Dear editor:

In your issue of July 29, Andrea Kaiser, federal Liberal candidate for Niagara Falls riding, wrote an op-ed on the issue of climate change, (“Action on climate change crucial for Niagara – and the rest of the world.” 

In your issue of Aug. 12, the federal Conservative incumbent for the riding, in a response, accused Ms. Kaiser of “blatantly lying.”

Ms. Kaiser’s op-ed highlighted two things: 1) that the Conservative party voted against recognizing climate change as real at its 2021 national policy convention, and 2) that the Conservative party, including Tony Baldinelli, the Conservative MP for Niagara Falls, has opposed each of the Liberal government’s initiatives directed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and fighting climate change.

Both of these points are true and a matter of public record.

Ms. Kaiser highlighted Mr. Baldinelli’s voting record in the House of Commons, as all Canadians are entirely within their right to do with their representatives in Parliament. All MPs are accountable to their constituents.

I would also note it is against the rules of Parliament for any MP to accuse another of “lying” during debate in the House of Commons.

Anyone that does so is immediately asked by the Speaker of the House to withdraw their comments and if they refuse, is escorted out. Should that not apply to public debate as well?

Perhaps the Conservative candidate here has succumbed to what seems to me to be a regrettable, persistent Conservative party attachment to muckraking/mudslinging/name-calling, certainly under the last Conservative leader and which seems to have continued under the new leader.

Might this suggest a dearth of positive ideas on national priority issues for constructive debate? Or perhaps the Conservative candidate's pants simply caught fire, LOL …

Rick Kirby

NOTL