Barbara Kohn’s March 29 letter that “conservatives must evolve” only confirms my original letter. I will only vote for the United Conservative Party if it promotes conservative principles outlined in my original letter. I agree completely with Mr. Spiller’s April 5 letter “blind support is wrong.” It confirms the last Conservative government in Canada that even came close to meeting my “conservative criteria” may have been the Peter Lougheed government. Over the past 30 years, the remnants of Lougheed’s party have “evolved” into nothing more than “liberal/socialists in blue suits.” Having said that, job losses that Spiller blames on previous Conservative governments were nothing compared to the jobs lost under his NDP socialists. As for subsidies, every one of these governments, including Harper's, have “evolved” by continuing taxpayer handouts to anyone and everyone – oil companies, General Motors, Chrysler, Bombardier, marketing boards, childcare, healthcare, housing programs and others. There are two economic principles that truly conservative governments will apply: First, when a corporation or business gets into financial trouble ‘by its own making’ it should be allowed to fail. (This cannot apply to Kinder Morgan. This pipeline is in trouble because our current federal government refuses to firmly apply its constitutional responsibilities to the nation that must not include putting tax dollars into the project). Second, one of government’s primary roles is to establish economic policies that reduce red tape, bureaucracy and taxes that attract investment and encourages entrepreneurs and businessmen to build wealth-creating businesses that ‘can support the social programs’ Kohn and Spiller talk about. Our anti-business climate has caused investors to leave Canada and Alberta in particular. Soon there will no longer be any taxpayers willing to pull the “welfare subsidy wagon!” Justin Trudeau's government has driven Canada’s debt to a current total of $652 billion dollars, an annual deficit of some $18 billion with yearly interest of $33 billion, or about $18,000 per citizen. (At least Harper left a surplus in the national treasury). The Notley Government debt stands at about $45 billion with a current deficit of $9.1 billion, or about $10,000 per citizen. Add the federal government portion and every citizen, including Ms. Kohn and Mr. Spiller, owes just under $30,000! Now subtract the many Canadians who are tax-exempt, and we can almost double what the remaining taxpayers owe the national debt, a disgraceful situation! For Mr. Spiller to suggest that we’re in this financial mess because of former conservative policies is ludicrous! He must instead be proud that this massive debt has been generated in the last two or three years under Liberal/NDP policies that he and Ms. Kohn seem to favour. The two economic principles described above could easily be achieved and our debt eliminated if our federal government firmly applied its constitutionally responsible mandate and immediately proceeded with the following economic improvement projects: 1. Build Energy East: Tax revenues from this pipeline would produce more than $6.5 billion annually reducing our dependency on oil from Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and the North Eastern US. (Imported oil at world prices costs us $40 million each day! According to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, the Trudeau Government has exempted these countries from emission regulations, while Canadian oil companies remain subjected)? 2. Permit the Shell Canada LNG consortium to build its plant on the BC coast to satisfy the huge Asian demand for natural gas that China is using to replace coal, creating an opportunity for Canada to support international environmental programs. 3. Get the Kinder Morgan pipeline extension built immediately, adding another $5 billion or $6 billion to Canada’s annual tax revenue. What could Canada do with these additional resource revenues? We could eliminate our national debt in less than 10 years, satisfy the Kohn/Spiller socialist demands for improved health, childcare, improved housing and in my opinion perhaps even ‘totally free’ education, and we might never again need to borrow. The only reason Canada’s government is dragging its feet on these projects is because Trudeau is hoping to retain his seats in BC and Quebec at the next election. As a former soldier and small business owner, I need no socialist lectures on what constitutes truly conservative principles of national and personal self-reliance, individual responsibility and free enterprise promotion. L. Leugner
