Clare Opens Cariboo-Prince George Campaign Office
Independent Sheldon Clare answers questions at campaign office opening. Photo 250News
Prince George, B.C. – The candidate running as an independent in Cariboo-Prince George in the federal election has opened his campaign office in Prince George.
Sheldon Clare welcomed about thirty people to his centre of operations at 1543 Victoria Street in the Redwood Square and told them he is “the right candidate in the right place at the right time.” “We’re trying to hit the ground running with volunteers and supporters to make sure that we provide a real alternative to the people of Cariboo-Prince George and give them the opportunity to choose a voice that will not be beholden to a party whip.”
Clare says “that’s an important aspect of why I’m running because I think the party system is fundamentally flawed as it has developed in this country and I truly believe that what we need to do here is fix that by sending strong voices to Ottawa that will represent their constituents properly and appropriately, and make sure that the needs of the people here are being taken to Ottawa rather than the needs of the party being brought back from Ottawa and people being told what they are going to support and do.”
“I think it’s a bad mistake to make and MP fit into a box and have to support things that they know are not in the interests of their constituents, or things that they don’t believe in themselves, just to be part of a party so they can get something else. Certainly compromising, negotiating is a part of parliamentary democracy, but let’s be realistic about making sure people vote in a way that reflects the needs of the constituents.”
Clare says he believes in what he calls “flexible coalitions” in which “you make arrangements with people who agree with you on specific issues and vote with them on that, and you vote on other issues with other groups. So you go with the group you need to to get legislation passed rather than just be given an omnibus package that has a whole bunch of stuff in it, some of it which you might like and some you may not like, and you feel obligated to pass in block. I think that’s a mistake. I think we really should be looking at legislation that should be analyzed critically before it gets passed rather than accepting legislation that is not good for the country as a whole.”
“Let’s get MPs to really have a voice, let’s elect independent candidates who are not beholden to a party, who are not going to be whipped, who are never going to have to say well I had to do this to get that. Or, as has happened in Cariboo-Prince George, you have people pitted against each other in one community or another over whether you get a pipeline or a mine and government says well you can have one or the other but you can’t have both.”
“That’s simply not fair, that’s not right for the people in the riding, not right for the people in these communities and it’s very divisive wedge politics and I find it distasteful. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with sticking up for people in the whole riding and making sure that all of their interests are protected.”
Clare also takes issue with Bill C-51, particularly the provisions allowing CSIS, an intelligence agency, to take on the role of enforcement. And he says a major issue for him in this campaign is veteran’s affairs. “Veterans’ issues are at the forefront for me. I think that veterans need to get the help that they deserve where they live. They should not have to go to a government general service agency and be told, well we don’t know the answers to your questions, you should just go down to see the service officer at the Royal Canadian Legion.”
“That’s simply not acceptable, it’s not good enough. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from a lot of our recent veterans, not to mention the ones that served in older conflicts, is a real serious concern in this area. I know many people here who are suffering from it and they’re not looking for help that they need to get. It’s a problem when they can’t get people who are specifically trained to deal with that issue and to deal with veterans generally.”
“These people served our country and they deserve some respect. And they deserve to get the services that they fought for and earned.”
Comments
And as he said if he has to he would cross the floor and join the Cons as he said I was one all my life.
I believe he will side with Harper,”every time”
everything else he is saying is a smokescreen.
step100 — and your logic is?
Take note that most of candidate Clare’s speaking points are against Conservative policy and procedure. It is true that Sheldon has been a small “c” conservative his whole life; however, like many conservatives with a brain, he has major issues with the current regime’s structure and policy.
IMHO, he has a snowball’s chance in h____ ; however, good on him for giving a voice to a segment of the community that has been muted. Should make for some interesting local headlines in the coming weeks.
Many parties have changed their leaders when circumstances arose which made it necessary. Some stumble along pretending that it is the fault of others, perhaps even of those whose vote they are asking for. Often a party does not have enough flexibility in its structure and especially in the leadership to keep it in sync with the needs and priorities of our evolving society. That appears to be the case now. Sheldon Clare has identified some of the many problems. He deserves credit for that.
Government Power: Parliament or the Prime Minister’s Office
http://boundarysentinel.com/news/government-power-parliament-or-prime-ministers-office-38944
I sure hope that he takes a few con votes and gives the Libs or NDP a better chance of becoming elected. If he’s a big C or small c doesn’t matter he’s still a PC.
Cheers
I don’t know everything that Sheldon stands for, but I do know that he has a quick mind and he seems well educated. I think he is sincere. It takes a lot of guts to do what he is doing–running for parliament without any party backing him…
He’s got a shot at winning. But even if he doesn’t win, I think he’s an asset to our community. He’s either got some ideas or he’s good and bringing forward viewpoints that wouldn’t otherwise get heard. We want that. Discussion is good and healthy for democracy.
Let’s hear what he has to say.
Let’s stop cheering for our favourite team, this is not hockey.
Let vote for the strongest candidate
WE the people need more candidates like him to run. Not afraid to tell it like it is.
I agree with most of what he said. He believes that since he is running as an independent that he has to convince the swing voter who has always voted party and/or party leader first and then the candidate that the candidate should be primary.
I believe that Canadians, on average, vote for the party they dislike the least. That is why there seems to be a gag order among the Conservative candidates. The party apparatchik of the new Conservative party, and most certainly Harper, has been known for that ever since Harper came to power. That is why it is called the Harper Government because that is what it is. It is not the Canadian Government because it no longer stands for Canadian values. It stands for Western, blue-eyed Sheiks’ values just as the Party Quebecois stands for Quebec values.
In my opinion, Canadians go through eliminating their dislikes until they’re left with one party remaining. That means Canadians usually vote along party lines with almost no regard to the name and actions of the local candidate. It is very rare to see a significant percentage of a local election campaign focus on individual candidates’ records or actions.
I believe if we were to vote for the PM as a separate vote as is done in the USA, we would more often see a difference in the political leanings of the PM and the political leanings of the Party voted into power. Even though the US has a very strong party system, so much so that it has virtually shut out any party other than the Democrats and Republicans, I believe that the US voter takes much more of the character of the candidate into consideration when voting than Canadians do.
Democracy is a participant sport and as long as we have 40% turn out at election time it doesn’t matter what they tell us we will not have good government.
In the harperman reign we didn’t even get an explanation of some of their legislation it was I’ll do as I please and most of it was for the elites in our society.
Cheers
One thing for certain is with Clair we would finally have a loud outspoken voice in Ottawa. That is something this region hasn’t had in my lifetime.
If the polls hold up it will be a tight close race for the party with the most seats and Clair very well could be a king maker making him more powerful then a backbench MP for the opposition that we would have with the Conservative party.
In any event he looks willing to work with all parties on legislation that is good for this region. In a minority government this puts the riding on the map and makes it relevant to all parties in Ottawa.
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