During the 2012 Quebec Election Campaign Alex Tyrrell posted the following text addressing the reasons not to vote Liberal.
– Law 78, the attack on civil liberties, and failure to resolve the student strike
- Instead of having a dialogue with students the government passed Bill 78 which severely restricts freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, and civil liberties.
- The government has been criticised by the United Nations and Amnesty International for allowing mass arrests of peaceful protestors.
- The government has been unwilling to negotiate with students and pulled out of the last round of negotiations two days before passing Law 78.
To this day Jean Charest has spent less than one hour meeting with student leaders.
– Failure to provide adequate public transit
The West Island is in desperate need of transit infrastructure. For too long our community has been neglected by politicians who take our votes for granted. Many West Island commuters spend 2 hours per day commuting.
Geoff Kelly has been our MNA for 18 years, and his party has been in government since 2003. In that time our community not seen a single major investment in public transit.
In 2012, for the first time, Geoff Kelly and the Liberal Party of Quebec are talking about a major public transit project in the West Island; the “Train de l’Ouest.”
However, the project remains in the planing stages. Now Geoff Kelly and the Liberal Party of Quebec are saying that they wont commit to funding the project until December 2012, which, unfortunately, is after the election. Coincidence?
Given the Liberal Government’s record on public transit, are you ready to vote for them one more time so they can continue talking about and studying the possibility of building the “Train De l’Ouest”?
We can do better. There is no reason that we cant have public transit in the West Island.
– Support and proximity to the Asbestos and Shale Gas Industries
- In 2012 the Liberals reaffirmed their support for the deadly asbestos industry with a $58 million boost after the CEO of the Jeffrey Asbestos Mine hosted a $19 000 fundraiser for Jean Charest at his home in Westmount. Click here to watch a great documentery from the CBC on the use of asbestos in India.
- Unconditional support for shale gas and Hydraulic Fracturing, regardless of the environmental impacts. They are willing to sacrifice public health.
– Unfair Givaways to Mining Companies; Anticosti Island, Plan Nord
- Plan Nord: Public investments; private profits. The government has been waisting taxpayer dollars building roads to remote mining locations hundreds of kilometers off the beaten path, while refusing to tell citizens how much companies are paying to extract our natural resources.
- In 2008 the government (Hydro Quebec) transferred all of its Anticosti Island oil and gas permits to Petrolia for an undisclosed sum of money, despite Hydro-Quebec’s knowledge of the island’s multi-billion dollar potential. Some have called it “le vol du siecle” (the theft of the century) and have filed a complaint with the SQ.
- While maintaining a revolving door between the gas industry and the Liberal Party of Quebec, they sold exploratory permits for shale gas exploration to the private sector for the bargain price of 10¢/hector, while Alberta charged $500/hector.
– Mismanaged Priorities and Favors to Party Donors
- After 9 years in power priorities change. In recent years Jean Charest’s Liberals have worked more for private companies, party donors, and well connected lobbyists than they have for the people.
- In 2009 the liberals reduced accountability by rolling back long standing ethics lawsthat made it illegal for cabinet ministers to own a companys which receive government contracts.
- Wether it be giving daycare permits, construction contracts, and lucrative government contracts to party donors, or maintaining a revolving door with the oil and gas lobby one thing is for sure; power corupts and it’s time for a change.
