Conservative E-mail Propaganda

I received a copy of this in my e-mail today:

SOMETHING WORTH THINKING ABOUT
Hello.

My name is Alan Robberstad I am a Canadian. One voter out of millions of Canadian voters.

Paul Martin is no friend of mine. Liberal governments have not made my life any better. Liberal governments have made the future worse for my children.

Jean Chretien and the Liberal Party became Prime Minister many years ago. Guess who was the Liberal Finance Minister.....Paul Martin...LEST WE FORGET

Since 1993:

(1) My taxes have increased.
(2) My family's share of the national debt has increased.
(3) My personal expenses have increased.
(4) My waiting time to see a doctor has increased.
(5) My concerns for my family's safety have increased.
(6) My costs to educate my children have increased.
(7) Government interference in my life has increased.
(8) My personal debt has increased.
(9) My income has stayed more or less the same.
(10) My savings have decreased.
(11) The buying power of my dollar, in Canada, has decreased.
(12) The value of my dollar, in the U.S., has decreased.
(13) My trust of elected officials has decreased.
(14) My trust in the justice system has decreased.
(15 )My trust in the immigration system has decreased.
(16) My hope that a Liberal won't waste my tax dollars has decreased.
(17 )My dreams for a better future for my kids, in Canada, have disappeared.

That is my story since the Liberals came to power.

I am not voting for Paul Martin's Liberals. I am voting against Paul Martin and his Liberal Party in January.
I am voting for Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party.

Do I like the Conservatives? Not particularly......I don't really like Politics. I am not political by nature. I am not passionate about politics. I am a middle age guy (48). I live in a small house on a fairly quiet street in Edmonton. I have a wife, Kathy, and two children (ages 19 and 17). I have no pets. I am a middle class man. I don't usually say too much.

Until now:

Now I am going to say something!

In 35 of the past 37 years, Canada has been ruled by:

(1) Pierre Trudeau - a multi-millionaire lawyer from Quebec.
(2) Brian Mulroney - a multi-millionaire lawyer from Quebec.
(3) Jean Chretien - a multi-millionaire lawyer from Quebec.
(4) And now we are going to vote for Paul Martin???? - a multi-millionaire lawyer from Quebec???

The leader of the Conservative party, Stephen Harper, is:
(1) Not a lawyer.
(2) Not a multi-millionaire.
(3) Not from Quebec.

Stephen Harper says that the Conservative party will:
(1) Reduce my taxes.
(2) Pay off the national debt as fast as they can.
(3) Shrink the size and influence of the federal government.

That's good enough for me. I'm going to give the Conservative party a chance with my vote.

But wait! Paul Martin is now saying the same thing. My mother told me forty years ago: "Fool me once - shame on you. Fool me twice - shame on me!"
The Liberals have had 34 years to be financially responsible. Remember, Jean Chretien was Trudeau's Finance Minister. Remember also, Paul Martin was Jean Chretien's Finance Minister. These people have been raising my taxes for thirty four years. They have been mis-spending my tax dollars for 34 years.

34 years!

And now Paul Martin says he'll stop taxing and spending. No way. Each time he opens his mouth,,he lies.

Thank you for reading my story so far!

Why am I telling my story to you?
Although I feel alone, I know that I am not alone. Your story may be similar to mine. And you may also feel alone. One small voter in the midst of millions of voters.
What can you and I do together to change things?
Here is my idea: Lets you and I join up together. Just you and I. Together. As a small team of two.
How can you and I fight a huge political machine?
You and I have two things that we can use:
(1) Our individual personal connections.
(2) The Internet.
The Internet is supposed to be this globalizing tool, right? Let's put it to use.
I have 27 Canadians in my personal e-mail address book. I am sending this e-mail to each of them.
I'm asking you to do two things:
(1) Forward this e-mail to every Canadian in your own address book
(2) Vote against Paul Martin and the Liberal Party in January of next year
Vote for the Conservative candidate in your riding.
I have probably written this e-mail too late. As I said I am not politically adroit. I feel like Peter Finch, in the 1976 movie "Network", when he shouted: "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!"
Please, forward the e-mail RIGHT NOW!!
I hope the Internet is as fast as some people claim it is.
This may not work. This e-mail may "fizzle out" and go nowhere. But you and I will have tried, won't we have?
My best wishes to you. My best wishes to Canadians everywhere.
My thanks to David Stokes from Toronto He actually wrote this just (5) days before the last federal election. Fool me once - shame on you. Fool me twice - shame on me!"
Alan Robberstad Edmonton, Alberta .

That's all of it.

Now, allow me to dissect this thing a little bit, because there are a number of errors, both factual and errors of omission - intentional or otherwise:

Let's start from the top, and dissect accordingly, shall we?

(1) My taxes have increased.

Really? Have your earnings increased perchance? Were you aware that the Liberals had refactored the tax brackets in the mid 1990s to account for the fact that the income brackets had shifted. As a percentage of income, your taxes should be the same, possibly slightly lower than they were - unless of course you shifted tax brackets as a result of increased earnings - during an economic boom.

(2) My family's share of the national debt has increased.

Horsefeathers. The Liberals have wiped out the recurring deficits that the Conservative Mulroney years introduced, and have run surpluses for quite some time. The net effect is that Canada's debt is in fact going down. Second, the population of the country has increased considerably since 1993, which means that your per-capita portion of the debt is in fact quite a bit lower. If you wish to bitch about your percentage of the national debt, I suggest you look closely at the Conservatives as your culprit - especially since Brian Mulroney remains their current idol, with significant policy influence.

(3) My personal expenses have increased.

