Letters: January 7

To: Scott Reid, Conservative MP, LFL&A, Helen Forsey

Kylie Babcock Benefit Concert, Tonya Selle

To: Scott Reid, Conservative MP, LFL&A.

Never did I think to receive such an inappropriate Christmas card as the one that recently arrived from you.  Instead of a cordial and inclusive greeting, I found a thinly disguised partisan attack on your political opponents, including constituents like myself.

I am deeply offended that the Member of Parliament who supposedly represents all citizens of Lanark Frontenac Lennox & Addington would use his Christmas card to stir up negative partisan sentiments. To then coyly say "Enough about politics" just adds insult to injury.

Not only was your message offensive, it contained two flagrant falsehoods about the events of a year ago. First, you referred to "the Liberal/BQ/NDP coalition", slipping the Bloc Quebecois into the designation even though the Bloc was not part of the coalition.  Secondly, you said that the coalition had "nearly overturned the results of the then-recent election", when in fact most Canadians had voted against the Conservatives in that election and elected a majority of opposition MPs.

As you well know, Scott, in our parliamentary system, Canadians elect a House of Commons, not a prime minister or a cabinet.  It is those elected Members of Parliament - you and your colleagues of all parties - who decide who is to govern.  As you also know, when a majority of the MPs we elect lose confidence in the government soon after an election, the correct constitutional option is to try and see if an alternative government can be formed from the existing recently elected House.

For an alternative government to be considered as a realistic option, it is important to show that it would be able to retain the confidence of the House for a reasonable length of time.  That is why the Liberals and the NDP asked the Bloc to agree to support the coalition on matters of confidence for 18 months.  That is very different from the Bloc being part of the coalition itself.

Working with a recently elected Parliament to achieve a stable government with the confidence of the House is far more democratic than forcing the country to go through all the disruption and expense of another election.  (Moreover, with a frustrated public unlikely to elect a majority from any party, such a premature trip to the polls would only put us on an electoral merry-go-round.)

So the proposed coalition, far from "overturning" the results of the 2008 election, would have been implementing those results, giving us a government with the support of a majority of MPs which could deal democratically and effectively with the urgent issues we face.

It is a sad testimony to the dishonesty and cynicism of the present Conservative government, and to the gullibility of many Canadians, that your party has so far managed to get away with distorting and denying the facts and making such a mockery of our democratic system.

To me personally, it is especially disappointing that you, Scott, would stoop to using your Christmas card for such a purpose. May the New Year bring honesty, caring and wisdom back to primacy on Parliament Hill.

Helen Forsey

Re: Central Frontenac Septic Inspections

Recently, I objected to mandatory septic system inspections and septic tank pump-outs at a specific time interval, i.e. every 5 years. Jeff Green has reported that the Mississippi and Rideau Valley Conservation Authorities operate an inspection program in North Frontenac, which covers grey water, outhouse and septic tank type systems. This is fair as all properties will eventually be inspected. Also the inspection appears to be conducted in a consultative manner with the determination of a pumping requirement based on a measurement of the scum and sludge depths in the septic tank. Not every tank needs to be pumped every five years. Some little used systems might last 20 years if the cottage is only lightly used, the tank is large, and solid foods are not deposited into the system. Personally though, and I have a long pair of rubber gloves, I would prefer to have my tank pumped every five years if I could find a service which can reach my water-access-only cottage. Hats off to the conservation authority for developing a sensible, fair and effective program!

Steve Giles