by Note: This post was originally planned for July 1st which is Canada Day. However, due to server issues, the blog was down and it could not be posted.
Growing up I knew July 1st as “Dominion Day”. It was a Canadian holiday that commemorated the granting of dominion status or autonomy to Canada by the British Empire on July 1, 1867. It was renamed in 1982 to Canada Day upon the adoption of the Canada Act which provided Canadians with a constitution and ended the UK’s Parliament ability to amend it.
I have a great love and admiration for our northern neighbors. I have visited Canada many times and have been to most of their provinces. Going even further, my first girlfriend Pat was Canadian and lived in Ontario. Thus, it is with great sadness that I see the arrogant disregard for the rights of Canadians by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Whether it was the attempt to freeze the bank accounts of those protesting his Covid policies or his authoritarian decrees on firearms, Trudeau fils has shown utter contempt for the democratic process.
It is no wonder then that 70% of Canadians feel their country is “broken”.
Canada won’t hold federal elections until October 2025 unless Trudeau and his Liberal Party decide to dissolve Parliament sooner. One can only hope that Pierre Poilievre and his Conservative Party can win enough seats to form a government. His approach to various policies have been labeled libertarian and he definitely does not have the authoritarian streak possessed by Trudeau. Besides, anyone who has seen his handling of a journalist’s questions while eating an apple has got to be impressed how he dealt with those leading questions.
A people always gets the government it deserves.
I’ve got nothing against Canadians per se. I’m not a fan of their nanny-state, liberal government…and the Canadians are the ones who vote for that government and keep the people in power who enacted those laws, so I don’t exactly hold them in high regard in general. Specific Canadians I’ve known over the years, I’ve come to respect and admire, but that’s based on individual traits and actions, not where they’re from.
Or course I can say the same thing about the people who put Joe Biden in charge as well, so there’s that.
Canadians tend to be nice people. Their government is toxic. Sadly, the same is true in all of what used to be called the Free World. It would be interesting to read some future history about what happened except that having an honest assessment seems impossible.