By Doug Draper
“I’d rather not belong to any group that would have me as a member.” That is a paraphrase of one my favourite Groucho Marx lines, and as far as politics is concerned, I’d revise it to say that I’d never want to belong to a political party that would have me as a member.
When it comes to politics, Groucho Marx was right.
After 32 years in journalism, and many years writing stories and opinion pieces for The St. Catharines Standard, Niagara This Week and this online news and commentary site, I continuously find myself swinging between being bemused and upset every time someone tries to peg me as an NDP, Liberal or Conservative, depending on what position I took in an opinion piece or commentary that particular week or day.
In a way, perhaps I should feel flattered that some people accuse me of being a Liberal one day if I write positive things about green energy or the greenbelt zone for protecting what is left of our prime tender-fruit-growing lands, or an NDP the next if I critique the administrators at the Niagara Health System, or a Conservative on another day if I support the amalgamation of local municipalities in our Niagara region. But then why can’t at least a few of us news be accepted as someone who is just expressing his or her take on issues without partisans from one party or another trying to tag them as a card-carrying member of one party or another?I think part of the reason is that some people who fall into a partisan camp want to deny or discredit the commentator’s views if they don’t happen to agree with those of whatever party they belong to.
That is annoying enough but the other thing that is annoying is the number of so-called “citizen groups” advocating for one issue or another, who move from wearing the buttons of the group they belong to for whatever the issue, tax cuts, lower development charges, saving the swamp or health care, who quickly move to adorning the buttons of a political party and turning their advocacy office into a campaign office as soon as an election is called.
Over all my years as a journalist, I’ve had so many politicians of all stripes say to me; ‘Why should I take seriously anything that group has to say? It is a front for one of the other parties and its members would never vote for me or my party anyway.’ It’s a good point and it is one of the reasons why this columnist would never belong to a party that would have me as a member.
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Niagara At Large 
Although I an a very partisan NDP supporter, I have to admire Doug’s courage in his mix of where the parties stand on various issues. I certainly support and applaud the Liberals for their position on establishing the Greenbelt, and the also the NDP caucus. members who voted for the critical bill in the legislature. I think Doug’s expose of a ltter from a retired dcotor certainly shows the proof behind the NDP’s position that our health system in Niagara is underfunded and the problems this has caused. One of the basic reasons behind this mess is that we need supplemental funding to take into account our older population in greater need of health services I also share with the Conservatives an appreciation of the need for one Niagara!
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Although I am a partisian Nerw Democrat I support Doug Draper’s comments on the strength and weaknesses of Ontario political parties. One point that he did not make however, is that the NDP supports the Liberals poliices on green energy and the Greenbelt. The Conservatives do deserve to be applauded for the call for one Niagara City, which is the only way to encourage strong land use planning and improved transit.
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Another point is that Doug’s comments from a retired doctor shows the serious problems in the NHS, which the NDP has worked hard to document. The problems he described such as dangerous cost cutting, show that we in Niagara need supplemental funding for the NHS because our population is older than the provincial average.
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Why does it come as no surprise to me that a life long resident and an aspiring politician from St. Catharines supports the concept of one Niagara?
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Here we go again. In answer to Mr. Strugar’s comment above, I am not a life-long resident of St. Catharines and don’t live there. I was born and raised in Welland, spent most of the first half of my life enjoying the amenities of the south end of the region where my parents and many other family and friends still live, and I am not “an aspiring politician.” I live in Thorold now, a municipality with a mayor and council that is mostly opposed to any kind of amalgamation. I favour it because I have come to believe that from an economic and good-planning point of view around building a decent transit system, sustainable residential and commercial areas that also protect what is left of our rich natural areas in this wonderful region, the parochialism of the past and present has got to go. The post Mr. Strugar commented on was an attempt to say that one shouldn’t make automatic assumption’s about another person’s agenda or possible party affiliations just because they don’t happen to care for the position they take on any one or more issues. That was the point, lost in this case apparently. Doug Draper, Niagara At Large.
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While I am a life time resident and an aspiring politician from St. Catharines I will go into some detail as to why I support a one Niagara City. I have been active in the Preservation of Agricultural Lands Society since its founding in 1976. One of the biggest obstacles to combatting urban sprawl that we have encountered is the fragmentation of Niagara into separate municipalities. While our society has had some success in protecting our unique grape and tender fruit land from urban sprawl, the lack of a single city has lead to some bad consequences for St. Catharines. This was seen in the case of the City of St. Catharines Council’s attempt to sell off land that was assembled with the help of financial assistance by the federal government for a park. According to Paul Chapman, who ks now the Planning Director for St. Catharines, after the Ontario Municipal Board ruled that there would be a pernament boundary to protect the fruitland from sprawl, the whole attitude of the staff in the City of St. Catharines changed towards the proposed park. With the support of staff, the council with the exception of the subsequenly defeated councillor, Norman St. George voted to sell the land to a developer. People in my neighbourhood had to fight bitterly for two years to reverse the council decision. This terrible experience has made me into a believer in a single Niagara City.
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Doug, as you may notice from John Bacher’s reply, it was he not yourself to whom my comment was aimed. As evidenced by the complete disregard of the health (or death) of the people in the southern part of the region elected officials in St. Catharines care only about their own welfare. In my opinion, their support of “One Niagara” is simply a self-serving effort to make St. Catharines the be-all-and-end-all of the region. Once they have accomplished this they wouldn’t care what happens to the rest of us. You only need the silence of their MPP to know that this is true.
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Here’s the thing, Doug — I have always thought that most Canadians choose to support a political party that conforms with their values. In other words, because one becomes aware of issues that should be addressed through the political process, one then turns to the party that shares those concerns. Just because I am a member of a particular party doesn’t mean either that I always agree with that party’s stand on everything, or that I won’t support the efforts of other parties to make what I consider to be positive change. Until we have something better — and certainly a fairer and more representative voting system is long overdue — that’s how I think most of us behave. In my opinion, blind partisan loyalty is not only foolish, it’s downright dangerous. Party leaders are only human, and it’s up to the members to hold them to account when they forget that we elect them to do what WE think right, not the other way around. The price of freedom is indeed eternal vigilance — and that should start in our own back yard.
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