Archive for the 'Globe and Post' Category

Nov 12 2009

You Know You’ve Got an Improved Canadian Citizenship Guide When

… the sovereigntists are going to hate it.

“There’s probably some political risks here,” Mr. Griffiths said. “The Bloq Quebecois and sovereigntists aren’t going to like the focus on military history or Canada’s journey from colony to nation state.”

Well, yeah. Isn’t that the point? How about we ignore the dead-enders and focus on promoting the values we want to our newest citizens who actually want to be here.

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Aug 10 2009

Tis to Glory We Steer

As our forces move North to reassert Canuckistan’s iron grip on the True North, Heart of Oak may be the more appropriate tune, but Zep seems appropriate in this instance as well:

We come from the land of the ice and snow,
From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.
The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands,
To fight the horde, singing and crying: Valhalla, I am coming!

Canadian Forces Operation Nanook 09. Soldier on.

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Aug 01 2009

A Common Sense Approach to Canadian First Nations Issues?

In a democracy, elected representatives are supposed to get props for talking to the people so they can build goodwill and obtain grassroots ideas about how to improve things. But when it comes to Canada’s discussions with First Nations people, it gets complicated.

Most Canadian Aboriginals live off-reserve, so the governing party in Canada has decided that we ought to be talking with their representatives, not just the First Nations people living on reserves (Vancouver Sun). This seems to be in keeping with our political system, which takes into account not only the population as a whole but also regional and municipal groupings. Nothing wrong there.

But members of Canada’s loyal opposition don’t like what they’re seeing. They’ve trotted out a number of wince-inducing quotes from Conservatives in a press release, mostly spoken with extremely poor timing, to boot, claiming that Canadians “won’t be fooled”.

But aside from the perhaps ungenerous timing of the very first quote tossed into the press release, from a Conservative on the day of the Residential Schools Apology, I’m not sure what’s terribly bad about Pierre Poilievre’s statement about Native Reserves:

“There’s too much power concentrated in the hands of the leadership and it makes you wonder where all of this money is going. …Now along with this apology comes another four billion dollars in compensation… Some of us are starting to ask are we really getting value for all of this money and is more money really going to solve the problem.”

Why is this statement considered beyond the pale by the opposition? Canadian First Nations reserves are ground-zero zones for unemployment, poor education outcomes, suicide, substance abuse and near-pervasive corruption by band councils. Why is it unfair to point out that Canadian taxpayer dollars have been subsidizing this mess, or that it’s high time we asked for better results?

Canadians do want better results. Talking with First Nations representatives living off-reserve seems like a good way to get some momentum going on improving the status of First Nations people in this country.
Museum of Anthropology May 08 043

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Jul 27 2009

Islamist Lawfare Against Ezra Levant

Free speech is under attack in Canada, by anti-Western ideologues using our own legal system against us.

From Ezra Levant’s blog:

Khurrum Awan, the youth president of the Jew-hating Canadian Islamic Congress, has threatened me with a lawsuit…

Awan is an experienced practitioner in the soft jihad of “lawfare”, the abusive practice where lawsuits are filed against critics of radical Islam just to harass them and silence them, Erin Brockovich-style.

Par for the course.

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Jul 27 2009

United for Iran in Vancouver

Someday, we will find a way. Someday… Someday, the darkness fades away.

Release all political prisoners in Iran. Freedom for Iran.

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