Thursday, April 29, 2010

Harpoon's Unveiled Contempt for Canada Or: It Depends on What the Meaning of "It" Is

Usually, Harpoon Siddiqui manages to disguise his disdain for Canada, a country that, foolishly, has garlanded him with respect and prizes. Today, however, he allows the mask to slip more than a bit. In a defense of "multiculturalism" and those who haul into their new home some baggage that is best left back in the old country, Harpoon heaps derision on Canada--both the country and the concept. (He also makes sure to boo Jews, who, though Canadian-born, continue to advocate on behalf of Israel.) Why, he asks, should newcomers be "admonished"  (his word) to "conform to our way of life" and "adopt Canadian values" when "Canada"  is nothing more than the sum of tapped out cliches, and therefore unworthy of their allegiance?:
What do we mean when we hector someone to "be Canadian"? Play hockey? At least watch it, preferably with a beer in hand? Or, in Quebec, eat poutine and listen to Celine Dion? What else? If one can't catalogue it all, how can we implement it?
If by "it" you mean "being Canadian," all I can say is that, unlike sharia, "it" isn't something to be "implemented". "It" is the totality of Canada's history, which incorporates a longstanding tradition of democracy and freedom, a tradition that, admittedly, was severely compromised when Trudeau's multiculturalism took hold as our prevailing social doctrine. If all "Canada" means to you is hockey, poutine and beer; if you can see nothing of value in being "strong and free"; then, man, you're in the wrong country--and the wrong Dar.

Update: My letter:

Since Haroon Siddiqui believes Canada has little in the way of "identity" to offer newcomers, and since he reduces Canada--its proud traditions of freedom and democracy and the panorama of history which has shaped us--to a handful of pathetic cliches ("hockey," "beer," "poutine" and "Celine Dion"; what, no "double-double" at "Timmy's"?), when can we expect him to return his Order of Canada?

2 comments:

Paul said...

The Toronto Star's tag-line should be "Where Facts Don't Matter".

scaramouche said...

Or else, "You want the facts, read the National Enquirer; you want to be entertained with tendentious tripe, read the Star."