A Good Day on the Hill Yesterday

The Eternal Flame in front of the Parliament Buildings

Yesterday, four WAP/PAF members responded to the call of Catch-22 to join a Democracy Rally on Parliament Hill.

There was a pro-Libyan invasion group present on the steps leading to the Parliament building, but we saw no Rally. Never mind, we thought, as we had also come to support Fair Vote and get people to sign the Declaration of Voters' Rights and distribute their Why don't politicians listen? leaflets.

With a number of Saturday tourists milling around, we managed to meet up with one gentleman who had come all the way from Pembroke to attend the Rally. He was disappointed to find no democracy meeting. He signed the Fair Vote Declaration. "However," he said, "I believe in a two party system."

We spoke about that and how the two party system excludes a great number of people from expressing themselves politically. This is undemocratic.

Fair Vote Canada wrote in 2003, "Under our current voting system, our votes only count - or have impact on the allocation of seats - when we happen to share the most popular partisan viewpoint in our riding." Furthermore, we argued, the current electoral system almost always provides distorted election results and a huge proportion of wasted votes. Finally, we concluded, the current system shuts whole regions out of cabinet. How representative is that, we asked?

Additionally, we met a woman form Nova Scotia, who also left disappointed. But we were happy to meet her as she signed our declaration form and was keen to know more about WAP/PAF. "I am happy to hear about the Women's Alliance Party," she said, "but I hope you are not affiliated to the previous Reform Alliance?" "Of course not!" we said, and explained why we have the word 'Alliance' in our name. "This is to bring people together as allies with the common goal of serving all Canadians, as opposed to the self serving partisanship model under which we currently suffer."

Let us be clear. Without electoral reform there can be no fair representation.

Letter to Jack Layton, NDP

Dear Mr. Layton,

With all due respect for you and the NDP, we question the wisdom to hope for the leopard to change its spots.

Mr. Harper has shown nothing less then contempt for women, by reducing their budget, closing their programs, forcing us to work harder just to keep our services to our clients (children, old people, single mothers, etc.) on a shoe string, and Mr. Layton, you who have been our champion all these years, are seen to be negotiating with Mr. Harper on the budget.

If he were to meet your budgetary demands, it would be like throwing a bone in your direction, a symbolic gesture in order to have you accept the budget, but behind the scenes, he will continue to dismantle the structures through which we work. This is his intent, and using anyone to achieve this is his plan.

Even if in the face of it, if looks like politically expedient to negotiate with Mr. Harper, the fact is that it would sink the NDP as people will see it as a failure to stand up against the very person who is crushing democracy in Canada. Better be seen to side with Mr. Ignatieff than to be seen siding with Mr. Harper. I say this because most people we meet say they will vote Liberal (even NDP members) just because they stand a better chance of getting rid of Mr. Harper. That is the ultimate and urgent goal for many Canadians.

Please, Mr. Layton, do agree to meet up with the leaders of the Greens, the Bloc Q and the Liberals and other smaller parties like CAP,and try somehow to work out an agreement to push for a vote of no confidence and get Mr. Harper to answer for his gross mismanagement of our tax payers money, and other 'crimes' against the people of Canada. Particularly toxic is the manner in which Mr. Harper is letting Corporate America, through Alberta, take over our country.

Hoping beyond hope for leaders like you to put Canadians before party politics,

Sincerely

Esther Matharu
Women's Alliance Party/Parti alliance femmes

Rally for Democracy

Is it time for Canadians to push for a motion of non-confidence and fire Mr. Harper for contempt of Parliament, election fraud of 2006, and mismanagement of our tax payer’s money? Women’s Alliance Party says YES!

Contempt of Parliament is described in the House of Commons Procedure and Practice manual as "any conduct which offends the authority or dignity of the House, even though no breach of any specific privilege may have been committed." This offense of obstructing the Parliament and Parliamentary Committees from the carrying out of their functions is what we hope Canadians can clearly see. They failed to see this in 2006, when, in order to avoid an election, they allowed an unethical government engaged in fraudulent practices, evasive techniques, and unscrupulous actions, to continue to govern, by dissolving Parliament and allowing an election.

We have ourselves to blame too.

We should have taken the former Governor General Rt HON Michaelle Jean to task when she seriously erred and caused the dissolution of the Parliament Committee on Ethics and Access to Information that was investigating the fraudulent funding scheme used by 65 Conservatives in the 2006 election.

Look where our complicity and error has got us now?

How much longer will a compliant Governor General support such practices, techniques and actions?

How many Conservatives will fall on their own swords or take hemlock to protect their leader’s and party’s reputation, before they understand where their leader has taken them?

(The completion of this article will appear on our website at www.womensallianceparty.com)

Join us tomorrow from 1:00 pm to 4:00 p.m. on Parliament Hill

Take the outrage, right to the source.

Stephen Harper -- the only Prime Minister in Canadian history to be accused of election fraud -- has spent the last five years attacking our democracy. His government has lied to and obstructed Parliament more than any other in history, and he thinks that being attacked for it is just a distraction.

Enough is enough.

Rally for Democracy in Canada -- Unseat Stephen Harper

Hope for Japan

KIBOU (Hope)

The Women's Alliance Party expresses its heartfelt sorrow and anguish at what the Japanese people are going through as a result of the earthquake and tsunami earlier this month.

