seat I hope we don't get.
I still agree with you on Fantino. He had better explain himself. Even more important, the Conservative Party better explain themselves for putting Fantino in place without a competition if that is in fact the case.
Even so, I still give Fantino the benefit of the doubt.
An open letter to the Conservative Party
Just explain to me and you will show the electorate why and how you have NOTHING to hide. If you don't show me then I KNOW you have something to hide
The one thing I do want to point out -- which is the main reason why I'll still vote Conservative -- is that no other politician from any other party has stood up for the residents of Caledonia either.
Layton? Nope.
Ignatieff? As always, like the opportunistic hypocrite he is, he criticized Harper without saying anything about what the police, federal or provincial governments should be doing.
The only politician (albeit former politician) I've seen who has come out swinging is John Tory who has straight out said that the rule of law must be obeyed.
It's unfortunate that the Official Lame-O-pposition has created such a hyper-partisan atmosphere where we can't even talk about real issues anymore. But that doesn't entirely excuse anybody. Not them and certainly not the people we support.
Wow, you are a quite a partisan. The $52 Billion (oops, revised due to mismanagement to $55 Billion) deficit is not reason enough to dump this pathetic bunch of incompetents?
Sure, GP. When you compare the $55 Billion deficit of Canada vs the $1.17 Trillion deficit of the US (20 times larger with 10 times the population) you can certainly say that the Harper government is a far better choice than those like Ignatieff and Layton who fawn over the policies of the Obama administration. If we followed the Lame-O-pposition's preferred path, our deficit would be significantly larger.
As a non-partisan, I'm sure you'll agree that the US deficit is a sign of true incompetence in the Obama administration, right?
It is quite unfortunate that the Liberals, NPD and Bloc turned parliament into a partisan mud throwing contest from the day the Conservatives took power... and of course they themselves turned around and said it was all the Conservatives fault.
Post a Comment