Dear editor,
Today is Canada Day so I’m taking a moment to reflect on what it means to be Canadian. Truth is, I have no idea. On Canada day itself we all like to fly Canadian flags and we get along while watching fireworks but that seems to me where the similarities end.
We are culturally diverse, although that used to be bridged by a common faith in the God of the bible that doesn’t hold true anymore. Now we’re religiously diverse as well. Even amongst Christians there’s no conformity on the definition of marriage or whether abortion is OK. The Bible that used to serve as the basis for law in the West has been reinterpreted to suit, just like founding legal documents.
The rift between the West and the East exists today perhaps stronger than ever.
There are divisions between urban and rural as we saw again in the latest provincial election. It boiled down to a takers vs. makers showdown but after years of government expansion in the 20th century the takers are becoming a noticeable piece of the population pie.
Diversity is our strength seems to be the mantra of our era, I think it’s nonsense.
We all know that’s not true regarding a sports team, the team needs to work as one to be successful. It’s not true for a family, the more cohesive a family is has everything to do with shared beliefs. Pick any example and the case stands that strength is not best served by diversity. Now, someone will point out that a sports team is comprised of players who have various strengths and I will readily agree, I’m not suggesting a society needs to be composed of mindless automatons. We are after all individuals, with a variety of opinions, but we do need a common core of shared values to be strong. My concern is that as Canadians we no longer have that. We can’t even agree on what defines a boy and a girl anymore. I would humbly submit that for a civilization to exist, you must be at least that smart.
I’m worried that we’re not though. Memes of our Prime Minister and his seemingly endless stream of quaffs leave little doubt that his IQ exceeding 100 is dubious at best. The thing is, in a democracy the leadership is ultimately a reflection of the people, and we put him there. That doesn’t speak well of our own intelligence.
I’m no expert just one who studies history for leisure but even I know the prognosis for this Country is bad.
No I’m not a proud Canadian. The things done by Canadians worth being proud of belong to a previous generation, not mine. Here I am, a 34 year old Alberta boy struggling to support his wife and children working in oil and gas while the Parliament of the Confederation fights me at every turn wishing me to fail, not with words of course but with their foolish laws. Even now they lay the groundwork to censor what I might say as a conservative Christian. To whom can I appeal for justice, who should I call, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police? They’ll imprison me for defending my property but the federal government can commit acts with companies like SNC Lavalin that reek of corruption and not so much as an investigation. No the justice system has become a mockery of what justice really is. Frankly our “conservative” opposition deserves the quotations I just gave it, they’re lukewarm at best.
If I bring up separation on a day like today people will often counter with, “We need to be united, stop with your pessimism.” My question is why do we need to be united? My parents emigrated from the Netherlands in 1980, a country which measured at it’s longest points fits between Edmonton and Calgary. Quebec is over twice as big as it’s parent nation of France. What’s so bad about Canada breaking into more homogenous countries? I know that runs counter to the drum beat of globalism, but aren’t we kind of tired of that false song as well?
A guy my age should be filled with optimism for the future, but my soul groans when I look ahead. To me Canada is a day to lament what once was and is no more.
Andrew Luten, Pigeon Lake