Letter to my MP

21 December 2009

Rick Casson,
Member of Parliament
Lethbridge
House of Commons,
Ottawa, Ontario

Dear Mr Casson:
.
Cut it with the partisan crap. Show up for your committee meeting; bring your Conservative colleagues with you; and urge the Prime Minister to stop playing politics with the detainee issue. Conservative MPs' confusion over allegiances may yet be the downfall this government. And they border on treason.

Here's why:

You cannot bear true allegiance to her Majesty The Queen without standing up for Canadian sovereignty and Canadian values and protecting the role of Parliament in our democracy.

Parliament (The Sovereign, House of Commons and Senate) are supreme in Canada, not the PMO or the Conservative Party. Stop insulting Canadians by treating Parliament like an impediment to democracy. It is the basis of Canadian democracy.

You are elected to represent the interests of Canadians in your riding, not to play stupid political games. Remember, it is the voters who hire and fire you, not the party brass.

The irony is this: your political games are blowing any hope of a Conservative majority. Even if you have no respect for our parliamentary system, or Canadian values; sheer self-interest must be telling you that you are acting in a self-destructive manner by treating Parliament as an impediment to democracy, In fact, Parliament is the basis of democracy.

The fact that, even the Prime Minister is 'first among equals', is the strength of our system of government. The fact that the Head of State and her representatives are partisan, protects us from the arrogance of the executive and total partisan dictatorship that, it appears, our current Head of Government would find more efficient.

I love our old-fashioned parliamentary system. It serves Canadians well, and has served us well since before Confederation.

God help us all, if Canada ever strays from our current system either combines the Head of Gov/Head of State functions or turns the Head of State into a partisan, because then Parliament will have lost supremacy. Democracy will be in even more peril than it is today.

It is plain that members of the Conservative party find the opposition an impediment to their will. (That is their job. The Opposition is there to question and hold the government accountable.)

Show up for your committee meeting. Remember that Parliament is supreme in Canada. Democracy may be inefficient when it comes to carrying out a party agenda, but it is the basis of our system.
.
Sincerely,
Jane Harris Zsovan
p.s.
Even Reform MP, Ray Speaker, used to send us actual reports from Parliament instead of advertising flysers. Please return to that time honoured tradition that Mr. Speaker and his predecessor, Conservative MP, Blaine Thacker followed. It is much more befitting the role of a Member of Parliament.

cc. The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minster of Canada