We are not rich to send millions, but we can send our thoughts of empathy and solidarity to all the women who have lost loved ones, mothers, grandmothers, daughters, all who survived the earthquake and tsunami and who now grieve alone in fear and despair, unable to bury their lost ones and unable to protect the living from what could be a very precarious future.

We invite all our members to remember those who are caught up in this upheaval and the others taking place in the Middle East, especially Libya and Bahrain, in solidarity with courageous women who care and who dare.

Sincerely,
Esther and Shannon

Fair Vote Responds

Dear Fair Vote:

It was with great pleasure that we came across your movement to bring reform to the electoral system in Canada. This is the first and foremost activity that all citizens should be actively working towards. Everything else hinges on this issue. It is great to see that we have an organization that is doing just that.

A few of us are starting a new federal political party called the Women's Alliance Party. Because this issue is our major ‘platform’, we would like to get in touch with you so that we can learn about your activities, join your campaigns and become actively involved in awareness building.

Please do contact us.

Best regards
Esther Matharu

Esther:

Thank you for your interest in Fair Vote Canada!

You have come to the right place. As you may know, every country that elects at least 30% women to its legislature uses a proportional voting system. Removing systemic barriers to the election of women is one of the founding core principles of Fair Vote Canada.

I am copying this to June Macdonald, who is Chair of the Women's Caucus of Fair Vote Canada.

I would encourage you and your members to do two things right away—sign the Declaration of Voters' Rights and join Fair Vote Canada. Both of these things can be done at http://FairVote.Ca. Note that those who join before March 31 will be eligible to vote in this year's national election of officers.

I look forward to meeting you and discussing your plans.

Wayne Smith

Executive Director

Fair Vote Canada

Impeachment Process at Queen's U. Not Ethical

Dear Principal of Queen's University,

That the question of impeachment should even come up shows how far we as Canadians have fallen off the path of democracy and freedom of speech. Nick Day should not be impeached for writing a bold letter, expressing what is long overdue, and putting Mr. Ignatieff in his place. He spoke the truth about Israel’s apartheid policies and Mr.Ignatieff’s unethical and self serving support for Israel. Mr. Ignatieff's hypocrisy, as a former academic himself, is absolutely astounding.

Amartya Sen wrote in the 'Argumentative Indian' that "The point [rather] is that democracy is intimately connected with public discussion and interactive reasoning".

What critics of Mr. Day are trying to do here, out of a deep seated fear that comes from the knowledge that there is grave injustice being acknowledged publicly, is to pick on the fact that Mr. Day signed his letter as the Rector. However, what Mr. Day has done - and it is his responsibility to do - is simply to defend 'public discussion and interactive reasoning'.

The argument that he might have signed in his name is ridiculous. What would that have changed? Did Mr. Ignatieff not sign his letter as party leader?

I have attended these IAW meetings and can say that only those who feel guilty take any notice.

We are very disappointed in Queen's University's even considering an impeachment of its highly respected Rector, and will continue to write letters to you in defence of Mr. Day.

Sincerely

Esther Matharu
Women's Alliance Party

York University Seeks Answers

A request came over the transom today from a women's studies group at York University who are doing a small research project for a presentation for a women's studies seminar on activist groups.

The questionnaire wasn't necessarily directed at us but we thought that this group of students/scholars would no doubt like to know about the grass roots activism on a federal level that started a little more than two months ago here in Ottawa. The course focuses on the connections between gender, militarization, and globalization and the students will be presenting a brief overview during the seminar.

Here is the response which Esther and I worked on together:

The newly-formed grass-roots Women's Alliance Party is interested in offering you a brief overview of our ideals and principals.

We are a new federal political party particularly concerned that the top-down, hierarchical model of our current government is not serving Canada well and certainly, is not a model the most women (and many men) take well. Please see our website, www.womensallianceparty.com for more details.

Your questions and our answers below:

What would you say the uniting ideal and/or value of the WOMEN'S ALLIANCE PARTY would be?

We are a movement that seeks to engage more women and men to recognize the limitations and failure of the current paradigm and adopt a model that is synergistic, inclusive and post-heroic. Women will not wish to get involved in politics so long as we do not have electoral reforms, without which marginalized groups, smaller parties and majority groups such as the 51% of female Canadians will never have a representative voice.

Is the WOMEN'S ALLIANCE PARTY concerned with trying to attain a diverse membership that is representative of all women and reflective of all their identities?

Absolutely. We are inclusive and men are welcome to join.

While women are united under one title there are benefits to working independently versus organizing transnationally is there a particular reason why the initiatives have remained separate rather than becoming part of a broader collective?

We are keen on expressing the tenets of the Women's Alliance Party around the world and will seek to establish connections everywhere. Our vision is a Women's Alliance Party in every country where women need more political representation.

What are some of the challenges you encounter in your initiative?

Not enough hours in the day to do everything we must to ensure registration of WAP/PAF within the next two months. We want to be on the ballot in the upcoming federal election.

The name we have chosen gives rise to discussions and starts conversations. It is mostly some female academics and some men, especially from ethnic backgrounds, who object to the name. Interesting.


From Esther Matharu, Leader, Women's Alliance Party
Shannon Lee Mannion, Secretary, Women's Alliance Party
www.womensallianceparty.com




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