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COMMENTARY
October 22, 2005
The unknown country
It is a delicate matter, being in a madhouse when some controversy arises about who are the staff and who are the inmates. The democratic solution is to put it to a vote. Eventually we will do this up here -- in some moment when the Liberals find their New Democrat supporters can no longer be sedated with fresh spending schemes (or the Parliamentary term expires, whichever comes first). In the meantime, the rule of the inmates remains tenuous.I count as “staff” anyone who strikes me as nominally sane. I am not a party loyalist, by disposition, but for some years now the consistency with which these “nominals” have congregated in the Conservative Party has disposed me to support them. There appear to be about 30 more on the Liberal backbenches, PTL. There are occasional reports of lucidity from inside the other two Parliamentary caucuses -- I believe the NDP were able to identify and expel one the other day; and a former Bloquiste (Lucien Bouchard) said some sane things this week in Quebec. Good show. Now, take these five items, from this week’s domestic news. Item, Svend Robinson to run again for Parliament, this time in Vancouver Centre against Hedy Fry. This, the year after being caught stealing an extremely pricey wedding ring, as a present to his boyfriend. And for which he is not currently serving time. Mr. Robinson being the M.P. whose successful private members’ bill criminalized opposition to homosexuality, under the same section of the Criminal Code that punishes “genocide”, setting the stage for the legislation of “same-sex marriage”. Ms Fry is the memorable alleger of Ku Klux Klan events that didn’t happen. So that will be the main event in the next election. Several elimination side-card events were proposed by an Internet wag. “Terror Cell Member v. Paedophile! Man-Hating Feminist v. Drug Dealer! Corrupt Lobbyist v. Pornographer! Bogus Refugee v. Gay Activist! Euthanasiast v. Incest Promoter!” Item, second reading of the bill to legalize euthanasia proceeds to the Commons floor on October 31st -- which is also, appropriately enough, Hallowe'en. What is most interesting about Francine Lalonde’s private member’s bill, C-407, is that it allows “care-givers” to arrange for the elimination of persons over the age of 18 who aren’t even terminally ill. They might just be depressed. Verily, having care-givers with the legal power to have one put down, might make anyone depressed. Item, the new CSIS director, Jim Judd, gets in hot water with prime minister’s office for revealing what he may not have realized was a state secret. That Canadians are fighting in Iraq. On the other side, with the Islamist terrorists. Mr Judd estimates the number in single digits; my own estimate would be several dozen in Iraq and Afghanistan -- but what do either of us know? As far as I know, what CSIS knows is what they are told by the Pentagon, who like them to know whenever the U.S. Marines find they have killed an “insurgent” with valid Canadian ID. Rather than pick only on armed Muslims, I should like to raise the numbers further by counting Canadians working for NGOs, advancing the Islamist cause by the "non-violent" means of disseminating anti-American propaganda. And journalists like Paul William Roberts. Item, Paul William Roberts wins the PEN Canada/Paul Kidd Award, for his courageous journalism, which has most recently consisted of revelations about American colonialism in Iraq and New Orleans. (The Globe and Mail ran a big essay by him last month, that won high praise from Gwyneth Paltrow.) Mr. Roberts, who also considers himself an expert on the Kabbalah, on the identity of the Magi in the Gospel of Matthew, on Fibonacci numbers, and so forth, made his mark as an investigative journalist co-writing a book entitled Smokescreen. This used the memoirs of one retired police informer to expose vast international conspiracies between criminals, bureaucrats, and multinational corporations. Item, Gail Donaldson, a Vancouver lawyer, won a procedural battle this week in her campaign to have George Bush tried in a Canadian court for torture and war crimes. Ah Canada, the “Unknown Country”, in the title of a book by the perfectly sane liberal journalist Bruce Hutchinson (1901-1992) -- an extreme Westerner (from Saanich), and outdoorsman, who as recently as two generations ago was providing a very loving look into a country that did not know itself, and must eventually fall to pieces for reasons of which he was uncomfortably aware. Discussion question for today. Have we got there yet? David Warren
© Ottawa Citizen
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