Letter: Government should not push through TPP trade agreement during campaign
By Letters to the editor
To The Editor:
The recently negotiated (Trans-Pacific Partnership) TPP trade agreement is another example of the Harper Conservatives trying to throw the Election in their favour.
Again Harper has shown his disdain for democracy by ignoring the Canadian Constitution.
According to our Constitution, when Harper dissolved Parliament early, as he did, that placed his Government under rules of the “caretaker convention”.
That convention, is exactly what the name implies; a “caretaker” only administration. So the political party in control of Parliament, when it was dissolved, is stripped of its power and is only allowed to act in response to an emergency, such as a natural disaster.
The rules of the “caretaker convention” requires, if there is an emergency, the Prime Minister must work with his counterparts in the opposition to make decisions that are in the national interest.
Clearly, this obligation to work with the opposition parties was intended so as not to give the out-going Government an unfair advantage during the ensuing election campaign.
So whether the TPP is good or bad isn’t the issue (although news out of the USA is that none of their Democratic Party’s presidential candidates are in support) it is Harper’s blatant disregard for our Canadian Constitution and our democracy.
Just like some concerns raised during the previous two elections, Harper’s Conservatives have no qualms whatsoever in manipulating the rules to gain an advantage.
In Kootenay Columbia, voters have only one choice, Wayne Stetski (NDP), to defeat Steven Harper and restore democracy to Canada.
Gary Werk,
Cranbrook, BC
