Letter to the Editor

The recently negotiated Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement is another example of the Harper Conservatives trying to throw the election in their favour. Again Harper has shown his disdain for democracy by ignoring the Canadian Constitution.

According to our Constitution, when Harper dissolved Parliament early, as he did, that placed his government under rules of the “caretaker convention.” That convention is exactly what the name implies; a “caretaker” only administration. So the political party in control of Parliament, when it was dissolved, is stripped of its power and is only allowed to act in response to an emergency, such as a natural disaster.

The rules of the ‘caretaker convention’ requires, if there is an emergency, the Prime Minister must work with his counterparts in the opposition to make decisions that are in the national interest. Clearly, this obligation to work with the opposition parties was intended so as not to give the out-going government an unfair advantage during the ensuing election campaign.

So whether the TPP is good or bad isn’t the issue (although news out of the USA is that none of their Democratic Party’s presidential candidates are in support) it is Harper’s blatant disregard for our Canadian Constitution and our democracy. Just like the Robo calls and exceeding the spending limits in the previous two elections, Harper’s Conservatives have no qualms whatsoever in breaking the rules to gain an unfair advantage!

In Kootenay-Columbia, voters have only one choice, Wayne Stetski (NDP), to defeat Steven Harper and restore democracy to Canada.

Gary Werk,

Cranbrook

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