Pubdate: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 Source: Morning Star, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2015 M. Strother Contact: http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1352 Author: M. Strother DON'T RELY ON BLIND TRUST Re: PM defended. I would like to start by saying I hope Sylvia Posch read the letter above her's in the Nov. 28 edition of The Morning Star. This is the typical misinformation our conservative government is feeding the uninformed. Stephen Harper ran on a platform of open and honest government but instead has effectively silenced our scientific community and is working very hard to sell out our country to the corporate world. The trade agreement with the EU and FIPA,the trade agreement with China, allow corporations to sue our government if profits are infringed upon by actions such as protesting pipelines. Global warming may not scare you and it may not effect me so much in my lifetime but I want my grandchildren to live in a world with clean air and drinking water. I support a group that is working hard to have the United Nations declare water as a basic human right so no corporation can own rights to water. We did survive for centuries without oil and gas but we cannot survive without water. I am not saying we must shut down all oil and gas production but we need to start developing better ways to heat our homes, fuel our cars, and wean ourselves from our plastic dependency. Harper's tough on crime strategy means a longer jail sentence for growing marijuana. Do you realize you will receive a longer sentence for growing a plant than you would for being a convicted pedophile. Personally, I would rather live next door to a grow-op than a pedophile. More of our population, including the elderly, are discovering the benefits of marijuana without getting high but until it is legal, the stigma attached to it will discourage more from using it. Many of the drugs big pharma offers have so many negative side effects and become addictive with devastating results. Canada has always been a great country, just not under Harper's leadership. It is the institutions, systems, etc. he is destroying that have made us this way. It is getting harder and harder to stand on our own when the cost of basic survival is becoming unattainable by more of our population. I worry about future prospects for our youth as the middle class dies and we regress back to a system of peasants and royalty. I could go on and on but my point is please people, especially our youth, don't rely on blind trust in our elected officials. Get involved, get the facts and get out and vote. It is after all your future at risk. M. Strother Vernon - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D