My Fellow Canadians:
Choices.
This is what we sometimes take for granted, but should always treasure. The ability to make choices (even the wrong ones) is essential in a democracy. This is the theme for this month’s column, and an important one to every reader, I would think.
A few weeks ago, thanks to a scare from a doctor, I chose to join a weight-loss program to get healthier, and eat and look better. So far I have managed to lose 15 pounds, and by spring I should be around my goal weight. Did I “have” to do this? Some would say yes. But ultimately, it was my CHOICE, my desire, my responsibility.
As some of you know, my employer recently “rewarded” my 3+ years of loyal and efficient service with a severe pay cut. Did I HAVE to accept their terms? No, but I reasoned that without a steady income from another source, that I was better off keeping this job, although without the loyalty to that company that I provided before. My choice, my responsibility.
I find that Canadians tend to make good choices, but that too often politicians don’t listen to them. Quebecers voted not to separate, or sovereignty-associate, twice. Have the PQ and Liberals listened? No, they are still hell-bent on their missions, either party obtaining more powers for Quebec, and becoming independent in all but name. Canadians were very much against the Free Trade Agreement with the US (and rightly so, as it turns out). More Canadians voted for anti-free trade parties than the Mulroney Conservatives. Did the Tories listen? No, and to this day we are losing jobs and trade value to the US AND Mexico. Canadians voted down the Charlottetown Accord. Did the Liberals listen? NO! They enshrined special status for Quebec anyway.
And now, as I write, the opposition parties are trying to force the Liberals’ hand and call a snap election…that the Canadian public has clearly stated it does not want! Worse, an election, based on October and November polls, will change nothing---the Liberals will likely be re-elected, with perhaps a smaller majority. Millions of dollars spent for the status quo? An election over the Christmas/Chanukah/New Year’s period? Why? And who will pay the price, if any, and what will it be, other than a further-disillusioned and disaffected electorate?
I am disappointed to learn that even my man, Jack Layton, has made the mistake of overplaying his hand for no reason. The same man who claimed that he wanted to work with Parliament, who announced the “first NDP budget in history”, and whose party continued to bleed support from the Liberals, thinks that an early election will help his party’s chances. I have no illusions about the opposition parties: the Bloc has no interest in a working House of Commons anyway, and the Harper Reformatories are practically salivating at the prospect of power. But Jack? Say it ain’t so, Jack!
That said, we each have a choice as to who we will support in this election. I may disagree with some of your choices, but respect, and even demand, the right for you to make them, as they long as they are informed. Dissent and disagreement is also essential to democracy, a lesson the growing dictatorship to the south appears to have forgotten in recent years. And nowhere is it better reflected than in Dialogue, where small-l liberal views like mine (although I guess I am conservative with regards to Quebec) conflict, contrast and compare with the most radically conservative viewpoints. The result is a much better informed readership and a much more intelligent discussion and debate.
It is to that end that I feel that I must address a couple of misconceptions, while commenting on several recent events.
I find that some of my critics read, or remember, only that which they choose to. To Mr. Morley, Ms. Hogan, and Mr. Smith, I must ask you to recall my previous columns. I do not deny that I have slagged Mr. Harper and his party. I do believe that they are far too willing to kowtow to evil bloodsucking corporations, ultraconservative American interests and the religious wackos. I also believe they are more than willing to gut Medicare, our most precious social service, as well as other treasured resources like our environment. However, I have, on more than one occasion, taken the Liberals to task, from their shameless sucking up to Quebec, to the sponsorship scandal, to their abuse of the EI system, to the astronomical and unnecessary cost (not just in dollars) of forced bilingualism, up to and certainly including the appointing of Michaelle Jean as governor-general. (Not because of her possible alleged former separatist ties or beliefs, which are tenuous and unproven, but because of the craven attempt to curry favour in Quebec.) I have said that the Liberals do not deserve carte blanche in terms of governing. And I have mentioned several times that I have NOT voted Liberal since 1993, three (soon to be four) elections ago. The idea that I am a Chrétien/Martin apologist is simply absurd, as witnessed by both my words and actions. If anything, I have been an unabashed “a pox on both their houses” kind of guy for the last several years.
