Dear Editor:
The incidents that have occurred over the past couple of weeks have denigrated the rights of basic democracy a fundamental tenet of Canadian sovereignty.
Individuals have taken it upon themselves to be judge, jury and in their minds God in making decisions that they felt were for the betterment of the local people.
These two candidates have pulled from the race without having the opportunity to prove, through traditional campaigning, to the constituents of the Boundary Similkameen why they wanted to earn our vote.
Who has lost here – is it the constituents of the Boundary-Similkameen riding and our democratic rights?
If the information that was received by well-known B.C. blogger Mr. Tsakumis conceals an illegal act then the RCMP should be notified, if not then we should be asking where this information came from and how did Tsakumis get it?
Was this an act of righteousness initiated to reduce the inevitable vote splitting if Slater ran as an independent and Basso as a strong NDP candidate?
Instead of going through the process of listening to all candidates on their philosophies and policies we resort to smear and fear campaigns.
We also have to ask — will current and future political candidates be similarly vetted and ultimately receive his yea or nay?
This is a very sad time for democracy for the constituents of the Boundary-Similkameen as well as the province.
No matter what happens in the upcoming election the best person for the job will not be freely elected by the people.
Fred Marshall
Midway, B.C.
