Is it just me or does it seem that national politics right now is badly out of sync with what we supposedly value as Canadians?
Peace? Order? Good government? Well, one can always make the case that national and provincial governments have pretty much fallen short on the latter of the three principles upon which our Confederation was founded nearly 145 years ago. And peace and order surely seem to have been lacking in Quebec for the last 100 or so days of bizarrely unreasonable student protests.
But what we're really talking about has less to do with the principles established since our nation's birth than with the supposed great Canadian qualities of politeness, tolerance, compromise and respect. For some, these amount to little more than stereotype characteristics that have become an overblown cliche. But in a gigantic nation that touches three oceans, has an inhospitable wilderness, has made it through 145 vicious winters and has two official languages, it can also be argued that these qualities have actually served us rather well. So it's too bad that our current federal leaders seem so out of tune with what has made this country work.
The first example comes from NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair, who could have been easily forgiven for his initial remark about the oil and resource sector fuelling Canada's version of Dutch disease had he not been so nasty, intolerant, uncompromising and disrespectful (pretty much than the antithesis of those great Canadian characteristics) in response to what were the first criticisms levelled against him as a national leader.
The issue here isn't whether a high Canadian dollar hurts eastern Canadian manufacturing. This is an indisputable fact. But also indisputable is the fact that a high Canadian dollar hurts western manufacturing, East Coast fisheries, B.C. and northern tourism, and, yes, western oil. It is also a fact that our Canadian dollar has steadily fallen in recent weeks simply because world investors are fleeing to the supposed safety of the U.S. greenback as fears mount over what is happening in the European Union and especially countries such as Greece, Italy, France and Spain.
Scapegoating an entire region for another region's economic problems seems un-Canadian as well. And while it may be very Canadian of Mulcair to play politics by simply discounting western premiers' regional and national concerns as simply shilling for the prime minister, the implication of his criticism isn't what we're about. Or at least, it's not tolerant, compromising or, for that matter, even polite.
That said, Mulcair is bleeding maple syrup these days when contrasted with Canadian values expressed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
This observation was recently made (with no small level of irony) by veteran Regina Liberal MP Ralph Goodale. While Goodale perhaps comes as close as we get to a Canadian gentleman in politics, his hypocritical Liberal party - the party that brought us the national energy program and the sponsorship scandal - has been better at preaching Canadian values than practising them.
Nevertheless, there's been something about the pettiness in recent federal cuts - from the RCMP forensics lab, to the Indian Head tree farm, to national park facilities to the once-critical Canadian Food Inspection Agency - that does seem very un-Canadian. Short of refilling Wascana Lake, petulant Conservatives seen intent on undoing everything Goodale and the Liberals did.
One needs to be careful to take the criticism of politicians such as Goodale with a grain of salt. There is a vested interest here and the Liberal record hasn't exactly been a source of Canadian pride either. But if Goodale's point is that the values of the Harper government seem to be strictly its own and far removed from those values we most associate with our country, there may be a case to be made.
Tolerance? Patience? It has not been evident in the Conservative's contempt for democracy in the last Parliament or its hamhanded omnibus budget legislature, immigration and employment insurance changes. Politeness? Respect? It wasn't in the Conservatives' contempt for environmental pipeline opponents, those who opposed changing the Canadian Wheat Board or virtually anyone who's ever questioned its government policy.
Original Article
Source: the star phoenix
Author: Murray Mandryk
Peace? Order? Good government? Well, one can always make the case that national and provincial governments have pretty much fallen short on the latter of the three principles upon which our Confederation was founded nearly 145 years ago. And peace and order surely seem to have been lacking in Quebec for the last 100 or so days of bizarrely unreasonable student protests.
But what we're really talking about has less to do with the principles established since our nation's birth than with the supposed great Canadian qualities of politeness, tolerance, compromise and respect. For some, these amount to little more than stereotype characteristics that have become an overblown cliche. But in a gigantic nation that touches three oceans, has an inhospitable wilderness, has made it through 145 vicious winters and has two official languages, it can also be argued that these qualities have actually served us rather well. So it's too bad that our current federal leaders seem so out of tune with what has made this country work.
The first example comes from NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair, who could have been easily forgiven for his initial remark about the oil and resource sector fuelling Canada's version of Dutch disease had he not been so nasty, intolerant, uncompromising and disrespectful (pretty much than the antithesis of those great Canadian characteristics) in response to what were the first criticisms levelled against him as a national leader.
The issue here isn't whether a high Canadian dollar hurts eastern Canadian manufacturing. This is an indisputable fact. But also indisputable is the fact that a high Canadian dollar hurts western manufacturing, East Coast fisheries, B.C. and northern tourism, and, yes, western oil. It is also a fact that our Canadian dollar has steadily fallen in recent weeks simply because world investors are fleeing to the supposed safety of the U.S. greenback as fears mount over what is happening in the European Union and especially countries such as Greece, Italy, France and Spain.
Scapegoating an entire region for another region's economic problems seems un-Canadian as well. And while it may be very Canadian of Mulcair to play politics by simply discounting western premiers' regional and national concerns as simply shilling for the prime minister, the implication of his criticism isn't what we're about. Or at least, it's not tolerant, compromising or, for that matter, even polite.
That said, Mulcair is bleeding maple syrup these days when contrasted with Canadian values expressed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
This observation was recently made (with no small level of irony) by veteran Regina Liberal MP Ralph Goodale. While Goodale perhaps comes as close as we get to a Canadian gentleman in politics, his hypocritical Liberal party - the party that brought us the national energy program and the sponsorship scandal - has been better at preaching Canadian values than practising them.
Nevertheless, there's been something about the pettiness in recent federal cuts - from the RCMP forensics lab, to the Indian Head tree farm, to national park facilities to the once-critical Canadian Food Inspection Agency - that does seem very un-Canadian. Short of refilling Wascana Lake, petulant Conservatives seen intent on undoing everything Goodale and the Liberals did.
One needs to be careful to take the criticism of politicians such as Goodale with a grain of salt. There is a vested interest here and the Liberal record hasn't exactly been a source of Canadian pride either. But if Goodale's point is that the values of the Harper government seem to be strictly its own and far removed from those values we most associate with our country, there may be a case to be made.
Tolerance? Patience? It has not been evident in the Conservative's contempt for democracy in the last Parliament or its hamhanded omnibus budget legislature, immigration and employment insurance changes. Politeness? Respect? It wasn't in the Conservatives' contempt for environmental pipeline opponents, those who opposed changing the Canadian Wheat Board or virtually anyone who's ever questioned its government policy.
Original Article
Source: the star phoenix
Author: Murray Mandryk
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