Partisanship a problem in politics

Dear Rachael Harder, I’m writing due to my concern about how politics is practised. Partisanship is the problem. You are our representation and voice. That should matter more than the party you belong to.

In this regard, I find it counterproductive to focus on slagging the Liberals. Instead, I’m more interested in how you really feel about issues. I’m interested in how these issues will affect us, your constituents. Slagging the opposite party with dubious halftruths creates only an illusion of difference. When very little separates the major parties, wedge issues are used to emphasize differences where none exist. This adds nothing to the meaningful discourse that must occur in a healthy democracy.

The Omar Khadr affair is an example of this. This issue wasn’t about Justin Trudeau paying a terrorist. It was about due process and the court’s ruling that the government cannot circumvent due process for political expedience, regardless of the circumstances. We are all entitled to a fair trial. Innocence or guilt isn’t decided in the court of public opinion. And torture isn’t an accepted method to extract proof.

These are issues that matter. And ignoring them is a disservice to your constituents. As we see south of the border, and around the world, there is a resurgence in far right, nationalist movements. Fascism scapegoats minority groups. As we see with the rebel and the right’s association with this organization, the right has been flirting with fascism. We also saw this in the last election, where your party introduced the barbaric cultural practices snitch line, and the debate over the niqab.

This is what the Khadr affair was really about for your party. It’s a good wedge issue because of his race and religion, which is no different than calling Mexicans rapists. But just because it’s your party’s stance and makes for scoring political points, rallying the base, and galvanizing (and radicalizing) supporters, doesn’t make it right. Far from it.