5 May 2011
A writer on Simcoe.com wrote, anonymously of course, criticizing me for my letter “PM didn’t ‘seize’ power – he was elected”, (Letters, April 20), where I was responding to a letter published in the Midland Mirror, “Vote to stop ‘diabolical’ prime minister” (April 8). This WEB writer, who hid under the pseudonym “GameOver”, wrote referring to the 2008 election, “(Harper) was “elected” with less than 37% of the (popular) vote while the opposition parties actually received MORE votes and more support yet did not get counted…… He is not our prime minister BECAUSE he was not voted in BY THE PEOPLE! ” Now, keep in mind that this all transpired before the current election.
Flash forward and Harper wins a majority government, although he only got 39.62% of the popular vote. I’m sure “GameOver” is still claiming that Harper STILL was not voted in by the people. Well let me give you, “GameOver”, and other like-minded people a history lesson: Jean Chretien’s Liberals won majorities in 1997 with 38.46% and in 2000 with 40.85%? Bob Rae won a majority government in Ontario in 1990 with 37.6%. Under the rules of our parliamentary system, they had as much right to govern as Harper does now. Under our first-past-the-post system, that is how things work.
Now it is true that we don’t directly elect a prime minister. The leader of the party with the most seats in parliament (or the Legislature in Ontario), has the right to form a government. Now it is true that the leader of all parties get voted to that position by party members only, not the general public, but ANYONE can join a political party and cast a ballot for the leader of their choice. That said, the leader is also a MP or MPP, and that leader must, within a reasonable time period, win a seat in the parliament / legislature in which their party sits (Ontario PC Leader John Torry resigned as leader after loosing his seat in the 2009 (provincial by-election). Thus, your statement “he was not voted in BY THE PEOPLE! ” is laughably false.
The original letter that prompted my response:
Game Over, April 24, 2011:
He was “elected” with less than 37% of the vote while the opposition parties actually received MORE votes and more support yet did not get counted. That right there shoots down your letter! He is not our prime minister BECAUSE he was not voted in BY THE PEOPLE! Why should I leave when you have no idea how Canada is run or what makes us a people? China and Iran? lol they are the same as us. Which again show your idiotic lack of world knowledge. Bravo. You should leave for Arizona as people like you are accepted there. Buying jets does NOT adequately equip our military. It only carpet bombs men women and children. So your lie of being a “navel” reservists kills that since you have no idea about warfare. Of course no one in the military wants to go to war. That is why we cannot illegally invade nations like Afghanistan and start killing children in the “name of democracy” while our own Prime Minister does NOT respect our own democratic system. Your letter, which tries to play on the hearts of our brave men and men and women, for fancy jets that do not work shows even more so the “PM.” This is a man that has broken the law and their supporters rabidly trying to justify it.
