Cornwall ON – The Cornwall Free News & Seawayradio.com are proud to announce a new Political Column written by Mr. Keith Beardsley.
Welcome to “View from the Hill”. In the days ahead, this column will look at what is happening in Ottawa and discuss why everyday Canadians should be paying attention to what our elected officials are doing.
While my background is from the Conservative side, don’t expect me to use PMO talking points. I believe in free speech and all parties will be equally under the microscope. I bring to the discussion some 30 years experience as a senior advisor to five federal Conservative leaders. With experience on both the government and opposition side of the House, I will hopefully be able to provide some insight into what is going on up on the Hill.
Throughout my period on the Hill, I have watched the role and importance of individual MPs decline, as the Prime Minister’s Office tightened control over all aspects of parliamentary life. This is something that everyone should be concerned about and it will be a frequent topic. Improving the way Parliament performs is essential if Canadians are to re-engage with the political process. I am looking forward to the discussion and I hope that many of you will choose to join in and offer your own comments.
Keith Beardsley is a senior strategist for True North Public Affairs in Ottawa, as well as a blogger and political analyst. He can often be found running or cycling on his favorite bike trails.
Bravo, Jamie. Welcome, Mr. Beardsley.
Thank you. I am looking forward to some thought provoking articles and issues. Hopefully many will respond to them… postively or negatively… its one of the freedoms we enjoy in Canada that residents of many other countries can only wish for.
I wasn’t aware that a Conservative was allowed to speak their minds. It will all depends on how close he is to King Stephen and Prince Guy. However, this lowly peasant will give it a read.
Every ship (even the Ship of State) has a Captain. He is the man in charge! My opinion is that Captain Stephen is doing a good job…..so there!
Well hello there. Allow me a moment to welcome you Mr. Beardsley to the CFN. I keenly look forward to reading what you post and you can bet on it that I’m going to come in for some intelligent debate. I’m happy that someone with an actual Conservative background finally has the balls to come on here to discuss and debate, instead of being scared away or silenced yet again. So again, a big welcome! 🙂
willie191:
“I wasn’t aware that a Conservative was allowed to speak their minds.”
Touche! I misread that at first but then realized you were talking about generally the same thing I was. Hopefully we hear a lot from Mr. Beardsley.
You mean Dictator Harper there Stan…
Rick Mercer or William Shatner for either GG or PM!
Stan, please explain how your man is “doing a good job.”
In what areas precisely—transparency? accountability? ethics? the environment? unifying the country? respecting the supremacy of Parliament? respecting difference of opinion? respecting the rights of Canadian citizens overseas? addressing the needs of aboriginal peoples? addressing poverty in Canada? acting tough on crime and spending our taxes on building 22 new prisons, when crime rates are known to be declining? spending Canada into massive deficit and debt?
What else? Oh yes, he does a great job, I grant you, dictating and managing propaganda, and attacking anyone who disagrees with him. But is that what we need or wish for in our PM?
grimalot, so you’re going to come in for some intelligent debate? Thats great…..it shows that you are slowly learning something. BTW, Stepen Harper is not a dictator, he is the Prime Minister of Canada, whether you like it or not! A “majority” put him there and only a “majority” can take him away.
LOL @ Stan’s comment! What, you didn’t think I was intelligent before?
As for Harper, I voted him in the first time. I’ll never make that mistake again. I too fell for his bull when he was first running for PM but quickly learned otherwise after that. And a majority did not vote him in. Perhaps 32% of Canadian’s, eligible to vote, voted him in. It was a record low voter turnout, being at about 60% of eligible voters, of which a little over half of that turnout voted him in. Only reason he is in office at this time is because of “voter apathy”, which is what we’re all talking about above. If we had proportional representation, I can almost guarantee you he wouldn’t be in. To me, he’s been nothing but one disappointment after another. Transparency, Women’s Rights, Pension Reform, Fixed Elections, Senate Reform, Elected Senate, etc… yeah right!!!
Stan, could you send me a pair of those rose coloured glasses.
Hey Stan, many dictators have been democratically elected, then taking advantage of their power and position become a tyrant with absolute power and control. In Western society our governments have learned that they can no longer keep the masses in line through the violent measures used by other despots, so they use information control and mass propaganda to control the population. King Steve is the master of msinformation, or in some cases ( actually several cases) the complete withholding of information. This is not democracy.
That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.
Stan, good one, lol.