By Zile Singh
This is in continuation of my earlier column on the subject in the 3rd of February issue of The Link Paper that discussed current challenges faced by Canadians and what is Conservative Party of Canada proposing to deal with these challenges.
To start with, let me tell you a famous quote about Change by Mr. Stephen Harper, the former Conservative Prime Minister of Canada. He said, “Having hit a wall, the next logical step is not to bang our heads against it again. I think the way to Change is to handle issues individually when it is essential to do so.” Be who you are and say what you feel. Because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.
Let us not forget that the change should be for better and not for worse. People do change from bad to worse. If an already worsened situation is not changed on time, it becomes the worst overtime. Every leader, worth the name, has an unusual way to change. One grabs the bull by the horns, the other chases by the tail. The former stops the bull to do more damage and the latter runs into a wild goose chase. It is like inviting the illness and then pay hefty amount for its cure. Let loose the law and then fund the police. Distribute randomly ‘free bees’ and then set commissions for recovery. Open the gate for influx of international students without planning and then put a cap with some small-scale businesses crying.
Statements by Prime Minister Trudeau and opposition leader Poilievre about change seem in different directions. Mr. Trudeau is using change as a Noun and Mr. Poilievre is using it as a Verb. Trudeau used the theme of “change” to begin his remarks to a Liberal gathering just before Christmas last year. Canadians, he said, are living through a “period where we are all experiencing a lot of change. Change in interest rates. Change in the world order. Change in the environment. Change in the way we work, Change in culture. All of this change, he said, “can be disorienting.” He is of the opinion that significant parts of his government’s agenda have been about meeting the need for change and preparing Canadians for the future. Can one interpret it as if he has done these changes for ordinary people to face it in future, no matter what happens? Today, ordinary Canadians feel like strangers in their own country with how horribly things have ‘changed.’ Canada’s surging cost of living has fueled reverse immigration. In the first six months of 2023 some 42,000 individuals left Canada, adding to 93,818 people who left in 2022 and 85,927 in 2021.
Poilievre, on the other hand is emphasizing changing the situation and do things very differently – even if he frames it in terms of simply changing things back to way, they were pre-Trudeau. Conservatives claim that when Trudeau took over, interest rates and inflation were rock bottom. Taxes were falling faster than at any time in Canadian history. The budget was balanced. Crime had fallen by 25 percent. Borders were secure. Housing costs were half of what they are today. Poilievre wants to change (verb) this change (noun) of Trudeau The drab into the lovely, the ordinary into extraordinary by his ‘common sense’ agenda for Canada.
Judging the pros and cons of the situation, it is not time to bury your head in the sand. It is time to knock the ‘unaffordability’ on the head. Let us evaluate the seemingly just and liberal ‘siren songs’ Old (Conservative) also is gold. You are the maker of your fate. God helps those who help themselves. In a democracy, each vote, and each opinion count.
With malice towards none – “There is nothing permanent except change.”- Heraclitus. “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” – Mother Teresa.
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Zile Singh is a columnist, author, poet, human rights activist, golfer and a vipassana meditator. He can be contacted at [email protected]
