Time to take on Paul Martin’s corporate agenda and corruption
by David Turner
March 11, 2004

After more than two decades of rule in Ottawa by the Brian Mulroney Conservatives and another conservative party that calls itself Liberal, Canadians will soon have a chance to elect progressive members of Parliament who can make a difference with Jack Layton and the NDP.

The Liberal government of Jean Chretien and Paul Martin carried on with Mulroney’s agenda of shifting the tax burden from the rich to poor and middle income Canadians, imposing free trade, and attacking health care and other social programs. Over the past three years, we have watched Martin work hard to remove Chretien from power and obliterate the remaining progressive remnants of the Liberal party.

The Liberal scandals include the sponsorship affair and many other backroom corporate deals. Canadian sovereignty was squandered by the Mulroney government through the North America Free Trade Agreement at the expense of Canadian jobs and much-needed national programs such as housing, transportation and childcare.

Under Martin’s watch as Finance Minister, social programs were gutted by reducing unemployment benefits, cutting transfer payments for health care, education and social programs, and by giving massive tax breaks to the rich and big corporations.

Martin is now joining with George W. Bush in his dangerous Star Wars missile program, and has opened the door to locating U.S. radar and missiles on Canadian soil.

Paul Martin and David Anderson are endangering Canada’s environment by promoting policies that favour big business, bringing in toothless endangered species legislation, subsidizing the nuclear industry, stealing the huge $44 billion Employment Insurance fund surplus and “investing” it in military industries.

David Anderson continues to promote the corporate agenda while he neglects his own constituents and his responsibilities as Minister of the Environment and Minister Responsible for Housing. He is aloof and disconnected from the issues facing Victoria.

I would like to introduce myself and the Federal NDP, with its new leader Jack Layton. Many of you know me already from my work in Victoria as the Mayor, School Board Chair, and as a probation officer, UVic Professor, director of numerous not-for-profit community boards, human rights advocate, and long-time resident of the Hillside-Quadra area.

I would like to be your next Member of Parliament, to provide you with a competent, environmental and ethical alternative to the corrupt Liberal Government and the corporate bias of the Conservatives. I have an environmental, social justice and human rights vision of Canada rooted in democratic socialism.

We need a Member of Parliament who has real integrity, is willing to speak out and advocate for your concerns in Ottawa, and who will provide good service to all constituents (not just Liberals) through an effective office in Victoria.

We need an MP who will address the needs of the homeless, the growing gap between the rich and the poor, and the degradation of our environment. We need an MP who promotes small business, fights for Canadian control of our economy, and works to improve quality of life in our city. We need an MP with vision, who understands that dealing with these issues benefits us all!

Jack Layton has brought new ideas and new strength to the NDP. We are the only party that is standing up to both Liberal corruption and Liberal policies that attack most Canadians in the name of helping out the wealthy and powerful.

The NDP is a credible alternative to the corporate drift and corruption Tory and Liberal governments over the last 20 years. Please help out on our campaign to win the Victoria riding back from Paul Martin and David Anderson! To volunteer, donate, or take a campaign sign, please visit our website at DavidTurner.ca, e-mail me at david@davidturner.ca or call
388-0311. I look forward to seeing you in the campaign office this spring!

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