Posted by Joseph A. Gamero on 4/15/2002, 6:07 pm
May 15, 2001
Dear Alliance Member:
I have been known for speaking my mind and, for that, some people of the Reform "old guard," accused me of being a "trouble maker." Many other "trouble makers" were expelled from their party, by the "old guard Manningites," without anyone asking them for their side of the story. The Marquis of Torquemada invented that way in the infamous Spanish Inquisition, although frankly, he went much further.
So I left the Reform Party, which was absolutely opposed to reforms within. Along came the opportunity of a new party and consequently, a leadership race and, I joined the "new" party with great hopes for the future, and expectationsof a new leader. Make no mistake, Preston Manning called a leadership race, because he had no choice! After all, it was a "new" party. To Manning (and all his acolytes'') surprise, he was soundly defeated and that, his supporters could not tolerate. I told a friend of mine (one of the victims of the "old guard''s" dictatorship), that "if Stock is to succeed, he must replace the "old guard," with his own people, immediately. Failure to do so, would result in Stock''s back, serving as a depository of daggers from the "old guard''s personal armoury. To this, my friend agreed. We''re so sorry to have been so right!
Now, when I say the "old guard," I don''t mean all of the people who were there from the beginning. I mean the ones, we all know, to have mastered the "art" of manipulation. The ones who instigated (or even consented) the breaking of the rules of grassroots, and expelled, or caused to be expelled, some very decent people, full of talent and desire to work for our cause, only because they dared criticise the powers that be.
After the leadership race, this party engaged in consultations, the likes of which, were never seen under Manning. You see, unlike Manning, Rick Anderson and Co., Stockwell Day doesn''t pretend to know it all.
Our present leader, has been maligned, misread, misquoted misinterpreted and attacked, by the socialist media that controls our nation, solely because he has principles and religious believes. It is a pity, that some members of the Alliance, have chosen to play the socialist media''s game, and decided to backstab their democratically elected leader and, have written him off. Could they have in mind a return to the old days? Of particular importance in this fiasco, is the lack of support from Preston Manning, by addressing his troupes andcalling them back to order. It gives the impression, falsely, I''m sure, that he is behind the whole thing. Pity to go into history, both as the founder,and the destroyer of the Canadian Alliance!
I urge Mr. Manning to come forward and request that his supporters fall back in line, or there will not be a party to lead, for Stockwell Day, or for Preston Manning (or anyone else). Sour grapes are never good for anyone. Mr. Manning created a party which in theory, had tremendous potential. He took it as far as he humanly could and forboth events, we should be forever in his debt. Now we have changed the guard.Let us rally and remember why we''re all members. Let us keep our eyes on the big picture, to paraphrase Preston Manning. Let us help realize the tremendous potential we know we have, and let us give the grassroots the right to decide. For that, my colleagues, there is a mechanism in place, the next convention. I will not resort to the dozens of quotes that we know the dissenters have spoken in the past, I just want to remind them that what is good for the goose, is also good for the gander. They know very well who I am speaking of, and what I am speaking about.
How could we possibly ask the Tories to join us in any shape or form, when we''re behaving internally in such fashion? What kind of confidence could they have on us? How could we ask the nation to trust us with the government, when we cannot even govern ourselves with the proper decorum and respect of the rules we have promised to follow? Well, colleagues and friends, I wish to thank you for the time you have devoted to reading my thoughts. I''ve been appalled by the current events that paralyse our movement and I had to get it off my chest. If I have offended anyone, it was not my intention but I apologise all the same. I just feel that at times, we need to take some steps back and review our position and, if we feel that we''re on the wrong path, it takes a bigger person to admit an error, than it takes to stubbornly hold on to our ways.
Yours for true Alliance,
Joseph A. Gamero, as a private member.
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