Megan Walkers sound bites after being nominated as the NDP candidate in the London North Centre By-Election were quite disheartening. This is yet another reason I have a hard time truly committing to the NDP and why I decided to join the Greens. The NDP often complain about the performances of other MP's during Question Period. The latest of course is Peter MacKay's supposed words against Belinda. Yet this example of pure verbal diarrhea is contrary to the NDP's stance on name calling:
When I see this kind of useless utterances I can't help but feel sorry for the NDP. Firstly to call a woman who is quite successful anti-woman is misguided. You make a fool out of yourself and your party. You can call her anti-gay or Bush lite if you must to distinguish yourself from her but calling her anti-woman is wrong. You may not agree with her policies but she has been very successful and very independent. She worked hard to get where she has been and trying to discredit her is foolish."I'm asking you to send the anti-women, anti-gay, anti-environment,
anti-equality but pro-George Bush Dianne Haskett a message," Walker said to loud
applause from the more than 200 people at the Central Library's Wolf Performance
Hall. London-North-Centre isn't the London parachute club. (The riding) is
not here for you to drop in when you need a job. Dianne, I hope the new
lease you signed on your apartment has a one-month expiry date, because you're
going to need it."Walker had words for her Green Party opponent as well. "To Elizabeth May, London-North-Centre is not rent-a-riding to be used and discarded. Real people with real problems live here," she said, calling the NDP the greenest party in the country.
To make even more foolish statements about Elizabeth May shows how petty a candidate she is. She underestimates Elizabeth May's ability to stand up for the people she is working with. To call her party the greenest party in the country is very foolish as well. Elizabeth May is infamous for her Cape Breton Tar Sands stance. What has the NDP done that is remotely environmental? Jack flies from province to province. I don't see Lizzie doing that--can I call her Lizzie??--she takes the train all over the place. And for Megan Walker, three little letters for her regarding environmental issues--CAW. How can a party claim to be environmental when they are a huge Union party--the big supporter suppose to be CAW which protects the rights of workers in an industry that is a big polluter.
Megan also underestimates the people of North London. As someone who grew up in and around the area rudeness doesn't play well in the elections. People from South Western Ontario don't like unkind things!
3 comments:
You don't have to believe the NDP when it says it's the greenest party in Canada, read the reports cards issued to the candidates by the Sierra Club. They gave the NDP top marks, ahead of the green party.
The Sierra Club gave the NDP top marks in the 2004 election. The Green Party receieved top marks for the 2006 election.
... and no, you can't call Elizabeth "Lizzy". She dislikes nicknames and has explained how her mom gave her the name Elizabeth and ensured that she wouldn't get nicknames.
As far as the CAW Union is concerned, I don't think we can really make any huge claims that they are a sign that the NDP isn't green. The NDP certainly have their support, but that doesn't mean that the CAW dictates NDP policy.
Also, the CAW encapsulates much more than just auto-workers. Some notable employers include public transit employers like Marine Atlantic and VIA Rail.
As a Green, I think union support from any industry could be a great asset, high-polluting or not. It's the management in these high-polluting industries that should be the target for criticism, not the employees.
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