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Re: An illiberal Thread End

army

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Posted by Ian Edwards <[email protected]> on Tue, 21 Mar 2000 18:32:45 -0800
I‘ll keep it short, which isn‘t my style, in the hopes of getting in the
last words:
1. To quote you know who "Methinks he doth protest too much"
2. To quote Bonar Law a Canadian born Brit PM" Which way are my people
going, as I must follow them, for I am their leader?" well, that‘s just
about a correct quote. - 30 -
[email protected] wrote:
>
> Hi Ian Dave
>
> Bear with me this may get complicated, as I receive only the digest version of
> the newsletter.
> I feel your points deserve a response. I hope the group will forgive me going a
> bit off-topic to respond.
>
> First Ian:
>
> You wrote:
>
> It‘s interesting that you are/were ashamed to admit that you are
> a Liberal.
>
> Where did I say I was ashamed of being a Liberal? I haven‘t contributed much to
> this forum, mostly because
> I generally have the good sense to keep my mouth shut on things others know
> better than me, but on this
> occasion I thought the resolutions would be of interest to the group, and that
> all should know my bias and role.
> In any case, I am not ashamed to be a Liberal. That doesn‘t mean I can or will
> defend 100 of the record of the
> current or previous Liberal government, nor does it mean that I won‘t criticize
> it in areas I feel need attention such as defence.
> On the other hand, it does mean that, in my personal opinion, they best
> represent the national interest of this country, and I feel
> that the last 7 years demonstrate that. For those of you who disagree,
> especially with respect to National Defence, I understand and
> respect your opinion. I don‘t really feel this is a forum for discussing
> politics outside of how it affects National Defence, so I hope we
> can keep strictly political debate off this net.
>
> Are you also a lawyer? In the West about the only Liberals
> are lawyers looking for party payoffs for waiving the flag in the
> wilderness.
>
> Well, I‘m not a lawyer, I‘m a chartered accountant. While I now live in
> Montreal, I grew up and went to school in Alberta, and I can tell you
> as a fact that there are quite a few Liberals there who are not lawyers, and
> that there really aren‘t a lot of
> "party payoffs". Any further debate on this should probably not be on this
> forum as this point has nothing to
> do with the military
>
> Does the Party paper actually spell defence as defense ie.
> the Amuricun way, or is that just your typo?
>
> Alas, yes, as I copied the text from the policy manual. Too bad you weren‘t at
> the convention, we could have corrected it there.
>
> Do you really believe that the paper is anything more than rhetoric?
>
> As a matter of fact, yes, I do. Party resolutions represent the will of the
> party. These particular resolutions were classed as
> "priority", which means they were guaranteed to be brought to the floor of the
> entire convention to be put into official party policy.
> Not every resolution is declared a priority, there are certain groups which have
> a limited number of resolutions they
> can declare to ensure the party convention votes on them. As I indicated in the
> first post, Resolution 19 on National Defence
> was considered so important that 5 bodies sponsered it as a priority, INCLUDING
> the national caucus all the MP‘s and Senators.
>
> Does that mean I think the government will now jump up and down to act on this?
> No, I don‘t. These resolutions are not binding on the
> government, as I stated in my earlier post. However, they do push the
> government, and if enough people push their Liberal MP‘s to act on it, they
> will. I have seen party resolution enacted at Conventions show up in the House
> of Commons as legislation months after a convention.
> So yes, I think the resolutions are more than rhetoric.
>
> Do you think ‘we‘ are foolish enough to believe that Diefenbaker and Mulroney
> didn‘t do just as bad a
> hatchet job on the Canadian ARMED Forces as the Liberals, so why apologize for a
> party that follows
> public opinion rather than leads it?
>
> Well, I have certainly seen posts, such as "why would anyone vote Liberal" on
> this forum. It seems that the Liberals get more
> than their fare share of blame for the current state of the armed forces, and I
> can‘t deny that the Liberals were responsible for unification.
> You won‘t get any arqument from me that NONE of the parties have particularly
> served our military well.
>
> Why are you a Liberal? Is is just for lack of a viable alternative? The
> last good Defence Minister was Brooke Claxton! He was a Liberal and
> wasn‘t known for listening to constituents or fellow party members.
