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REFORMING THE REFORMERS
5-31-2016
A free advice to the Conservative Party of Canada. CPC needs to identify all those Individuals who both directly and indirectly contributed to the introduction of Politics of Division or Identity Politics, and Dictatorial Politics in Canada, and ground them all by placing them in a penalty box, if it expects to regain the trust of Canadian Voters, especially ethnic voters, and the 1.1 Million strong Muslim Voters.
Canada’s badly defeated Conservative Party held its annual convention this past weekend in Vancouver. On the outside the party put up a strong, bold, united face, especially in regards to faring bid well to former PM, Stephen Harper, as he announced his retirement. However, in actuality, it was a moment of introspection – a reality check – as the traditional Conservative supporters realize that the Conservative Party of Canada is now a hijacked entity of the former far right wing Reform Party of Canada. That it is no longer a “Conservative” as it once was, rather it is simply a redesigned, remodeled, and repackaged version of the old Reform Party of Canada.
How can the traditional Conservative Party reclaim its fall from the grace? The fault lies within the CPC itself for allowing the Reformers to totally hijacking it, and running it into the ground, where it not only alienated the Muslim Voters, rather creating doubts in minds of all Canadians, especially the ethnic voters, as to who would be their next target?
As two of the Conservative Party leadership hopefuls have already started calling for more “inclusive” Conservative Party, however, it was the voice of Uruzurum Heer, a 47 year-old woman, that resonated with the delegates when she condemned the “Identity Politics” which the party had practiced last campaign. She unequivocally told the crowd, “This last election campaign was a disaster. I am also a Muslim and this campaign targeted us, unfairly.” She added, “This party worked actively and aggressively against my people.” Ms. Heer, gave the CPC a real dose of reality check. This despite being objected by few in the audience, she insisted, “It did, It did. It went against Jihadis, terrorists, it didn’t differentiate who Muslims were versus the enemies. We don’t support terrorism either.”
Whether CPC likes it or not, whether it officially acknowledges it or not that their “party worked actively and aggressively against” Muslim Voters, and in doing so it cost them an election, and a chance to govern. The 1.1 Million strong Muslim vote bank is a force to be reckoned with – a force that just cannot be ignored. Perhaps, it is for this reason two of the leadership contenders are already calling for a more “Inclusive” CPC.
We commend Ms. Heer for using her position as a CPC delegate making the party members realize how far right the party has gone. “At this convention there are probably less than a handful of us. Think about it. Is this party really reaching out to everybody? This country belongs to everyone, including me. For the first time I felt that I didn’t belong here, and this is my country. It’s unfair. It was unfair to my people,” said Heer, who wore a bright blue head scarf and struggled to hold back tears.
“It might be eight or 10 years before this party comes back. I want you to think about how you will treat — and how you will include — everyone.”
Ms. Heer’s address at the CPC convention made few CPC brass realize what is wrong with the party now same time it forced few decision makers during the last campaign run for cover. CPC Executive Director Dustin Van Vugt added to Ms. Heer’s calls stating, “Is there one answer I can give today? There’s no answer I can give today, other than we know we have to win and to win we need a very large tent that includes everybody.”
However, same could not be said about CPC former campaign director, Jenni Byrne, she vaguely defended party’s position on Niqab in light of the Court ruling, avoided media, and hurried into an elevator.
Clearly, the last weekend CPC convention suggested is that CPC is finally on a course to rid itself from the reform virus and reposition itself as the real Conservative Party of Canada it once was. However, to reclaim the lost glory it must get rid of the Reform Virus. The task is easier said than done. How does one rid of a bad virus when the bad virus has occupied ninety percent of the body? Chemotherapy might not be suffice and lobotomy would be impossible.
Although, the Conservatives may have been successful in smoke and mirrors strategy to show Canadians that it has decided to rehabilitate itself from an Anti-Muslim stance and willing to reform and be more “inclusive.” The bare-naked truth is, it’s just simply a smoke screen to delude Canadians into believing that they are on a path to reformation. We say that because as any recovering addict would tell you that the path to recovery lies in admitting the problem. One must first admit that there is a problem before it can be rid of. We even believe that the party does not even know where the problem is. Even if it does, it is unwilling to rid those who opted to place Conservative party in the midst of politics of division, or identity politics.
The most astonishing aspect of this gambit is that some of the authors of this introduction of politics of division in Canadian political society on behest of the CPC platform are in fact considering running for the party leadership. Truly, if the Party is unwilling and unable to ground all those who were party to the previous government’s disastrous and costly decisions, and continues to place hope in their leadership for the future than CPC most certainly is on a Hopeless path to never never land.
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