Dear Editor,
It has been reported that 1,792 candidates put forward their names for public office for 338 seats in the recent federal election.
In Richmond, nine individuals vied for the two Member of Parliament positions — Richmond Centre and Steveston – Richmond East.
Each of these candidates deserves our thanks for offering themselves for public service. At the same time, I would like to congratulate our two winners in this election, Alice Wong in Richmond Centre and Joe Peschosolido in Steveston-Richmond East. Both of them are experienced legislators. I am sure they will make every effort in serving their constituents to the best of their abilities. All of the Richmond candidates ran very clean and fair campaigns. Their participation has made very valuable contribution to the democratic process in Canada.
Our Prime Minister Designate, Justin Trudeau, has surprised everyone. He has injected new blood and life into the Liberal Party of Canada. His impressive win at the polls has placed him in a very unique position. He has raised public expectations immensely. Let’s hope that Trudeau will keep his promise of repealing Bill C-24, and reviewing Bill C-51 and other commitments.
Another area where he needs to concentrate is Canada’s foreign policy. It is very unfortunate that the Harper government has blindly followed the U.S. in formulating its foreign policy.
This approach has significantly reduced Canada’s influence in the international arena.
We need to revert back to our well respected position of peace-maker and peace-keeper as followed by former Prime Ministers Lester Pearson and Pierre Trudeau. In that era, Canada was considered to be one of the most respected nations in the world.
Let’s hope that the Liberals under Justin Trudeau will revert to that approach.
Balwant Sanghera
Richmond
