The Canadian political fringe
Dear Editor:
An editorial in the St. John’s Telegram knowingly or unknowingly played to those at the top of the established political parties who are increasingly concentrating decision making power in their hands. http://www.thetelegram.com/index.cfm?sid=96229&sc=80
Advising Newfoundlanders and Labradoreans, and by extension all Canadians, to regard everyone outside the three established parties as “fringe” elements cements the control of special interests over the political system. If you join one of the federal establishment parties you may get to vote for a leader but even that choice is strictly limited by the requirements imposed by the center. If you are lucky you may even get the chance to vote in a nomination meeting if the center is unable to decide who would make the best candidate to represent their interests. Otherwise, the stringent vetting process determines your choice.
As with the case in some Conservative ridings, even the pre-nomination vetting process does not ensure the selected candidate will continue to have the support of the leader as Mark Warner and others have found out in Ontario. The Liberal leader can simply by-pass the nomination process and appoint his own candidate, as he has done in the riding of Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River, in the process over-looking two Liberal Party members and selecting an NDP member of the Saskatchewan legislature. Of seven by-elections since becoming leader, Dion has selected at least four of the candidates.
I accept that those of us in the Progressive Canadian Party are on the “fringe” as the editorial states, but I would like to point out that our objective is to create a political party that will represent Canadian voters who are on the “fringe” as well.
Phyllis Wagg,
West Bay, NS,