I think the problem Canadians have right now is that we are voting AGAINST a party rather than FOR one, or choosing the lesser of three evils. I have some concerns even about my beloved NDP, not just about the decision to force an election, but about their silence on the Quebec question and obscenely unfair bilingualism laws which have discriminated against Anglophones, especially in Quebec but also outside it, for a quarter century. But I will likely vote NDP because they reflect the most of my beliefs regarding the environment, fairness to workers, and so on, and despite what the conservative press tries to tell us, they are quite capable of presenting balanced budgets (in fact, a recent survey shows that over the last 20 years, NDP governments balanced the budgets MORE than Liberals OR Conservatives) and behaving far more ethically than either the Mulroney, Chrétien or Martin governments. But we all have the choice, at least for the time being, and if it is informed and intelligent, I respect yours, even if it disagrees with mine.
The choice Quebecers have to make is a bit more confusing, but at “press time”, it seemed that the leading choice to ascend to the PQ leadership, and possible ruler of Fortress Quebec, is an openly-gay ex-cocaine user, Andre Boisclair. As much as I despise the PQ, I am, as you know, an advocate for ending the unwinnable war on drugs and legalizing marijuana (among other things). I cannot help but think that Boisclair, although he admits his “choice” of cocaine was an “error” (I must remember that excuse if I am ever asked that question by cops), would be a powerful progressive force that may just bring Canadians into the enlightened age of treating drugs as a health concern, not a criminal one, while simultaneously leaving recreational drug users alone and freeing our courts (and presumably our cops) up to deal with real criminals, both violent and white-collar. (Ironically, the PQ, if it weren’t a separatist party, probably would attract me for its generally-progressive attitudes, although bloodsucking the rest of Canada to promote separatism will never be one of them.)
And for those of you eager to condemn or pooh-pooh the French for their recent riots, consider this: the youth who started the riots were not immigrants but citizens, protesting against the government. The protest was against oppression, one of the cornerstones of democracy. The government systematically denies them their full rights as citizens. This happens in Quebec against Anglophones, and in the United Police States against Democrats or anti-war protestors, who presumably have as much right to protest, as loudly as they want. But what do you do if your government ignores you? If your voice is ignored, or silenced? If you are subject to police harassment?
It turns out that the cops (naturally) provoked the riots by chasing two youths into a police station, where the youths were electrocuted and died. Now do you still think this was an overreaction? The interior minister called them “subhuman” and mused about using Nazi-like “ethnic cleansing” of the ghettos. And if the ghettos are bad, the prisons are worse. All in all, it seems that Muslims in France are treated the way blacks were in the United States not that many years ago, and since we have apparently not learned from our past, we are being condemned to repeat it. And if it can happen in France, it surely can happen here if we are not careful. After all, “the price of democracy is eternal vigilance” and once we understand the causes of violence or extreme acts, we can try to find answers. Need I remind you that the world’s biggest “democracy” was born through a bloody revolution?
When police are taught not to abuse their powers, and governments learn not to disenfranchise and marginalize their citizens, we will be well on our way to true democracy and peace. As long as we fail in those areas, these riots and other acts will continue. And we ALL bear the shame of that choice.
A few Lou Laurels this month:
To the Chicago White Sox, for ending an 88-year drought with their well-fought World Series championship.
To Brian Diesbourg, a 25-year old mechanical engineer from Belle River, Ont., who kicked a 50-yard field goal - worth $1 million - as part of a promotion, and in so doing, gave hope to us armchair athletes the world over.
And of course, to equal-rights pioneer ROSA PARKS, who embodied the dignity and class of the oppressed who had the courage to say “no more”, who personalized Martin Luther King’s belief that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, but must be demanded by the oppressed.
I hope you continue to choose to read my column, and many others in this fine publication, and I wish you all Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, a happy and healthy holiday season, and the best to you and yours this New Year!
Your fellow Canadian,
Lou Israel