As usual, I will present Mr. Mulcair's text in plain text with my comments in italics.
Dear Christopher,
Thank you for your email. I appreciate hearing your views.
As Leader of the NDP, I am proud to lead a party that stands for building a better, fairer, cleaner and more prosperous Canada. We have a positive, optimistic vision for Canada's future—one where all Canadians enjoy a better quality and standard of life. And, we believe we can best achieve this when we work together. I am fully committed to uniting progressive-minded Canadians of all stripes under the NDP banner and I am focussed on building up our organization across the country in order to defeat the Conservatives.
As you know, in 2008-2009 we proposed an agreement to work together with the other opposition parties to remove Prime Minister Harper, but the Liberals backed out. Fast-forward to May of 2011 when over four and a half million Canadians voted for the NDP’s vision for Canada. Now, thanks to our strong team of 100 MPs, the NDP is best positioned to defeat and replace the Conservatives.
I must respectfully beg to differ. The late groundswell of support for the NDP was occasioned by the personality of the late Jack Layton; and was considerably augmented by the overt evil of the CPC and the arrogance and cluelessness of Michael Ignatieff on behalf of the Federal Liberals. Don't be so hasty to rest on your laurels. It must be remembered that the NDP has still never formed a government in this country. Canadians need reassurance that it will not be a complete shitfuck. I mean, the CPC is experienced, and look at the shitfuck they have authored. Moving on...
While common ground can be found on some issues, it is also true that no middle ground can be found on others. The Liberal party is the same old party—the one that for 13 years did not deliver for Canadians. Their record in government tells the same tale as the Conservative record: plagued by scandals, they offered help for their well-connected friends, but nothing for Canadians. They took no action on daycare and they balanced budgets by downloading billions in health and education expenses on the provinces. Time and again we have seen that there is nothing progressive about the Liberals when as government they fail to act on their progressive promises made during an election campaign. On top of this dismal past, their hope for the future, Justin Trudeau, refuses to share his plan with Canadians—perhaps he has no plan.
Oh, no!! O tired, tired, tired. I am so tired of hearing this same tweaked paragraph. It arises every single time an NDP'er opens their mouth. I believe the thrust of my letter in the first place was that it is well past time to attack the Liberals. Like, if you are on a raft in the middle of the ocean with a pig and a bear, and the bear is eyeing the both of you up to eat, don't slag off the pig. That was kinda the entire point of my letter. This response is its antithesis.
That is pretty much a fail in my eyes right there. More evidence this is not a legitimate letter written to ME. If Mr. Mulcair, who is a very astute man, had the time to sit down and consider my letter properly, he would know that the LAST thing I want to hear is a bunch of shit about the competition.
If he took the time to do an advanced search and some background, he would even know that I have exposed MP/MLA spam letters before.
I'm not even saying what they're doing (form letter/quasi-form) is wrong. I'm saying that it doesn't work. Sending me a spam makes me feel even more like I am not represented in the least in Ottawa. Now that you mention it, I still have not heard back from Murray Rankin... T.M. generated a response in mere days. So how about my elected representative??!? Doesn't he have less to do than the Leader of the Official Opposition Himself??!?!?!??! Moving on...
Canadians deserve better. And New Democrats will do better. We will strive for more, for a better life for all Canadians. You can count on us to deliver things that matter; like quality jobs, improved healthcare, protected pensions and seniors retiring with dignity.
And, unlike the Liberals, New Democrats have always been consistent proponents of electoral reform. We have repeatedly called for changes to our first-past-the-post electoral system by combining it with a proportional representation system that more accurately reflects the political will and decisions of the voting public.
For example, in March 2011, the NDP tabled a motion calling for the House of Commons to appoint a Special Committee for Democratic Improvement. Unfortunately, the Conservatives, Liberals and the Bloc voted against the motion. We are now acting on what would have been the mandate of this Committee–-to engage with Canadians, and make recommendations to Parliament on how best to achieve a House of Commons that more accurately reflects the votes of Canadians by combining direct election by electoral district and proportional representation.
We reaffirmed our dedication to this system by a resolution passed at our most recent convention. Please see below a copy of the NDP resolution on electoral reform.
For too long Canadians were told there were only two parties to vote for, that they’d have to settle for less. They deserve better than constant switching back and forth between Conservative and Liberal corruption. Canadians now have another choice—they know that they can choose to vote for the change they want and with the NDP, they will get it.
We have a solid plan, a strong, expert shadow cabinet and we are ready to take on Stephen Harper to win in 2015. What’s more, we will do all of this without abandoning the party’s core principles of fairness and social justice. We are working hard to prove to Canadians that we have the experience to govern and that we are the only alternative to Stephen Harper’s Conservatives.
Please be assured that we will continue working with all progressive-minded Canadians, towards achieving our vision for Canada.
Again, I appreciate you sharing your concerns with me.
Best regards,
Thomas Mulcair, M.P. (Outremont)
Leader of the Official Opposition
New Democratic Party of Canada
Mr. Mulcair, I am pleased that you or by dint your office took the time to craft a reply for me, even if it needed to be generalized to reply to many people. But I am still not satisfied. Despite the positioning of the NDP as a fresh, ethical party committed to reform and fairness, I'll believe it when I see it.
The great tragedy of the Left, the failing that made Ted Kaczynski despise the Left so much, is that they are welcoming and inclusive; and at the same time, refuse to co-operate. Faced with the unified, monolithic, evil of the fascist Right, the Left is consistently infirm of purpose and far too obsessed with their own special unique identities to work together to achieve, well, anything more than spasmodic improvements that are quickly rolled back.
The great tragedy of the Left, the failing that made Ted Kaczynski despise the Left so much, is that they are welcoming and inclusive; and at the same time, refuse to co-operate. Faced with the unified, monolithic, evil of the fascist Right, the Left is consistently infirm of purpose and far too obsessed with their own special unique identities to work together to achieve, well, anything more than spasmodic improvements that are quickly rolled back.
