Dr. Roy Adams:

Hamilton West NDP Candidate for MPP

A new provincial election will soon be called and you will be asked to choose between me and the candidates for other parties to be your next Member of the Provincial Parliament. For many years Dave Christopherson has served us well as our MPP but he is stepping down in order to run for mayor. 

I have decided to seek the seat for several reasons. First and foremost I have been appalled by the way that the current government has behaved in power. It has rammed through legislation time and again over the incensed objections of key stakeholders. Some people believe that a majority government is entitled to do that. But, I believe, parliamentary democracy must respect informal but widely understood conventions that insist that major change, such as the dramatic change brought about by the Tories to our education system, must emerge from a process of consensus. Parliamentary democracy must not be allowed to deteriorate into tyranny of the majority and I believe that the Tories have come far too close to instituting that form of government. 

I am also running because I believe that this government has gone too far in paying deference to the market. The market is a wonderful thing when employed appropriately. But the raw, unregulated market can and frequently does create havoc as it did with Hydro. Putting vital services at the mercy of the market is an abdication of responsibility. Governments that do not understand the devastation that can be caused by an unregulated market are a danger to all of us. 

I am running too because I am not at all happy with this government's insensitivity to human rights (it passed one law - the prevention of unionism act - that was condemned by the UN as a blatant violation of international human rights), to the environment and for the need of all working people to have representation in the establishment of their conditions of work. Its laws have weakened environmental protection and labour rights. 

I am running because I want to try to put a halt to the phenomenon of the rich getting ever richer as the poor grow more destitute. I believe that a balanced budget must be a high government priority and that we must have in place policies designed to attract investment so that we will continue to grow and prosper. But I do not believe that the environment should be savaged and the poor sacrificed on the theory that deep tax breaks will eventually pay off. 

I believe that we must find a solution to the deterioration of our inner cities. If we are not able to do that the quality of life in Hamilton must continually decline. 

I believe that labour-management cooperation is the hallmark of the best performing organizations and that governments have a responsibility to promote social partnership and social dialogue. Research has shown that economies in continual conflict do not perform up to the level of those operating on the basis of social consensus. 

To gain your trust our next government must have vision and principles. It must lead instead of following the whim of the latest poll as the Liberal Party commonly does. I believe that the NDP is the party that is the one most likely to provide both good government and principled government. If you give me your support, I will not disappoint your trust in me. 

Roy J Adams 
NDP MPP Candidate for Hamilton West