UNDERDOG INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE IN TORONTO – CENTRE CHALLENGES BIG BULLIES IN OTTAWA

TORONTO – Bahman Yazdanfar fights to return the democratic process to ordinary citizens and not settle for less

“MP’s must understand that they are working for their constituents and NOT for Party Leaders, and they should represent their constituents not their Party. MP’s have to facilitate electorates’ ideas, thoughts, and challenges, and to be able to provide alternative solutions to the issues that matter in their ridings. These issues must be communicated in advance in order to harvest a beneficial result and lay out a blue print for practical solutions, policies, and an action plan for a better government that works harder for the people. After all, who understands their own issues better than the constituents of the riding and their elected Member of Parliament?” said Bahman Yazdanfar, who is running as an Independent Candidate in the 2011 Federal Election in Toronto-Centre.

Yazdanfar continued, “Members of the mainstream parties all sing the same tune, an old tune, "of the people, by the people, for the people", and soon as they are elected, they bow to their party leader and sing the “Yes Sir” song. However, in recent years Canadians witnessed that the existing government, the Federal Conservatives under the leadership of Mr. Harper, became bolder and more dictatorial, which is evident from the way their candidates are campaigning. For example, they are asking people to support them to form a majority in parliament with a special focus on southern Ontario and the GTA, and yet their candidates in these areas choose not to attend local debates, because they’re afraid of being challenged by ordinary citizens. “Don’t Rock The Boat” is the theme of Conservative candidates in this election, and the “Ghost Riding” is their methodology.”

Yazdanfar added, “You must realize that I do not have the luxury of an army of volunteers nor the capital that the mainstream political parties possess. On the other hand, I do NOT finance my activities from the taxpayers (as the mainstream parties do). To compete with party candidates I have to sacrifice a lot, when it comes to election time. The most important resources, I as an Independent Candidate have, is my conviction, knowledge, experience and the support of a few friends. Hence, in order to maximize my effectiveness at election time, I gather my resources, and utilize them as a one man show.”

Yazdanfar continued, “Muzzling cabinet members, meddling in the private life of Canadians, and avoiding the media are indicative of a hidden agenda. Canadians find themselves in a paradoxical position, on the one hand we keep trying to teach our children that bullying has no place in a civil environment, and the other hand we vote for grown-up conservative candidates who are willingly being subjected to their boss’ bullying, a Gestapo-style of operation within the party, at the cost of the tax-payers and their freedom. Aren’t these MP’s supposed to protect the public’s interest?”

Yazdanfar continued, "It's déjà vu again. Remember Brian Mulroney and The Airbus affair. Today we have Stephen Harper and the F-35 Stealth fighter jets. Apparently Tories love the aviation business, and I would love to meet those who collect commissions in this deal. Now, the question for the electorate across the nation is, do we want to repeat the same unpleasant experience? Do we want to tie public resources to the same process? Do we want to watch the same soap opera (All My Tories) again? Are our elected government officials counting on Canadians’ short memory span and banking on it?”

Yazdanfar added, “My response to those who suggest that we shouldn't take it personally is - everyday we get up, fight our way through traffic, if we are lucky enough to have a job, put up with all sorts of abuse from our supervisors and managers, just because we have obligations and bills to pay, and when we get our paycheck we notice a big chunk of it goes to taxes before touching our hands. Now tell me how personal it becomes at the end of the evening just before you go to bed with nothing to look forward to but another day of the same, to look at these career politicians on television and see how proud they are when they announce their spending - like drunken sailors - of our hard-earned money.”

Yazdanfar continued, "After all, we all must admit that Mr. Harper is a quick study and is getting better than his predecessors. In the past five years, placement of foxes in the henhouses, closing the parliament when the boss is unhappy, using unnecessary force, domestically and abroad, is the way the business of government is run under Harper’s command. If Canadians give the Conservatives a majority, on May 02, 2011, they settle for less than “Bread and Circus” and as a result, communities will digress to the past century-exactly the way these new breed of Tories like it.”

Yazdanfar continued, "On the other side of this equation is the Liberal Party, who unlike the Conservatives, are disorganized and their best idea so far for improvement of the Party is to keep changing their leader, hoping to hit the bull's-eye one day. They got power in 1993 mainly because they promised to get rid of the unpopular GST. As a matter of fact Liberals could claim the ownership of the phrase “Promises are made to be broken.” They brought deficit under control by replacing cash basis accounting with accrual basis accounting, commonly known as creative accounting, engineered by Mr. Bill Clinton’s administration, and copied by Mr. Paul Martin. Liberals are also very creative in raising money for their Party, and some of us still remember the sponsorship scandal.”

Yazdanfar added, “The maverick mentality of the Liberals amongst themselves has always created a highly competitive environment, inside the Party. Mr. Chrétien passed the Political (Election) Financing Reform just before his departure, which some believe as a result of his lengthy feud with Mr. Martin. This bill later came to haunt the Liberal Party in their following elections. Liberals rivalry can be felt here in the riding of Toronto-Centre. After all there will be two possible outcomes in this election, either Liberals form the government, which is unlikely, or not. If they form the government Mr. Rae will be assigned to a top cabinet post, and if they fail to form the new government as it seems to be, he will likely become the new Liberal Party Leader. Therefore, for Mr. Rae this is a win-win opportunity, and as far as the residents of this district, nothing will change.”

Yazdanfar continued, "As for the NDP, Mr. Layton’s behaviour reminds me of a quote from the late Indira Gandhi, who once said "There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there." The NDP continues to take credit for every small thing that happened in the parliament. They are and continue to be the most irrelevant part of this election, as they have been in the previous ones.”

Yazdanfar added, “Voters often latch onto a political party for a single issue, and a political party often excludes anyone else's interests by going hell-bent on some issue. Special status assigned to all groups, races, religions, ages is based on anything but need; yet need is universal. We ought to make sure "everyone" is included. Then we'll be truly equal, colour blind and compassionate and there won't be a need for special status or points. The only way that Toronto-Centre electorates can interrupt this vicious circle of partisanship in Ottawa, is to abstain from voting for the Conservative, Liberals, or NDP.”

Yazdanfar continued, "To take one step back, my objective here as an Independent Candidate is not to become party leader or a Prime Minister one day, since in the parliamentary system only the leader of the Party who governs has this right. As part of the suffering population, I am neither a politician nor a member of the aristocratic oligarchy.”

Yazdanfar added, “I am just a concerned citizen, not a politician. I don’t answer to party leaders, non-delegated industrialists, union bosses, or special groups. I only answer to my electorate. As an independent M.P., I have leverage to assure budgets reflect my constituency, reduce poverty, and increase electorate voters’ quality of life, without being subject to a party’s policies. Besides, I can’t possibly do more damage than what has already been done, CAN I?”

Where Bahman Yazdanfar takes a stand on any given issue is where the majority of his riding stand, and would be in direct interest to his constituents’ needs, with a dynamic platform which will continually change as our democratic rights and responsibilities increase between elections.

Bahman Yazdanfar
Independent Candidate for Toronto -Centre 2011 Federal Election
927 Danforth Avenue, Suite # 1
Totonto, Ontario
M4J 1L8
www.votersecho.com
416-925-8858

This release was published on openPR.