Open letter to MP Ryan Leef:
The pillar of your election campaign was that you would always be there as the voice of Yukoners in Ottawa, even if that voice was in opposition to your party. To be precise, it was former MP Larry Bagnell’s vote with his party in favour of the gun registry that prompted your righteous proclamation.
Could your lone vote in favour of an inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women, finally be a fulfillment of that promise? An election must be nigh.
Yes, an inquiry into this matter is absolutely necessary. It is an endemic crime not being investigated to the depths it deserves. I’m glad we are in agreement on that.
But, if it was, as you told a CBC reporter, because you made a commitment in 2011, to “exercise Yukon’s voice in Ottawa and not the other way around,” then where were you on Bills S-6, and C-51? An almost unanimous wave of Yukon voices were clear in their opposition to these bills. Yet, you unabashedly chose to stand in representation of your party, against the expressed desires of a majority of Yukoners.
And how about our veterans that came to you requesting you stand with them in opposition to the closure of offices and inevitable reduction in services for them? You clearly did not stand with them, and instead repeated your party’s ideological rhetoric. The voice of Ottawa - not the other way around.
These dedicated people put their lives on the line in defence of our wonderful freedoms - the same freedoms that politicians like yourself now use to undermine their services upon returning home, forcing them to continue their fight. You, on the other hand, if elected to a second term, will receive the fattest, self-appointed government pension in the country. For life. What a dreadful irony.
I’m sure you are sincere in your desire for an inquiry into the murder and disappearance of such a shocking number of indigenous women. That is honourable. But please don’t compare your lone vote in opposition to your party with Bagnell’s vote in favour of the gun registry.
Yes, I too wish Bagnell stood with Yukoners and voted against the registry, even with the inevitable dismissal from his party. However, I can still recognize a strong work ethic in Bagnell, and, with the exception of that one mistake, a dedication to constituent representation that is not reflected in your term.
Your lone vote was, as you yourself stated, discussed beforehand with your Conservative colleagues. It was granted by your Ottawa puppet-masters, as a show of standing with your constituents - but without the consequences Bagnell would have incurred. Not the same thing at all. You remain a member in good standing with your party.
So please, cut the crap and stop playing us as if we’re that stupid. You are not here for Yukoners. You are here for the Conservative Party of Canada. Nothing more.
Jim Borisenko Tagish Lake