Some things just need to be said...

Friday, February 25, 2005

Campbell "arrogance" charge could work for NDP

Rafe Mair, former Social Credit cabinet minister and long time talk radio host says "arrogance" charge against the Campbell Liberals may just be the ticket to a surprise result on May 17.

Rafe writes a weeky syndicated column and is pretty ticked with the Campbell government on a number of issues. To name a few, farmed salmon, the environment, cuts to social services, legal aid and failure to deliver on the 5000 care beds.

Rafe's most critical comments are saved for his former cabinet minister colleague, Claude Richmond, the Liberal MLA from Kamloops and Speaker of the Legislature.

"On Day One of the Liberal mandate, Speaker Richmond meanly deprived the NDP of Official Opposition status, punctuating his disdain for the Opposition by permitting Liberal backbenchers to hog Question Period, traditionally the Opposition's forum, with slow pitches to cabinet ministries.

All governments are arrogant. Ministers think the title "honourable" confers both moral rectitude and instant ability to run ministries. But when governments act as if they can do whatever they please, it begs public punishment."


Rafe doesn't stop here, he goes on describing the issues that should help Carole James and the NDP.
"The NDP have issues - the broken promise to build long-term facilities to open acute care beds for surgery patients is an obvious one. There is the lack of enforcement of environmental laws and the unbelievable arrogance (that word again) of Agriculture Minister John van Dongen toward the fish farm issue. There's no shortage of social issues."

Finally Rafe concludes his column with this;

"If James can show the Campbell government as arrogant and uncaring to a level where voters are offended, she just might, to the surprise of all, have found a winning wicket."

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