CELEBRATE Canada Day … Then FIRE Those Politicians Who Do Not!

Canada is a GREAT country! Millions who live here and many more millions who do not have repeatedly and consistently rated OUR nation, on many levels, as among the BEST countries on the globe.

Are we perfect? No!

But it is part of Canada’s GREATNESS today that, even when we are shown to have erred, when we fall short, when we let ourselves and others down, we ARE willing to take it on, face ugly truths and try to reconcile.

That alone is worth CELEBRATING this Canada Day!

EVERY other country on the planet also faces, by today’s standards, historical truths, tactics and tragedies … but very few are still willing to seriously address/face up to their history now.

But we have.

Indigenous land claims are part of TODAY’S dialogue, not just the history books.

That should be CELEBRATED Canada Day!

The disgraceful mistreatment of Chinese rail workers in the 1880s, the racist pole tax and subsequent total ban on Chinese immigrants until 1947 was finally addressed with a FULL Prime Ministerial Apology in 2006.

We should CELEBRATE that Canada Day!

During the First World War 1914-17 Canada lost 61,000 lives … but we still CELEBRATED Dominion Day every year!

In 1914, the Komagata Maru incident saw 20 people lose their lives, many others injured and several imprisoned in India after Canada turned away a ship carrying 325 people, mostly Sikhs, seeking asylum.

A plaque commemorating the incident was erected in 1989; the Prime Minister apologized in 23006; and, a monument went up near Vancouver’s Convention Centre in 2012.

Certainly acts of redress worth CELEBRATING on Canada Day!

Canada (along with the US and Cuba) also turned away another ship, in 1939, carrying 930 Jews fleeing Hitler’s Germany.  Forced back to Europe, more than 250 of the refugees later died in Nazi concentration camps … and Canada turned its back on thousands of others too.

It took 79 years, but in 2018, Canada apologized. Something to CELEBRATE on Canada Day!

During the Second World War, 1939-1945, Canada lost another 45,400 citizens; in the Korean War another 516; and in Afghanistan, 165 more.

By the way, at each and every call, First Nations soldiers and civilian volunteers/workers served their country with valour … despite its imperfections. You can read about that here: https://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/history/people/in-uniform/first-nations-soldiers/. And this too: https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/indigenous-peoples-and-the-world-wars.

The latest difficult challenge for the nation: Indigenous reconciliation issues that go way beyond residential schools and unmarked children’s graves.

But through ALL our trials and tribulations, neither our country, nor our people, have ever totally CANCELED Dominion Day commemorations completely or Canada Day CELEBRATION … not even last year, at the height of Covid!

Because they understood the importance of Canada Day to millions upon millions of Canadians who do the work, pay the taxes, and CELEBRATE our country, through the good, the bad and the ugly.

Never before have we had such a weak, spineless generation of municipal, provincial or federal politicians so easily convinced or intimidated by pressure groups!

Great nations are made by GREAT people; led by GREAT leaders; who TODAY can take on and vanquish GREAT obstacles, challenges, injustices with civilized discourse.

They don’t CAVE IN to anarchists, lobbyists, agitators and un-elected pressure groups trying to impose their will, their agenda, their demands on the entire country.

And they certainly don’t abandon/cancel Canada Day just to PANDER to those using violence or those who tear down and destroy things THEY don’t like.

CELEBRATE Canada Day!!!

And, as soon as you get the chance, FIRE those weak, compromised elected politicians so quick to set aside a day that means so much to so many and CELEBRATE one of the BEST nations on Earth!

Harv Oberfeld

(Reminder: Follow @harveyoberfeld.ca on Twitter for Free First Alerts to new postings on this Blog.)

 

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