Though I did not get the chance to watch the current Canadian Prime Minister, the Right and Honorable Paul Martin address the nation last night, I did manage to read the text of what he spoke about. Thanks to a select few people, the last few months have been plagued by news of the sponsorship scandal. It seems everyday, some new piece of evidence comes out that raises the dollar value the 12-Year LIBERAL Government had cheated us out of. At $250 Million CDN, I say enough is enough.

I am a paid member of the LIBERAL party and I do not appreciate not only being misguided but outright lied to. Is Mr. Martin seriously going to try to make me believe as the Minister of Finance for 10 of those 12 years, he had no idea the sponsorship scandal was going on? Would he have me believe that he cannot keep track of $250 Million CDN? If his leadership as Minister of Finance was so wrought with inability, this is definitely not the man I want as Prime Minister of my country.

But that raises an interesting question: If not Mr. Martin, then who? Canadians have a tendency to punish the sitting government when scandals such as this break out. It's taken 12 years for the Tories (Conservative Party) to re-establish themselves as a viable political party since the days of Brian Mulroney and the GST scandal. Yet, back then the political landscape was very different. We had real alternatives to the Conservative Party and it's platforms. The current crop of political alternatives are nearly nonexistent.

Yes, alternatives do exist, but whether we want them as our government is a different situation entirely. I am not one to perpetuate the status quo, and I understand the occasional need for change. Change is a good thing, but we have to ask ourselves, what is the cost of ousting Mr. Martin and his Government? Do we want a Prime Minister Harper? Do we really want to give the Conervative Party a mandate to introduce a missile shield over the arctic? Do we want to give the Conservatives a mandate to send our troops to Iraq? How badly do we want to punish the LIBERAL Party?

These are all questions that we must consider before we head to the polls, either this summer of early next year. It is unfortunate that in a country with so many political parties we really only have one choice.

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