Dear Editor,

Sandra Robinson has raised questions about the character of Adrian Dix [Dix character ringing alarms, May 1 Letters, TIMES]. I'm sorry that anyone feels the need to launch personal attacks against the leader of the NDP.

There's more than a year to go before an election takes place. Muddying the water with personal attacks is a cynical way of trying to suppress the vote, by taking away people's excitement about the election.

People like Sandra Robinson probably know that if you can make people stop caring, they won't bother to vote.

Christy Clark was elected student president of SFU in 1989, albeit by only six votes. Unfortunately for her, the Electoral Standing Committee disqualified her election on the basis that she broke campaign rules, and as a result, she was fined by the university. It's been reported that she refused to pay her fine, and apparently fought the university's decision to remove her from her position, going so far as to threaten a law suit.

When a by-election was called to deal with the situation, Clark ran again, and lost. Observers at the time felt that it was because she had been forced to run a clean campaign the second time around. She did not stay on to complete her degree.

Is Clark's past still relevant? Do we even trust the reports that are out there so many years after these events occurred? If there is truth to these reports, why haven't we seen this discussed more thoroughly in mainstream media reports? Is it because Clark has friends in high places?

For that matter, are Sir John A. MacDonald's achievements any less because he was an alcoholic?

Voters need to understand what politicians are trying to achieve, and a constant stream of character assassination can never replace balanced coverage of policy and platforms. Personal attacks reflect poorly on the person using them, and I would hope that the citizens in this community will not be confused by the twisted half-truths that are about to be delivered in place of the things we really should be learning about our candidates and politicians.

Elizabeth Rosenau, Maple Ridge