I told you to deal with the problem … not to make it worse

Margaret Thatcher - British Prime Minister
from 1979 to 1990 -- "The Iron Lady"

Let me start off today with a quote from former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher:

“If you just set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing.”

These are words, which when we read them all these years later, still ring true! 

Now compare the above to the words of Christy Clark following her win as the new leader of the BC Liberal Party just over a year ago:

"I want you to be my partners in change in Victoria. I want you to be my partners in bringing open government. You can count on me to listen, you can count on me to engage, and you can count on me to make sure government really does include you. I have specific ideas on how to do these things but I also need to hear from you.”

How many would agree that this change has indeed taken place in British Columbia since she became Premier of the province?

I know there are many people, well not as many as a year ago, who think that Christy Clark is one of the best leaders the so-called free enterprise coalition has ever seen. 

I do not share that opinion.

One who does however, for reasons many cannot fathom, is Preston Manning … the leader of Canada’s Reform movement, which went through a variety of transformations to finally become today's Conservative Party.

Recently, he went so far as to call Christy Clark Canada’s “Iron Snowbird”.  In a news story from earlier this spring (B.C. Premier Christy Clark lauded as 'iron snowbird') he had this rationale behind the name:

British Columbia Premier Christy Clark, dubbed Friday by Preston Manning as Canada's "iron snowbird," made another aggressive attempt to win the confidence of Canada's conservative movement …. Manning always described Grey as a cross between Canadian singer Anne Murray, whose biggest hit was Snowbird, and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the so-called Iron Lady.  "I think we've found another Iron Snowbird."

Another news story, B.C.'s Christy Clark: Nowhere to go but up, had more on the somewhat dubious moniker Manning hung on Premier Clark

Last month, Ms. Clark astonished many by travelling all the way to Ottawa to speak at Reform Party founder Preston Manning’s annual conference under the banner “A Conservative family reunion.” Mr. Manning appeared to lump the B.C. Premier in with “Iron Lady” Margaret Thatcher, calling her Canada’s “Iron Snowbird”. But Ms. Clark’s new-found conservatism has been an awkward fit for the long-time federal Liberal supporter.

How anyone, especially Preston Manning, could compare Christy Clark to Margaret Thatcher is beyond me.  In fact, it is rather unfathomable to those of us who are true small ‘c’ conservatives.

There is just NO comparison, and if you need proof, just look at some of the words spoken by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher … the true “Iron Lady”

I think we've been through a period where too many people have been given to understand that if they have a problem, it's the government's job to cope with it.  'I have a problem, I'll get a grant.' 'I'm homeless, the government must house me.'  People have got the entitlements too much in mind, without the obligations. There's no such thing as entitlement, unless someone has first met an obligation.

Disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and important, although difficult, is the highroad to pride, self-esteem, and personal satisfaction.

To me, consensus seems to be the process of abandoning all beliefs, principles, values and policies. So it is something in which no one believes and to which no one objects.

However far we may want to go, the truth is that we can only get there one step at a time.  And what we need now is to take decisions on the next steps forward, rather than let ourselves be distracted by Utopian goals.  Utopia never comes, because we know we should not like it if it did.

What do you mean you're establishing a special department for it? I told you to deal with the problem, not to make it worse. Once we have an entire government department whose size, pay, and perquisites depend upon the existence of the problem, we'll never get rid of it.

What is success? I think it is a mixture of having a flair for the thing that you are doing; knowing that it is not enough, that you have got to have hard work and a certain sense of purpose.

Margaret Thatcher was led, in her adulthood, by a foundation that was created in her childhood, and early adult life.  And it appears words from her father were also carried through into how she led, and governed, as leader of the Conservative Party in Great Britain.   

One of the things he said to her was:

Watch your thoughts, so they become your words

Watch your words, so they become actions

Watch your actions, so they become habits

Watch your habits, for they become your character

Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny

What we think, we become.

In reading the above words of Margaret Thatcher … and the words of her father, which she carried into adulthood ... I find it hard to conceive anyone could think that Christy Clark is anything like Margaret Thatcher.

I‘m Alan Forseth in Kamloops … with the thoughts of one conservative.