Perhaps because I live on Vancouver Island where people seem to be politically astute and well-informed it is frightening to me to see the polls are predicting a Conservative majority at the next election. It leads me to wonder where the rest of the country is in keeping informed of the political reality of our country.

If the screening of people who wish to participate in Conservative political rallies is not enough, what does the fact that this party has been found in contempt of Parliament for the first time in our history tell us?

If they are in contempt of Parliament, they are also in contempt of Canadians who have elected their representatives to this body. When did the Canadian government become the Stephen Harper government?

Despotism does not hit us over the head suddenly. It sneaks up on us when we are focused on economics only and not the broad spectrum of what a country embraces as its values. There are certainly enough despotic governments operating world-wide for us to make comparisons.

Shirley Stirrett

Langford