As a teenager in the 1960s I helped my father during the elections by knocking on doors and putting up signs. He was the Social Credit MLA for Victoria from 1960 to 1972. It was quite routine to have our election signs vandalized and even sprayed with Nazi swastikas.
I note through the succeeding decades that the signs damaged in Greater Victoria are largely on the right wing of the political spectrum and very few of the left wing persuasion. There is a peculiar emotional animus in urban areas directed against conservative political parties. I wish to point out that there is nothing iniquitous about the NDP, Liberal, Conservative, or Green parties. They represent differing ideas on what role governments should play in our lives.
History has shown that neither the far right nor the far left govern justly or wisely and for the record none of the above political parties fit into those categories. My concern with the general drift of society is that I find people expecting more and more from government whether they are working and contributing to society or not. Ours is the age of entitlement that surely would have appalled our parents and grand parents. I am mindful of John F Kennedy’s thoughts - ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country.
Patrick Skillings
Victoria
