September 22,
2001
By CHARLES ADLER -- Winnipeg
Sun
Oh Canada. We want to correct what is wrong in thee. I have never in my 28 years as a professional communicator heard so many of my fellow countrymen say the words " I am ashamed of being Canadian."
It is an amazing thing to watch a country like the United States, so patriotic even during times of relative peace and prosperity, waving the flag proudly when others try to steal their pride right out from under them.
We in Canada are bewildered. We watch our own leaders go out of their way to either mock the Americans or play down their agony. We have a taxpayer subsidized CBC holding townhall meetings where so-called ordinary Canadians are brought in to represent the diverse nature of the land.
But in less than a New York minute, the diversity becomes a travesty. The consensus among the diverse groups is clear. Those Americans need to be lectured by us. The American war machine needs to be tamed and tempered. Why if it weren't for us kinder and gentler Canadians, those dumb warmongering Americans would have nuked the entire planet a long time ago.
Diversity? There is near unanimity in this pathetic response to a neighbour who needs to hear the best in us. And what about the man elected by Quebec and Ontario to lead us? Is he doing any better in making us feel pride in our country?
Jean Chretien, in the House of Commons, said that this country would stand shoulder to shoulder with the Americans, but that we would not surrender Canadian values. His trained seals, aka the Liberal caucus, applauded wildly. What are those poltroons applauding? What values do the Americans want us to give up? What have they asked for? What values do we have that are superior to theirs?
They stand up for each other in time of trouble. Do we? They don't blast themselves after they have been bombed by the enemy. They stand together. If we were bombed by some foreign thugs, the government here would strike a royal commission investigating why anyone on earth dislikes us.
Patriotism? Canadian patriotism for the last 30 years has been about throwing rocks at the Americans, knowing they don't know enough about us to throw any of those rocks back in our smug little faces.
Rick Mercer has made a fortune proving that Americans don't know Canadian trivia. In light of how Jean Chretien has behaved since Black Tuesday, shouldn't we be delighted that the Americans don't know the depths of shallowness that has formed an ugly film around our nation.
The president of the United States speaks Thursday night. All Americans salute him and are filled with pride in being citizens of the greatest nation on earth. The president speaks to a big hearted nation and emboldens them, making them feel even larger.
Our prime minister speaks and we feel small, pathetically weak, a shadow of what we were when we had less then half our current population during the Second World War.
Sixty years ago we had a force that the world looked up to, but now after years of defiling it and degrading it, our military is something that we are embarrassed about. Hey Gen. Eggleton, the military is not about being inoffensive. It's a military, not a library. Military force shouldn't be an oxymoron.
Speaking of morons, what do you call a prime minister who says he has time to go to the U.S. next week to meet with the president but won't have time to go to ruins of the World Trade Center in New York to show respect for the more than 6,000 people killed there (approximately 40 of them Canadian). The prime minister through his staff inform us that there is no time in the PM's schedule for honouring the dead in New York. Not when there are so many live fools to meet in Canada at a Liberal party fundraiser.
Being a proud Canadian doesn't come as naturally as it used to. Pity.
Oh Canada. What's wrong with thee?
Oh Canada. We want to correct what is wrong in thee. I have never in my 28 years as a professional communicator heard so many of my fellow countrymen say the words " I am ashamed of being Canadian."
It is an amazing thing to watch a country like the United States, so patriotic even during times of relative peace and prosperity, waving the flag proudly when others try to steal their pride right out from under them.
We in Canada are bewildered. We watch our own leaders go out of their way to either mock the Americans or play down their agony. We have a taxpayer subsidized CBC holding townhall meetings where so-called ordinary Canadians are brought in to represent the diverse nature of the land.
But in less than a New York minute, the diversity becomes a travesty. The consensus among the diverse groups is clear. Those Americans need to be lectured by us. The American war machine needs to be tamed and tempered. Why if it weren't for us kinder and gentler Canadians, those dumb warmongering Americans would have nuked the entire planet a long time ago.
Diversity? There is near unanimity in this pathetic response to a neighbour who needs to hear the best in us. And what about the man elected by Quebec and Ontario to lead us? Is he doing any better in making us feel pride in our country?
Jean Chretien, in the House of Commons, said that this country would stand shoulder to shoulder with the Americans, but that we would not surrender Canadian values. His trained seals, aka the Liberal caucus, applauded wildly. What are those poltroons applauding? What values do the Americans want us to give up? What have they asked for? What values do we have that are superior to theirs?
They stand up for each other in time of trouble. Do we? They don't blast themselves after they have been bombed by the enemy. They stand together. If we were bombed by some foreign thugs, the government here would strike a royal commission investigating why anyone on earth dislikes us.
Patriotism? Canadian patriotism for the last 30 years has been about throwing rocks at the Americans, knowing they don't know enough about us to throw any of those rocks back in our smug little faces.
Rick Mercer has made a fortune proving that Americans don't know Canadian trivia. In light of how Jean Chretien has behaved since Black Tuesday, shouldn't we be delighted that the Americans don't know the depths of shallowness that has formed an ugly film around our nation.
The president of the United States speaks Thursday night. All Americans salute him and are filled with pride in being citizens of the greatest nation on earth. The president speaks to a big hearted nation and emboldens them, making them feel even larger.
Our prime minister speaks and we feel small, pathetically weak, a shadow of what we were when we had less then half our current population during the Second World War.
Sixty years ago we had a force that the world looked up to, but now after years of defiling it and degrading it, our military is something that we are embarrassed about. Hey Gen. Eggleton, the military is not about being inoffensive. It's a military, not a library. Military force shouldn't be an oxymoron.
Speaking of morons, what do you call a prime minister who says he has time to go to the U.S. next week to meet with the president but won't have time to go to ruins of the World Trade Center in New York to show respect for the more than 6,000 people killed there (approximately 40 of them Canadian). The prime minister through his staff inform us that there is no time in the PM's schedule for honouring the dead in New York. Not when there are so many live fools to meet in Canada at a Liberal party fundraiser.
Being a proud Canadian doesn't come as naturally as it used to. Pity.
THE END
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