>
> I have to admit that I don‘t know of Brooke Claxton. I always though Perrin
> Beatty did a pretty decent job. I am a Liberal because
> I beleive that the party best represents the interest of all Canadians. I am
> also a Liberal because I beleive that sometimes, it
> helps to be on the inside of the process to influence the debate. As a
> westerner, I beleive we have been hurt by not being able
> to voice our concerns as effectively in cabinet and in the party. I don‘t think
> the NEP would have happened if there were viable swing seats
> in Alberta. I have a number of concerns, including defence, which I believe I
> can be a positive influence on the party. The Liberal party has room
> for a wide range of opinions, and I happen to be most comfortable there.
>
> Now, I didn‘t want to go on politicking, but ya asked.
>
> Alas, we are a one-party democracy.
> Since I was born 1970, the federal government has changed hands 4 times, with
> the Liberals in power for 20 years,
> and the Tories 10. The leadership of the Liberals changed 3 times, the Tories
> 6. Twice, there were minority governments.
> There are currently 5 parties represented in parliament, leading to the current
> situation of a very divided opposition. However, you
> could easily make the arqument that there are in fact too many parties. It is
> not the fault of the Liberal Party that the Tories exploded into
> three parties Reform, Bloc, PC. However, that doesn‘t make it a one party
> democracy. We saw internal polls this weekend that showed the Liberals were
> only consided the best party for the region in Ontario. The government knows
> its support is soft, and that it is threatened by all the other parties
> in different areas of the country. So, I don‘t buy the one-party thing.
>
> Now Dave:
>
> Good day Mr.James Hanna,
>
> Gee, that sounds much better than "Cpl. Hanna, J."
>
> Thank you for keeping us abreast of positive Liberal happenings. It is
> rather refreshing to hear that there are in fact some positive areas to hear
> about in a sea of negative boondoggling and bleeding heart anti constructive
> antics. I think the resolutions go far in attempting to correct a situation
> that screams out for attention. One thing I found missing from the list of
> objectives for the CF was, the defence of Canada and preparation for war. As
> this is the bottom line for any nations defence requirement, perhaps an
> amendment or supplement would be in order.
>
> Well, you‘re right, its not spelled out there specifically. However, I suppose
> the question is,
> how do you convince the public that more spending is necessary, in the midst of
> a crisis in Health care,
> and promises of tax cuts. If we are to win the debate in the public mindand
> the government will then surely
> follow we have to "sell" the public on the need for a stronger military. While
> we may agree that preparation for
> war is important, it would be a tough sell to the public. The areas enumerated
> in the resolution convinced the
> convention to pass the resolution, and I hope will convince the public to
> support it.
>
> Additionally, I think that, from the military point of view, preparing for the
> items enumerated, and preparing for war, don‘t look all that
> different. Perhaps I have too much confidence in NDHQ and the CDS, but I feel
> they would use
>
> Our Boy Scout duties are
> secondary to our warrior status. Not meaning to take anything away from this
> worthwhile initiative, it is interesting to note that it only caught Liberal
> attention once it reached a state of crisis. So much suffering, loss of
> reputation in the eyes of the world and Canadian credibility had to hit the
> skids before Liberals became embarrassed enough to even attempt to react.
>
> I agree its a long time coming, and I wish a similar resolution passed earlier.
> It has been debated at previous conventions, but had never obtained a sponser to
> become a "priority". I think you can credit East Timor - our willingness to act
> was hampered by our lack of resources. Yes, the
> government did get a wake up call, but I guess its better late than never.
>
> I too, will be voting Canadian Alliance.
>
> Well, I respect that. I disagree with it, but I respect your choice. Any
> further debate is best held on another forum.
>
> Dave Willard
>
> Well thats all for now. As an aside, I am enjoying the stories about the old
> kit/uniforms as well. From the sound of the battle dress/bush dress
> threads, I‘m glad I only saw the current combats. Now, if I could only get
> issued the new cam stuff before I have to release....
>
> James Hanna
>
> Nemo me impune lacessit
>
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