HARPER'S FLYER A DISHONEST ABUSE OF TAXPAYERS

The Conservatives seem set on confirming many people's worst fears
with their sleazy, dishonest and just plain stupid direct mail pieces
to millions of Canadian homes.

And at the same time, they're playing fast and loose with taxpayers'
money, pretending that partisan promotional material is legitimate
communication between MPs and the public.

You've seen them. The flyers are cheap-looking single sheets, with a
picture or two of Stephen Harper and a headline on some issue. Then
there's a ballot, with an arrow aimed at Harper's name.

The flyers likely came to your mailbox from some Conservative MP
you've never heard of in another province.

MPs can send mail at no cost; the government compensates Canada Post.
The intent is to let them keep their constituents informed. (You can
write MPs without putting stamps on envelopes.)

But these aren't information pieces going to the people MPs
represent. They're political ads.

A lot of people voted for Harper's party because they were sick of
seeing these kinds of abuses. They wanted a moral, conservative
government that respected the rules and the need to spend taxpayers'
money responsibly. They expected better.

Other people voted for them because recent Liberal governments
appalled them. Some worried a Conservative government might impose an
aggressive social conservative agenda, but decided to trust Harper.

And the flyer that has attracted the most attention has made a lot of
them figure that was a mistake.

It has a picture on the outside of a syringe lying a playground, and
a big headline: "Safe?" Inside, there's a jail door and more
headlines: "Junkies and drug pushers don't belong near children and
families. They should be in rehab or behind bars."

The Liberals let drug pushers write the rules, the flyer says. The
Conservatives will "keep junkies in rehab and off the streets."

It's really offensive, perhaps mostly because the flyer assumes
Canadians are both dumb and lacking in basic compassion. While many
Canadians might be sick of dealing with the effects of addiction,
they are not stupid.

The language tells part of the story. A junkie is someone you sweep
off the street, into the garbage. An addict, someone with a mental
illness, they are people -- someone's son or daughter. And most of
us, most of the time, see that.

The wording -- "keep junkies in rehab and off the streets" -- is
plain dishonest on two levels.

No party, including the Conservatives, has called for compulsory
detention and treatment for people with addictions. It wouldn't work,
it raises a slew of rights issues and Canadians would not stand for
government roundups of thousands of people in B.C. alone.

The capital region has 1,500 to 2,000 injection drug users, and
thousands more with other addictions. Would a Harper majority
government send squadrons out to drag them all off to rehab?

And where, exactly, would they go? There are about 100 residential
treatment spaces on Vancouver Island. How would the Conservatives
increase treatment capacity 40 or 50 times?

While the government is promising to lock up thousands of people,
addicts who want to get clean today and seek help are being told
there is no space for them and sent back to the streets.

And this all came as Health Minister Tony Clement accused Canadian
Medical Association members of unethical conduct because the
organization supports safe injection sites. All the research shows
the sites reduce sickness and death and connect users with other
services, including treatment. There are no negative consequences.
But Clement doesn't like the idea, so he says Canada's doctors are
acting unethically.

There is a lot to be said for a true conservative party -- one that
respects individual rights and taxpayers' money and approaches
problems pragmatically.

Too bad Harper is choosing a different path.

Footnote: It's odd, really. The dishonest flyers might appeal to a
minority who already would likely vote for them. But in the process,
there are scaring away the moderate voters Harper needs to win a majority.