When Joseph McCarthy took on the U.S. Army...

... it was the beginning of the end.

Here is a letter to the editor that appeared in the Kingston Whig Standard this morning:

Every time I hear about another of our young soldiers being killed in Afghanistan, it breaks my heart. I am so grateful to the young men and women fighting on our behalf to uphold the way of life many of us take for granted. I am also grateful to the families that have raised such dedicated soldiers, and to the wives, husbands and children they leave behind to fight on the side of freedom.

It is mainly for this reason, but certainly not only for this reason, that I am appalled at the way the Canadian opposition in Parliament is trying to take over leadership of Canada.

To unseat the government by way of a coalition is to throw mud in the face of democracy - the same democracy that these young people are dying to protect. It is, therefore, also a slap in the face to the soldiers and their families if we let this happen.

We, as Canadians -regardless of which party we voted for in the recent election -must stand up and fight for all that our votes stand for: freedom, democracy and the right to choose how we live our lives. Don't let the loss of 100 Canadian soldiers be in vain.

Laurie Campbell

and here is my letter to the editor in reply (it could use some more work but I don't have a lot of time!):

Dear Editor,

It was disturbing to see the letter from a reader (Coalition scheme is anti-democratic, December 12, 2008) who showed disrespect for our courageous soldiers in Afghanistan by attempting to use them as pawns to advance her political views, and in particular to misrepresent our Westminster system of government. It is one thing to support the political party forming the government in parliament. It is quite another to accuse elected opposition MPs of being anti-democratic and un-patriotic, as the letter writer, certain members of parliament, and a parade of other editorialists have done. How much longer should we allow these people to damage our public institutions? Perhaps it is time to ask them the question, "You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency?"

Kingston Liberals/NDP/Greens continue to meet

Following up on a rapidly organized and successful town hall (literally) meeting last weekend in Kingston, Ontario, members of the Kingston and the Islands Liberal Party, New Democratic Party and Green Party met again tonight to discuss how to work together over the next seven weeks (and beyond) to promote the proposed coalition government.

What is most amazing is how well we get along and how smoothly we have worked together (I'll admit I was ready to throttle the NDP over a couple of issues during the recent federal election campaign). Hats off to Mr. Harper and the Conservatives.

Stay tuned for more developments...

Progressive Coalition Event at City Hall, Kingston, Ontario

Progressive Coalition to Host Meet and Greet in Kingston

This Sunday, December 7 at 2:00PM, Kingston's Memorial Hall will play host to a 'Meet and Greet' in support of the proposed Progressive Coalition Government.

The event has been coordinated by representatives from Kingston's Liberals, Greens and New Democrats, and is supported by the Kingston District Labour Council. It is aimed at helping concerned Kingston and area residents to better understand what is behind the current political crisis and how we can best work together to resolve it. Speakers will include prominent local political figures and an expert on Canadian constitutional practice.

According to Kim McFarlane, President of the local federal Liberal Association, “Only a week ago, all parties signalled their willingness to work with the current Government by accepting its Speech from the Throne. Rather than building on that, Mr. Harper responded with destructive partisanship that irretrievably cost him the confidence of the House. Under our parliamentary system, that requires his resignation. The Coalition Accord represents a sincere effort on the part of the majority of the members of the House of Commons to make this Parliament work for Canadians to deal with the real problem, which is the state of the economy. We fail to understand how Mr. Harper’s move to shut down Parliament for almost two months will help those Canadians facing job losses.”

Eric Walton, the Green candidate in the last election added that “by proroguing Parliament primarily for reasons of self-preservation, Stephen Harper has deeply damaged Canada's democratic system and for that reason alone should be voted out at the first opportunity.”

The local gathering has been designed with a focus on socialization, education, and community spirit. The event is open to the public and refreshments will be provided.

“We all agreed that rather than holding another rally, the wide-range of political support in Kingston might be best-served by a more social event where we can get to know one another and commit to working together on a local level.“ said Daniel Beals, President of the local New Democrats.

It should be noted that Kingston has a history as a site of unification and cooperation, having hosted the first meeting of the Parliament of the united Upper and Lower Canadas on June 13, 1841.

"Now is not the time for political posturing. In the face of an economic crisis it is crucial that we work together for the good of all Canadians. Nobody can question the sincerity that underlines the Coalition Accord." said Debi Wells, President of the Kingston District Labour Council.

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Inquiries: Ron Hartling

Policy Director - Kingston & the Islands Federal Liberal Association

613-384-5710

Daniel Beals

President - Kingston & the Islands New Democrats

613-549-8399 (h)

Eric Walton

International Affairs Critic - Green Party Shadow Cabinet

613-542-9365

Debi Wells

President - Kingston District Labour Council

613-548-4952

Who should lead the coalition?

I don't pretend to know what's going on. I just read the news, cautiously. So when I read these lines from the CBC from a report by Keith Boag on the details of the coalition agreement:

"The real obstacle to this deal going through is still within the Liberal party," Boag said, adding the deal is being negotiated by Dion, who believes he has the right to be prime minister.

But it's unclear whether the party wants him to continue, and the leadership candidates were meeting Sunday evening to discuss the matter, Boag said.

I tend to assume that the reporter is just smelling around for some conflict to report on, as they are wont to do.

But, just in case, I wish to declare that I, as one individual among the many who make up the Liberal party, support Stéphane Dion as our interim leader and the leader of a possible coalition government. The Liberal party's membership should be the ones who choose their next leader.

NDP and Bloc pre-coalition talks: as it should be!

CTV has broken the story that the NDP and the Bloc have had talks for a "considerable period of time" about a coalition. CTV is taking the angle that this means there are "political motives" to bringing down the government. That is, CTV and their favourite commentators (I'm listening to Ezra Levant right now) are implying that they were not really motivated to act by Flaherty's financial update.

I disagree. In a minority parliament, when minority governments are likely to be the norm in the foreseeable future, and when we've just had an election, I believe that opposition parties should be ready to present an alternative should the governing party try to act unilaterally to do something which the opposition thinks is harmful to Canada. The alternative can't be an election at this point in time, and so the opposition should be ready to govern, if necessary.

Even though the Conservatives have now retreated on public funding of political parties, and on taking away the right of civil servants to strike, and are moving up the date of the budget, the organization of an alternative, coalition government should continue. It is needed to keep the government honest and focused on the important issues of the day.

Prepare the coalition and keep the engine running to, at the very least, keep the party in power honest and focused on governing.

Coalition Government: one reason to go for it

A number of commentators have been using chess metaphors to describe what's going on in Ottawa this weekend. Well, I'm a chess player and here is a very relevant chess proverb:

"The threat is stronger than its execution"

I think that the exercise of readying a coalition government is a good one if only to provide a credible alternative to the Conservative government and thereby to help the opposition parties do their job.

In a minority government, an effective opposition must be willing and able to present an alternative. Otherwise they have no way to induce the comprises that voters have given them a mandate to negotiate. Usually the alternative is to return to the polls, but with an election having been held so recently, and with the prospect of minority governments being the norm in the foreseeable future, opposition parties must be ready with a credibly viable alternative government, if only simply to be able to do their jobs effectively.