It seems all we hear about are lost tapes, binders, gold baskets, and now possibly gold from the Mint itself, which cannot make any Canadian proud of their political representatives these days. One starts to wonder if the political crisis in Ottawa has prevented issues of substance from being seriously considered, much less solved, in the best interest of the nation and the Canadian people.
Whatever happened to fighting the recession, or fighting cancer, or fighting global warming, or maybe fighting American protectionism? Amongst this partisan warfare, another important issue to Canadians and to the future of Canada falls by the wayside.
Justin Trudeau’s motion (Private Members’ Business M-299), asks for the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities, to study and consider a national voluntary service policy for young people.
This is a process that would engage young people in the political process in order to develop a policy that considers issues that they care about. A study that could discover ways for youth to develop civic pride in their country and communities, empowering them through volunteer programs, such as political activities, which would bring fresh views and spirit to our now embarrassing political class.
The youth are not seriously considered a worthy political constituency during or after campaigns; this is commonly explained away by the age categories’ poor voter turnout, which then leads to the justification that apathy at the polls gets you apathy on your issues.
However, politicians and political parties actively pursue specific segments of the population, under the cause for making the political system more open and sympathetic to their issues, which is all in the spirit of fairness and equal opportunity.
Yet somehow the youth segment of the population appear not worthy of such noble pursuits. This seems to be the current thinking of the Conservative government, who voted Trudeau’s motion down; this seems to be the view of our MP Gary Schellenberger who voted Trudeau’s motion down.
However, I cannot believe that Mr. Schellenberger actually believes that the youth of our country and his riding are not a valuable segment of his constituency to be fairly represented in Ottawa with his vote.
The vote against the youth and Mr. Trudeau must have been a vote to “stick it” to the opposition. The motion was just part of the collateral damage caused by this recent round of partisan brinkmanship.
This is an issue that Schellenberger and his party calculate will not get a lot of press and will be missed by their greater constituency, along with the tapes, binders and gold. I guess the Conservatives and Mr. Schellenberger have somehow justified voting for a record deficit, which will have to be paid for by the Canadian youth, but refuse to vote to include the youth in the process. It is voting for record spending – and what will no doubt be future record taxation – without proper representation.
Brendan W. Knight
Sebringville
