Renfrew Nipissing Pembroke NDP
It is apparent that many former Liberal supporters have now had enough of Liberal corruption and arrogance, according to NDP candidate Sue McSheffrey, who believes that more and more people are discovering that Paul Martin just isn’t up to the job of Prime Minister. But McSheffrey urged disaffected Liberals to think twice before blindly voting Conservative.
“The Conservatives plan to give away almost 50 billion dollars in tax cuts, most of the gifts going to the wealthy. The Conservatives even plan to reduce taxes for filthy-rich institutions like the banks and the oil companies. So where are they going to find the money they want to use to make the rich even richer?” McSheffrey asked. “Obviously they are going to take it away from programs that benefit ordinary Canadians - programs like Medicare, student support, child care, services for senior citizens, and the wages and benefits of those who work for the government or on government-sponsored programs.”
People who want to send the Liberals a message about their failures, but still want to keep valued social programs, have only one choice, according to McSheffrey. “Anyone who wants to protect services for families with children, for students, for workers, and for seniors has no choice but to vote NDP,” McSheffrey said.
Before anyone votes Conservative, they must ask if they’re willing to pay the price tag for the massive tax give-aways the Conservatives have planned for wealthy investors and corporate executives, NDP candidate Sue McSheffrey said today.
“You have to read the fine print to see how ordinary people will pay for Conservative gifts,” McSheffrey said. “For example, they plan to fund their GST cut by increasing taxes on lower-income Canadians. And the way they intend to finance their young-child rebate is by destroying child care. It doesn’t make sense to ruin a national child-care program in order to give $3 a day to parents of children under six. Three dollars a day won’t buy anyone child care, especially after the Conservatives tax back part of this money. And it does nothing for parents of children over six.”
The NDP on the other hand, said McSheffrey, believes in investment. “We want to invest money in people - in our senior citizens, in our students, in working families with children. The Conservative agenda puts ordinary working people at the back of the line; the NDP wants these people at the head of the line, ahead of the fat cats and big-city lawyers and stockbrokers. That’s the difference between the parties, and why people who care should vote NDP.”
It’s high time that MP Cheryl Gallant stopped avoiding the voters in Renfrew-Nipissing-Renfrew, according to NDP candidate Sue McSheffrey. “When four of the five candidates braved slick icy roads to show up for a debate last night in Barry’s Bay, I question why our MP thinks she can run and hide.”
McSheffrey also attacked Gallant’s remarks that her reason for failing to show up for almost all the candidates’ debates was that she only attended those run ‘fairly’. “It’s bad enough that our MP has become The Invisible Woman,” said McSheffrey. “But now she defends her refusal to discuss issues by smearing organizations like the Pembroke Rotary Club, the Madawaska Valley Family Medical Network, the Renfrew Collegiate Institute, and the Upper Ottawa Valley Chamber of Commerce - all of whom organized all-candidates debates. All of the debates were well organized and run fairly, with excellent questions raised by the voters. Gallant should have been there.”
The MP also has her geographic biases, McSheffrey said. “She has refused to appear in Renfrew, in Petawawa, in Deep River, and in Barry’s Bay, showing contempt for the voters in these areas. She appears to divide the riding into first and second class citizens and communities - a bad habit for an MP who's supposed to represent the entire riding.”
McSheffrey said that it also shows fear on Gallant’s part. “Gallant has refused to answer questions about her office’s alleged invasions of personal privacy and misuse of taxpayer-supplied money for communications. Just like the disgraced Liberal cabinet ministers, she won’t explain her swollen expense accounts either. But silence just makes people more suspicious. Voters have to ask: Why exactly has she become The Invisible Woman?”
Many voters in Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke appear to coming over to the NDP, says the party’s candidate Sue McSheffrey.
The Renfrew physiotherapist says that as she travels the riding, she is ‘amazed’ by the kind of people telling her they plan to vote for her. “I had a business owner in Barry’s Bay and another from Eganvillle tell me I’ve got their votes,” says McSheffrey. “One has been a hard-core Liberal and the other a traditional Conservative. It’s amazing.”
She says traditional Liberal supporters are disillusioned with Paul Martin and his party. At the same time, the Conservatives are turning voters off with their ethical lapses and right-wing agenda.
“Cheryl Gallant and Stephen Harper do not speak for Canadian values,” says McSheffrey. “To stop them, vote NDP. The Liberals have let you down. Only the NDP will protect Medicare, stand up for jobs and pensions, seniors, farmers, and forest industry. We’ll fight to end child poverty and protect our environment. We’ve proven we get results.”
As support for the Liberal Party continues to waver, NDP candidate Sue McSheffrey is asking those who have voted Liberal in the past to think seriously about how to make an effective protest against their former party, without going against their core beliefs.
“The Liberals definitely need a ‘Time-Out’ away from government, to clean up their house, learn some humility, and to get back to their values, which have been shredded by the bumbling and fumbling of Paul Martin,” McSheffrey said. “But these disillusioned Liberals will still want to protect liberal values. They want a government which will protect the valuable programs, established with NDP pressure and support, by leaders like Mike Pearson and Pierre Trudeau - programs like public health care and pension protection and the Charter of Rights. These programs are not safe in the hands of the Conservative Party. Other progressive measures, like a national child care program for working families and support for affordable housing, will be destroyed by Stephen Harper and the Conservatives.”
McSheffrey said that the only way to protest the Martin incompetence while protecting liberal programs is by voting NDP. “The only thing the Conservatives really believe in is tax cuts, which will overwhelmingly favour our richest citizens and giant corporations,” McSheffrey said. “Imagine voting for a party which wants to give even more money to our giant banks and oil companies! Disillusioned Liberals have no choice but to vote NDP.”
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