|
Written by Dave Mabell
|
|
Saturday, May 01 2010, 9:47 PM |
Albertans respect human rights, diversity and personal choice. They also value balanced budgets and fiscal responsibility, says MP Martha Hall Findlay.
That’s why there’s renewed interest in the federal Liberals’ message, she told a Lethbridge audience Saturday. In Alberta, the former Calgary resident added, there’s also growing dissatisfaction with prime minister Stephen Harper as he backs away from so many campaign promises.
Now his government’s attack on women’s programs is alienating more voters, she said. Women’s centres, like a Lethbridge organization operating for 25 years, are suddenly facing closure as federal support grants are axed.
“This is happening all over the country,” Hall Findlay said in an interview. “There’s an extraordinarily blind eye being turned by the Harper government.”
Hall Findlay, elected twice in the Willowdale riding in metro Toronto, was part of a team of high-profile Liberals invited to speak here during the annual conference of the Liberal Party of Canada in Alberta. About 160 delegates from across the province also heard MPs Justin Trudeau, Dominic LeBlanc, Ralph Goodale, Hedy Fry and John McKay.
“This is an opportunity for some of us to come to Alberta, show our support and build some bridges,” she said.
A businesswoman who lived in Calgary for two years, Hall Findlay said the Liberals’ consistent support for human rights — along with fiscal prudence and fair taxation — is what attracts many Canadians who have become disillusioned with the Harper regime.
“They’ve had the two largest-spending budgets in Canadian history,” she said. What’s more, their big budgets started before the current economic slowdown — and not long after the previous Liberal governments completed paying down massive debt racked up by the last Conservative government.
Her party’s government services critic, Hall Findlay said the Harper government has it wrong when it comes to support for women, minority groups — and for overseas development project so many Canadians back. After cancelling support for such faith-based organizations as Kairos, she said, it’s alienatingmany Canadians who believe this country has a larger, more positive role to play than simply sending its army to Afghanistan.
“We take an international view,” and don’t interfere with other nations’ approaches to such issues as women’s health and access to safe abortions.
“The Liberal party is absolutely pro-faith,” she added. “We understand the importance of faith to so many Canadians.”
But Liberals won’t pick and choose which religious viewpoints to endorse. Before speaking to a group of Young Liberals, she praised younger Canadians’ passion for key issues like human rights and the environment.
“A lot of young people will turn up for a Habitat build,” or to volunteer at the food banks.
For political parties, she said, the challenge is to show them how they can create change as well as responding to basic human needs. Rather than building a single home, for example, political actions could lead to new housing programs for lower-income Canadians.
“If you get involved, maybe we can build a whole project of houses,” she said. “Politics is the next step, towards making things happen.”
|
