Check It Out: Guard against apathy

By Joan Janzen

I read somewhere that a politician is a person who will lay down your life for their country. It’s meant to be funny, but it may be why Franco Terrazzano from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation stresses the importance of citizen engagement.

While speaking with Faytene Grasseschi, Franco said, “I know things are tough, but the number one thing we have to guard against is apathy. We can’t be so pessimistic that we don’t take action. If we want change we have to stay in the game and keep the pressure on.”

He gave the example of the recent election in Alberta, where taxes were a huge issue, since the NDP wanted to increase business taxes. On the flip side, the United Conservatives wanted to cut income taxes.

However Franco said the biggest issue, was wanting to expand the Taxpayer Protection Act in Alberta, so any future government couldn’t increase taxes unless a referendum was held beforehand.

“That is fantastic protection that all taxpayers across the nation need,” he said. “This is the strongest protections act in Canada by miles.”

He said Alberta also has some rules around balancing the budget, limiting future government spending, and debt repayment. “We could use these in other provinces. We should be talking to our premiers and MLA’s, saying these are common sense policies that can protect taxpayers,” Franco advised.

While some people push back, claiming reducing taxes will result in reduced public services, Franco said the problem citizens should be concerned about is government wasting too much money.

“We should be pushing more to cut the waste,” he advised. Government MPs get pay raise after pay raise, he noted. “Then there’s corporate welfare. The federal government handed out $13 billion to Volkswagen, for a cost of $4 million per job. The reason you’re paying so much tax is because they’re wasting too much of your money.”

Canada Day will usher in a second carbon tax, which is said to be for the sake of the environment. However Franco said even if the government brought all our industries to a screeching halt, it would do almost nothing for the global environment. “In fact it would be worse, because those industries will be forced to go to places with less environmental concern,” he added.

“Canada makes up less than two percent of global emissions. The whole point of the carbon tax is to increase the cost of gas and make it more expensive to heat your homes,” he said. “But some good news is I think more people are waking up to this. Sometimes I do feel like I’m banging my head against the wall. But the only way to stop this is to stay engaged. You have to participate, and you have to continue to call or email your Members of Parliament.”

Faytene Grasseschi also spoke with Doug Sharpe of the National Leadership Briefing. He explained that what makes parties better is when citizens engage from within the party and participate in forming policy and making the party less flawed.

Faytene resides in New Brunswick where the premier is facing backlash for new legislation stating children under the age of 15 need to get parental consent if they want to change their names or pronouns. The backlash is coming primarily from media and politicians, but not from parents.

Vassy Kapelos from Power Play spoke to the premier of New Brunswick. Vassy pointed out critics say this is the premier’s personal agenda rather than a government policy. Critics also say the policy will negatively impact kids and is causing division within the party. She also noted there were only three complaints regarding the previous policy.

Premier Blaine Higgs explained, saying the former policy came in quietly and parents were unaware. But when they became aware, they felt left out, and there was a situation where there wasn’t a plan to include parents.

“We are getting overwhelming support from parents who want to be part of their child’s experiences,” PM Higgs said. He added that If a child has a difficult home life, we should be aware of that, but the goal is to bring parents back into the equation, while being cognizant of the needs of the child.

A June 14 article by Sabrina Maddeaux in the National Post, addressed the topic of this new legislation. She noted Prime Minister Trudeau accused those who are concerned about parental rights of endorsing cruelty.

“It’s not unreasonable that parents are upset that schools now treat them as inherent risks to their kids, when the reality is most support and love them unconditionally,” Sabrina pointed out.

Personally, I’ve seen that unconditional love played out over and over again. Parents who sold their belongings in order to pay for their child’s medical expenses. Parents who worked full time, but took on another part-time job so their children could participate in the sports they loved. Parents who spent months and years in hospitals and Ronald MacDonald House waiting for their child to receive a transplant. Parents who considered it a privilege to be the lifetime caregiver for their handicapped child, and never ever complained. Parents who raised their grandchildren while their parents struggled with addictions. Parents who spent a minimum of two hours every evening tutoring their child who had a learning disability.

All those examples don’t sound like parents who present a risk to their children. Children desperately need unconditional love, and it doesn’t come from politicians, media, teachers, therapists or even peers. It comes from parents, most of whom are willing to lay down their life for their children.

Doug Sharpe encouraged parents to accept that they are the primary caregivers and the primary persons dealing with the education of their children. “Don’t let anybody else tell you differently. That’s a reality you can stand on as a parent,” he said.