Dear Editor,

Michael Sather has more smarts and more university degrees and integrity than the whole Liberal caucus put together.

If we had a couple dozen more like Mr. Sather, we would not be in half the mess this government has imposed on the people of B.C., all the way from BC Rail to HST to BC Hydro and NERC, EPIC, etc. – and other secret sweetheart backroom deals we don’t even know about yet.

And that’s never mind the multi-millions of tax dollars squandered on privatizing and trashing our public health care system or the so-called failed NEW ERA, and all the other failed ideological disasters this gaggle of incompetents has spawned.

Maybe Christy Clark could tell us just one issue Randy Hawes or Mark Dalton have been on the right side of or behind – generally nothing more than empty suits polishing chairs in Victoria for big wages and even better golden parachutes.

Maple Ridge and the voters of B.C. need proper, effective advocates, not some pompous twit imposing his masters’ ultra right-wing agenda on his constituents.

An MLA’s job is to be the spokesperson or advocate for the people who elected him, not just another mouthpiece for the head of the party. These two remind me of the show “Being There,” where Chance the Gardener, a moron, is given a position of power.

Neither of these people have been involved or informed about most of the legislation, from HST to NERC or EPIC, and are quite comfortable with the fact that they are nothing more than talking heads regurgitating the sacred words and policies of the dictator.

On the other hand, Mr. Sather also an MLA, has literally been ostracized and been forced to do all his own research and dig and find out about all these secret sweetheart deals by his own means.

Hawes and Dalton are personifications of the failure of this government and all the problems it has produced.

I think all the Liberals should take a compulsory course in Democracy 101 to learn at least the basics of democracy, such as running an election on a particular platform or getting a mandate for projects they believe in.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t ever remember voting on privatizing BC Rail, HST, bankrupting BC Hydro, NERC, EPIC, or privatizing liquor.

As a matter of fact, I wrote Christy Clark in April of 2011 about privatizing liquor, and in Shirley Bond’s answering letter there was absolutely no mention of privatizing liquor.

One of the days they might want to pay close attention in Democracy 101 would be when they learn about mandates, and why you need people like Mr. Sather in a democracy, who are not just YES men.

But then, how can you run a good dictatorship when you have MLAs actually doing their jobs?

The people of B.C. deserve better, and we should only be so lucky to have a government made up of people of Mr. Sather’s intelligence, intellect, integrity, and courage.

Mr. Hawes has it all backwards: a vote for the Liberals is a vote for Conservatives and more of the same.

Wayne Clark, Maple Ridge