MP out-of-touch with Canadians

MP out-of-touch with Canadians
SalmonArm Observer Apr 25 2007 Editorial

Town Hall: Writer calling on voters to reject Colin Mayes in the next election.

As far as I am concerned, a federal election cannot come soon enough.

Why? Because Colin Mayes has got to go. Enough is enough.

Mayes’ recent comments concerning child care indicate: that he does not understand how public financing works in Canada, and that he has no understanding of the needs of parents in contemporary society.‑

As to my first comment, he said: “A farmer in Saskatchewan doesn’t have a child-care facility close by, so why should they be paying into a child care facility in Vancouver.”

This is so ludicrous that it literally makes your jaw drop. The whole point of public financing is that each of us pays for a wide variety of services so that such services are available for all when they need it.

I personally am not currently retired. Does that mean that I shouldn’t pay my share into the government pension plan so that such a service will be available when I and others retire?

Does this mean that when I was young and was never sick that I should not have paid into government Medicare so that those who were sick or elderly should not have had medical services available? Of course not.

We pay for each other, and that’s what we should do.

Clearly Mayes is utterly ignorant about public financing, and ought to be thrown out of office on this ground alone.‑As to my second point, he said: “If you make it (child care) less expensive, it’s an enticement to put children in the care of someone else... More parents will use it, so people won’t know how to parent anymore.”

How stupid! How insulting! In today’s economy two-parent families can rarely make ends meet without both parents having to work. Obviously one-parent families have no choice at all.

Quality, registered, publicly funded child care is a necessity, and it ought to be publicly funded. Parents don’t just toss their children into a day care to be rid of them, as Mayes so loathsomely implies. Nor does enrolling a child in day care imply that parents won’t know how to parent anymore.

Parenting is a complex process of love and guidance that goes on during every day and night for many, many years. One element of parenting is giving your child the gift of quality day care.

Mayes’ comments about parenting are so utterly moronic, and indeed cruel, that he does not deserve to represent the people of this riding for one more day.‑

Furthermore, Mayes has repeatedly implied that Medicare ought to be jettisoned in favor of private medicine. In the Observer article, Mayes indicates a person can go to a clinic in Alberta, and can access all the equipment and specialists before leaving.

Okay, Colin, why don’t you go to Alberta and stay there? Maybe they can rustle up a brain transplant for you.‑

Finally, coming on the heels of his recent e-mail comment that a racist rant aimed at First Nations was a “good joke,” we find Mayes publicly claiming that: “I don’t think the sexual abuse was as rampant as sometimes they make out.”

Really? Frankly, I am not prepared to accept this outrageous denial and further racist insult from a person like Colin Mayes.‑

If ever there was a Member of Parliament who deserved to be dumped it is Colin Mayes.‑‑

David Lethbridge