To the editor,
I really want to thank the Listowel Banner for taking the time to interview Maxime Bernier and myself, and publishing the resultant article last week (“PPC leader Bernier, supporters gather in Atwood,” Feb. 9).
On Saturday, Feb. 4, the leader of the People’s Party of Canada, Maxime Bernier came to Atwood. As it turned out, the occasion happened during the first anniversary of the Trucker’s Convoy. It was the culmination of untold hours of volunteer effort, and the day went over extremely well with at least 300 attendees throughout the day.
Although there are shortcomings in the article, it caused me to reflect on what it means to govern, given my position as a prospective parliamentarian.
I recall a conversation I had with one of my supporters. He had some long-time friends come visit not long ago. This supporter is a very successful businessman and his visitors built their respective careers in government employment.
Their conversation, although intended to skirt politics, did eventually land on the protester who cussed Chrystia Freeland last August in Grande Prairie, Alberta. I am not about to pass judgment with regards to the protester’s actions, other than to say that the foundational precept of our rights and freedoms here in Canada is our unfettered right to freely speak and express our opinions, regardless of being appropriate or not.
According to my supporter, the conversation became very heated, and the guests became very unwelcome when they refused to acknowledge the parallel between the inappropriate comments made by the protester, and the extremely inappropriate comments made by our Prime Minister with regards to the Trucker’s Convoy.
I remember watching a town hall video in August 2018, where a woman refers to “mankind” in a question, and our Prime Minister stopped her mid-sentence and proceeded to correct her by referring to “peoplekind.” I remember thinking at the time, given our fundamental right to free speech and the disproportionate power held by the Prime Minister, he should be the absolute last person in this country to impose his views on anyone’s speech.
It seems to me that the more responsibility we have in a free society, whether it be as a parliamentarian, as a civic leader, even as a journalist, the less able we are (and downright ought to be) to impose our views and opinions on others.
Wayne Baker
PPC candidate – Perth-Wellington
Wellington North
