To the Editor,
The NDPs ‘robbing the cradles’ of Quebec to find candidates to run in the last federal election has certainly fed the humour mill, as your May 10 cartoon with the ‘question period’ question “will there be homework?” amusingly illustrates.
We knew that NDP leader Jack-in-the-box Layton had promised national daycare, but who thought he’d kick-start it on Parliament hill?
Will there be a new school bus route between Quebec and Ottawa? Will taxpayers have to pay for Ruth Ellen ‘Las Vegas’ Brosseau’s French lessons, or will the New Democratic Bloc (NDB) foot the bill? Will the first NDB motion to be tabled nominate Kraft Dinner as the official food of the Common House?
All ‘kidding’ aside, should fledgling MPs be entitled to a full MP’s six-figure salary while undergoing a long Parliamentary learning process? When I compare this charade with seeing smart young people in Nanaimo who work for minimum wage in order to further their education, I can’t help wondering – is this the NDP’s idea of fairness for all?
The promises that genial Jack made to Quebecers during his campaign stops must now sound a bit hollow in view of an unexpected Conservative majority, which also adds to the humour.
And who is there to represent that province in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s cabinet? One good Quebec MP who got re-elected is Maxime Bernier who I think, as a staunch fiscal Conservative, would be great as head of the Treasury Board.
More fun to come.
Jim Corder
Nanaimo