An Open Letter To Our Conservative MPs

We stand on the precipice of History.

Looking down, below, we see the shattered ruins of lesser nations, of fallen civilizations and their attempts at Democracy.

Their failed experiments, their governments, their dead.

My name is Brandon Laraby, I am a single Canadian citizen and I stand alone.

I'm not a Conservative, a Liberal, a Green or an NDP.

I fly no flag but our own.

Red and White.

And I'm writing today to remind you of the Country that you love.

Of the nation that wobbles so dangerously close to the edge right now.

I'm writing to remind you of the sacrifice of your forefathers, of the blood spilled to preserve the Democracy that lies beaten and bloody before us now.

I'm writing to remind you of the millions of Canadians who love this country just as much as you, who want only the best for their friends and their family and their loved ones.

Just the same as you.

All things considered, I'm new to the political game.  I don't do speeches, I've never had to fight for votes, I don't have a politician's thick skin.

So I can only imagine what's been done in order silence you, to cage you, to keep you on message.

I can only imagine what's been said to you over these past weeks and months and years as you've fought to do your best for our nation and your constituents.

But thanks to the brave Conservative MP David Wilks I know that you're probably suffering under what's called a 'Level 3 Whip' right now.

And have been for a long time.

Knowing how quickly he was silenced, how quickly he ate his words and fell back in line, it's pretty safe to say that he was made an example of, somehow.

I'm sure that, as this vote draws close, there are harsh whispers and wary looks for any who might waver. There are threats being made. Words that say 'you'll never work in this town again'.

But you will.

And you must.

Because we need good, honest politicians now more than we ever have.  People who understand the mosaic of our nation.  Who know how to work together, with one another.  Who know how to build something greater, together, with our nation.

In no uncertain terms, Bill C38 is Stephen Harper's first full step towards an autocracy - to fast-track his will over the Canadian people and remap the Canadian landscape with the stroke of a pen.

We did not ask for this.  We were not given a chance to ask for this.

We were told, just the same as you were, that this is how it's going to be.

Shut up, suck it up, this is your country now.

Is this what you signed up for?  Is this what you hoped you would be doing to help people when you dreamed of working in Ottawa?

Did you hope to be relegated to a living number?  Of no more use to your country than a raised hand bent to someone else's will?

Do you look forward to going back to your constituents and looking them in the eye, those who have placed their trust in you and the system you represent?

Because this is not Democracy.

What is happening here is no mix of the people's will.

It is one man telling a country how it will operate from now on.

Let me ask you this:

When the hidden provisions of C38 were revealed, when they were pointed out to us all -- when Canadians stood up and wrote in and said 'Hell No!'... did it not bother you that this one man continued to push for it to become law?

When 'enemy' MPs stood up and brought forth 871 motions against the bill, when they fought tooth and nail to have it broken up and examined... did it not make sense?

Could it not be possible that they had a point?

That perhaps they weren't acting on some dastardly 'hidden agenda' but, in fact, were enacting the will of their own constituents.

Constituents who stood up and, again, said 'No'.

But Stephen Harper will push this bill through and he will shatter the columns of the Parliamentary system to make it happen.

Our will be damned.

So I'm here, now, asking you to search yourselves, asking you to obey your conscience - to re-discover whatever patriot heart still lies beating within you.

This isn't about Left or Right anymore, this isn't about power, this isn't about keeping your job.

It's about the Country that raised you, the social contract that served you and your family - your kids, your grand kids, their children and more; that protected you and nurtured you and allowed you to dream and realize that dream and stand for us.

To stand on guard for Canada and the full, fragile Democracy that we hold dear.

I'm asking you to be bigger than one man and his lust for unfettered power.

I'm asking you to forget Red and Blue and see your country in its fullness NOW.  See, truly, where we are.  What is happening to us.

What will happen to us.

I'm asking you to endure the whip, to step back from the ledge and defeat Bill C38.

To stand and be the Hero that Canada needs.

Please.

Sincerely,
Brandon C. Laraby