MEDIA RELEASE - ELECTION 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 20, 2006

The Left's Missed Opportunity

I feel compelled to respond to Chantal Hebert's column, "The Left's Missed Opportunity" (January 20) in which she warns that progressive groups may be abandoning the NDP. While Hebert does not specify any group in her critique, she is likely referring to the large coalition of women's, environmental, equal rights, labour and student groups who asked Canadians at a press conference last week to think twice before voting for the Harper Conservatives. Hebert, like several other media observers, has interpreted the message coming from these groups, which included my own, as a call to vote Liberal. This is entirely inaccurate.

Most of our organizations are totally non-partisan and do not usually become involved in the electoral process. Most have also been highly critical of the federal Liberals. I have spent much of the last twelve years as a vocal critic of Liberal policies. Most of us were cognizant of the important role played by the NDP in the last Parliament in holding the Liberal Party to a more progressive policy agenda and are clear that a return of an even greater number of NDP and other progressive forces to the House of Commons is vital.

The reason we chose to speak out this election was our collective concern about the past policies and statements of both Stephen Harper and many of his candidates. After extensively researching Harper's past, we came to the conclusion that a Harper government would dramatically set back the cause of social equality, workers rights and environmental stewardship in Canada. We shared these concerns from a variety of perspectives at the press conference and continue to share them with the Canadian public. We did not tell anyone how to vote. We simply reminded Canadians of our shared values and asked them to think twice before letting their desire for change result in a government that would destroy decades of social progress.

Maude Barlow
National Chairperson
Council of Canadians

This letter was submitted in response to an article that originally appeared in the Toronto Star, Friday, January 20, 2006.