Editor: Dear Mr. Richards. Last week you arrived at my door looking to engage me in a conversation. At least that is what I thought you wanted to do.
I commend you for going out door knocking to amass support. However, now I realize you just wanted to find out how much support you have in this area. When I criticized the actions of this government and your own office, you only wanted to defend yourself. You were not at all interested in why I felt disillusioned or in what I wanted from the government of my country.
Whenever I tried to express my displeasure with the actions of the current Conservative government and with PM Harper, you failed to listen – an important skill for an MP. You never gave me the opportunity to explain why I do not support the Conservative government because you persisted in interrupting me every time I tried to express myself. You have developed the skill espoused by Harper of avoiding answering any question by continually asking “Where did you get that information?”
Are you not aware that the survey newsletters you send out claim “your opinion matters?” Well, Mr. Richards, it is obvious that the only opinions you really want to hear are those that align with yours as was obvious by the only comment you could make: “we have to agree to disagree.”
I finally got very angry and used words I should never use. For that, I sincerely apologize. You, however, claimed you did not need to apologize to Marlo Raynolds. Yet he was not the person who made the comment that led you and the Conservatives to claim in the House of Commons that “he does not trust that parents will spend the tax savings on their children.”
However, you must remember Mr. Richards, that we, the electorate, are your employer, not Mr. Harper. You are elected to represent all your constituents regardless of their affiliations, and you have an obligation to listen to opposing views and to seriously consider these.
That is democracy. You were not elected to push Stephen Harper’s agenda, which appears to include the hampering of Canadian democracy. Democracy in Canada is more than just voting for our representatives.
And since you insist that we will have to agree to disagree, you can be sure that I will be voting for someone other than you in the fall election, Mr. Richards.
Cecile Lafleur,
Canmore
