I was not convinced sewage treatment was a good core campaign platform when I first heard about it because I knew what the Green Party position was on the issue and it was not that dramatically different than Summerville's own, but this has not stopped Paul Summerville from trying to make the case that there is a dramatic difference between the two. Frankly when I read the Green approach to the issue and Paul Summerville's, the Green one seems to have more though and consideration put into, certainly Donald Galloway is not jumping on the Hyperbole Express.
The campaign plan was also predicated on the idea that no Conservative Party candidate would speak out against the sewage treatment plant because the current government has offered money for the plan. Conservative Dale Gann has now come out against the current plan. Instead of taking some credit for creating the debate on the issue and getting Dale Gann to change his view, Paul Summerville posted a rather sarcastic, and frankly nasty piece, about Dale Gann choosing to be against sewage treatment. How does a posting like that improve the quality of our politics in Canada? How does it do anything to lead towards a country where excellence matters?
What we need in politics is more civility and respect, trying to make someone look bad for changing their mind does not fit into that category. I read the post he did about Dale Gann and sewage treatment and I see on no level at all how reporting a fictitious press conference by Stephen Harper in a sarcastic way does anything to improve things. It is as if he would prefer that no Conservative think for themselves, express their own opinion or change their mind.
It is from Paul Summerville that I am seeing some of the most negative posting in this campaign in general such as:
- May's Mad Math - in this post he takes on Elizabeth May for wanting another MP and beyond that going after the Greens for issues related to natural resource policy
- Murray Rankin Makes His Position Clear on Rising Sewage Taxes, "It's Not My Problem!" -
- The Endorsement - from October 27th about Mr Floatie endorsing Murray Rankin, but more importantly saying Rankin's credibility has been damaged because he is not actively opposing the sewage treatment plant.
Based on his writing and how he has campaigned in this election, I am not convinced that Paul Summerville is able to be an MP that will improve the quality of governance in Canada.
The reality is that there is little or no danger of him winning, at best he will come a distant third. I expect he will see a further drop in Liberal Party support, the fifth election in a row to have that happen.
When asked why he is running, the NDP candidate launched an angry tirade demonizing Stephen Harper and, by extension, several million Canadians who support him. This is a pattern with the NDP - a study found them to be the least civil party in the last parliament and I don't need a study to tell they are the least civil in this parliament.
ReplyDeleteDenise Savoie's last householder was so angry and vitriolic that it actually - I'm not making this up - contained a mid-rant apology for the negative tone. It was the angriest political communication I have ever seen in my life.
Decades in the political wilderness has led to a culture of demonizing and shrieking with the NDP. It's systemic.
You say a prime consideration for you in supporting a candidate is whether they are a nice person. Ms Savoie was not nice. She did not advocate nice policies and her vicious partisanship divided her community and country by demonizing her opponents instead of offering a positive alternative.
This reminds me of a story about Paul Brown, who you know from Open Victoria. When he ran in the by election to replace a councilor, I spoke with him briefly after a meeting. When I told him I was socially conservative he became visibly angry, and I mean angry. Keep in mind that Victoria is getting a lot of socially conservative immigrants from the Phillipines and Latin America - I guess they make him angry too.
From where I stand on the right, it is the left that is demonstrably, and measurably, and inexplicably vicious, and I have data to support that. For my money the most hateful politician in Canada is Elizabeth May - just vicious in her hatred of Harper and Conservatives, totally out of proportion with any legitimate grievance she may have with them.
The most powerful hate is a self-justified hate, and unfortunately leftists in Canada and elsewhere sincerely believe they are doing right by hating conservatives, and there is no corresponding hatred from our side, at least not on that level.
The conventional wisdom is that the left is "nice" and "well meaning" and we conservatives are "mean". This is not an evidence based conclusion.
Denise Savoie is a class act in every way. She is an exceptional person and politician and that has nothing to do with left or right.
ReplyDeleteThe Paul Summerville campaign style makes me wonder if he is being advised by the BC Liberals. There is definitely a similar tone to what we hear from the Premier’s office. I contacted his campaign regarding what I considered rude behaviour on the part of a canvasser who came to my door. The response was rather dismissive, but did say the campaign office would tell canvassers not to be “too aggressive” in future. Presumably some degree of aggression at the doorstep is fine in the service of a higher cause (i.e. electing a federal Liberal).
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