LETTER: Conservatives ability to co-operate proven time and again
By Contributor
Dear Editor;
Throughout the current election campaign, (including the Castlegar All Candidates forum), New Democratic Party (NDP) candidate Atamanenko has railed against ‘the Harper government’s lack of co-operation’, their ‘inability to compromise’, and to simply ‘get along with others’.
Yet he fails to acknowledge or explain – if the Conservatives are really so bad at working with other parties – how is it then that they have managed to stay in power in a minority parliament for so long?
Surely it is impossible for a minority party to govern for long without demonstrating an ability to work with the other parties who, by virtue of their majorities, can defeat them at any time.
Yet the Conservatives have managed to retain the confidence of the House for not one, not two, not three, they have had the ‘confidence’ and support of the other parties to govern for fully five years – the longest serving minority government in Canadian history!
Clearly this is prima facie evidence that the Conservatives can and do work with other parties, and are not the unco-operative, uncompromising boors our disingenuous (I use that adjective advisedly) candidate Atamenenko would have us believe.
Moreover, local Conservative candidate Stephen Hill has amply demonstrated his ability to work with others and achieve positive results in his efforts to assist the Midway community in reopening their local mill – all without being elected. Just think what else he might achieve for us all if he was our elected representative!
John Murray,
Nelson