Inflation has run at all time lows through the 1990s, while incomes have gone up. If your expenses have increased, then perhaps you are overreaching your own financial limits? Of course, you could be pointing at the skyrocketing costs of energy, but then, I'd have to send you back to Brian Mulroney and the FTA and NAFTA agreements that he negotiated with our neighbors to the south.

(4) My waiting time to see a doctor has increased.
(5) My concerns for my family's safety have increased.
(6) My costs to educate my children have increased.

Lessee - do I need to point out that health care delivery and education delivery are provincial concerns. The original author of this letter lived through the Mike Harris years in Ontario, and in Alberta, we've been treated to the 'just do it' hack and slash budgeting of the Klein government - both governments are notably "Conservative". Did the Federal government cut its funding for these programs? Yes, but they did so in dealing with the Deficits (and subsequent DEBT) that the Mulroney era left as its legacy.

As for waiting times to access doctors - how serious have your ailments been? Anyone I know that has been seriously ill has received treatment at a near blinding speed. Personally, when I've had to wait, it's because I'm not _that_ sick (thank god!)

(7) Government interference in my life has increased.

Such as???

(8) My personal debt has increased.
(9) My income has stayed more or less the same.
(10) My savings have decreased.

Take some responsibility for yourself pal - unless the Federal Gov't signs your paycheque, what you earn in this country is your problem. Similarly, I doubt anyone held a gun to your head every time you signed a visa stub or a loan agreement. Personally, my savings are up - quite a bit as a % of my overall assets - but I don't buy every shiny new toy I see in Future Shop either.

(11) The buying power of my dollar, in Canada, has decreased.
(12) The value of my dollar, in the U.S., has decreased.

It has? Really? Then why is the C$ riding between $0.85 and $0.90 US right now - near 20 year highs. Travel through parts of the US comparable to where you live, and you discover that the cost of living in those areas is the same or higher than it is in Canada - and that's measured in US$.

Inflation happens - that's life. The buying power of the C$ around the world has not decreased. In fact, it has gone up because our debt is low, and our economy is strong, with a significant trade surplus.

(13) My trust of elected officials has decreased.
(14) My trust in the justice system has decreased.
(15 )My trust in the immigration system has decreased.

Your opinion, your perspective. You are entitled to it. But unless you can quantify it with some kind of facts it's just an opinion. The last 25 years have been challenging - especially for our legal system - as it grapples with the realities of a restructure of law that the Constitution and Charter of Rights imposed.

(16) My hope that a Liberal won't waste my tax dollars has decreased.
(17 )My dreams for a better future for my kids, in Canada, have disappeared.

Take a bit a of ownership for your own hopes and dreams pal - that's not the government's job. Their job is to keep the country running. It's up to us little people to find ways to be successful. You still live in a rare country where you are free to your opinions, the expression of them, and one that is remarkably stable, in spite of its problems. You can't blame a political party for how you feel.

(4) And now we are going to vote for Paul Martin???? - a multi-millionaire lawyer from Quebec???
The leader of the Conservative party, Stephen Harper, is:
(1) Not a lawyer.
(2) Not a multi-millionaire.
(3) Not from Quebec.

Paul Martin is not a lawyer - he's a businessman. (Which, oddly, is what the Reform/Alliance/CPC has always claimed we should have for governmental leadership - right?)

Stephen Harper is a Political Science graduate who has spent his entire career either working in the Reform/Alliance camp, or running lobby organizations. Remember, lobbyists are the people that are supposedly such a huge problem in government these days - and you want to elect one with a background not in real life, but in political theory? Really...

The Liberals have had 34 years to be financially responsible. Remember, Jean Chretien was Trudeau's Finance Minister. Remember also, Paul Martin was Jean Chretien's Finance Minister. These people have been raising my taxes for thirty four years. They have been mis-spending my tax dollars for 34 years.

To be honest, I don't remember the budgets of the Trudeau years. But I do remember the budgets for the 1980s and 1990s rather well. As I recall, (and have previously noted) the deficits were at their peak, and incurred not under Liberal rule, but under the tenure of Conservative PM Brian Mulroney.

Brian Mulroney is a man who has fought tooth and nail every effort to get to the bottom of the financial and ethical pit that was the Airbus scandal. His very actions have made it near impossible for the government to investigate that affair with a public inquiry - he has threatened to sue every person involved in such an inquiry. This is the man that Stephen Harper has said he would use as his "model" for ethics in good government.

And now Paul Martin says he'll stop taxing and spending. No way. Each time he opens his mouth,,he lies.

Tally up the CPC's promises this election, and then tell me that they are telling the truth fiscally. Paul Martin lies, but so do most politicians. Stephen Harper has been caught out in enough semantic inconsistencies between what he's saying today and what he said not too long ago to make me suspect that on quite a number of fronts, he's not telling the Canadian public the whole story about his intentions.

As for voting CPC? Well - since 1997, I've had the dubious pleasure of having Jason Kenney as my duly elected representative. A man who supposedly wants to be a better representative of his riding than his Liberal, NDP or BQ counterparts. Nobody I know that has tried to involve Mr. Kenney in either discourse, or gaining access to government services has ever received a response from him or his office. That's in damn near ten years he's been in Ottawa! The people in Stephen Harper's riding that I know have reported a similarly deafening silence as well. Consider some of the other "leading lights" of that party from Alberta - Rob "Nelson Mandela is a Terrorist" Anders and Art "Blacks, coloreds and gays to the back of the shop" Hanger, and ask yourself if these people really represent the kind of Canada you believe in, or for that matter, if they are being honest at all.