Meeting the people of York-Simcoe

Seniors dancing to the Metis Fiddle and Singing at the Bradford Valley Seniors Residence on the 21st of April, lovely!

Good day everyone, what a wonderful experience it has been to meet people around this riding and I am sorry we cannot meet every single individual.  There has been much laughter, some anger from the opposition party that is hard for me to understand since we all have a right to choose, and anger always equates to fear for me.  I don't think we should ever be afraid when it comes to how we view our mutual government.  The smiles and hope for the future have been wonderful, the need to protect our democracy as we have always known it strong, and the desire to maintain our health care a powerful motivating force.

Even the conservatives will have to use health care and they will be required to pay as much as everyone else if Mr. Harper fundamentally changes our system through privatization.  We must think of the future of this country and where we would like to be in ten or twenty years and how our government will serve our children.  We do not want to go backwards and into an American system, where people cannot afford to secure treatment and are burdened with huge debt when they have no choice, people discharged to the street while still recovering because they cannot pay.  Sure, many people in Canada can take care of themselves, and have the resources to do so, but many do not, and while we do not ever want to foster dependency, we must be open to providing necessary assistance when needed.

We are moving into a militarized mind-set, 500 billion expenditures by the Conservative Government over the next decade for National Defence, defence from what many are asking?  What happened to our Peacekeeping stance?  What happened to Canada being a respected member of the global community?  What happened to many things that once defined us on the world stage and at home?

Please, do not allow our country to be fundamentally altered and our identity changed to something we have never endorsed.  Do not split the vote and allow Harper to stroll up the middle, please ensure everyone votes Liberal, and do your best to banish a majority conservative government from ever gaining a foothold, I am running because I care deeply, I hope you do too, Cynthia...

We know you are there, and we are coming your way!

Me and my team have been out amongst the people of the riding everyday, it takes an enormous amount of time, energy and gas to cover so much territory, thank you to those who have dropped in to the blog and picked up information directly online.  I would love to meet each and everyone of you, I have learned so much already, and am so excited about the possibility of representing your interests in Ottawa.  There are many concerns, Health Care, palliative care, new hospice possibilities, transportation challenges, the Lake, youth employment, farming, and advocacy that is kinder and more reflective of everyone, not just the few.  Please feel free to touch base with me, I am honoured to talk to you and respond to your questions, Cynthia...