Monica Peacock's April 10, letter stresses those elected ought to govern "carte blanche." She should read "John A, The Man Who Made Us," by Richard Gwyn.
MacDonald's principles spawned the original BNA Act. Because of Parliament's pre-occupation with escalating colonial costs and their own contentious Reform Bill, Britain endorsed the BNA with little scrutiny.
Montreal Bishop Ignace Bourget, an early influence, said, "It is the duty of the electors to give their votes only to those who will comply entirely with the teachings of the church."
George Brown's opposing sentiment of "Rep by Pop" was shelved in favour of Conserative leader MacDonald's effective promotion of "good bunkum arguments on how to deal with dangerously popular issues like Rep by Pop."
MacDonald "made little attempt to pretend that his purpose was good government rather than the good of the party." Patronage-starved Tory members in Toronto were told by MacDonald, "As soon as Toronto returns Conservative members, it will get Conservative appointments." He urged his followers to "make gratitude certain" with pre-election appointments but no public announcements until after the election.
These ideas from a man who was responsible for the CPR scandal, for the execution of Louis Riel, and for the head tax on Chinese workers. The promoter of the Great Western Railway, Samuel Zimmerman, claimed that at any time more members could be found in his apartment than in any room in the legislature. It's principles like these that our current governments operate under.
No wonder the premier needed a second office.
Monica, read Ultimate Sacrifice by Lamar Waldron, where south of the border anything designated "national security" is top secret.
Facts of the Kennedy assassinations, and the Kennedy's long-hidden plot to assassinate Castro, and similar election-motivated Nixon-CIA-Mafia plots in the late '50s, (not to mention the real killers), were covered up by the CIA and later U.S. presidents.
Media complicity? Even in the early 2000s Canadian newspapers were still peddling Oswald as the lone assassin.
Racketeering allegations in Quebec's judicial appointments and construction contracts, subpoenaed documents being redacted and shredded, and Canadian citizenship rights suspended overseas, all argue for greater scrutiny.
Monica remember, even Hitler was democratically elected, initially.
Conversely, I do know of a recently independent MP who would gladly utilize your blind-faith writing skills.
Alan Martin,
Prince George
