OK, you've all heard me go on about corporate governance, and new world orders, and how national borders are simply lines on a map in the great scheme of things. While that may all be conspiracy bs, as we watched the close of the 2010 G20 in Toronto, no one can deny that we live in a very different world than we grew up in.
I remember when we could arrogantly state that we cared about the planet because, well because we had such a pristine backyard to show off... but that was never really the case was it? Corporate dumping and industrial sewage has often turned that backyard into a cesspool, because being proud environmentalists is just too expensive. Yes, it would open up whole new industries and technologies based on sustainable development, sane environmental policies and responsible waste management and disposal, but the existing corporate power brokers would have to clean up their act and invest in solutions! (Like that's gonna happen.) How's it feel to be among the countries with the worst environmental records on the planet?
The peacekeepers of the world. Prime Minister Lester B Pearson won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for his vision, and from that point forward we always had a distinct air of superiority as we looked at our southern neighbours. The world loved us! We didn't fight for profit and plunder. We nobly PROTECTED people! Then came Rwanda, and we learned that we really didn't have the balls required to help people...or at least not if it meant actually doing something. Now we have Commanders who moonlight as serial rapists and a government that sets firm dates to pull out of conflicts as if wars can end on cue!
Québec seems quiet lately. Or maybe she's just given up dealing with us and is content to simply do her own thing, while involving Canada as little as possible. It's not like the country really liked hearing from her anyway. Come to think of it, we don't much like each other... Westerners can't stand Easterners and visa versa), Maritimers hate Ontario, Danny Williams hates everyone, and everyone hates Toronto. Everybody's jealous of what others have, or they're protecting what they've been blessed with for dear life. So talk of sovereignty is on the back-burner for now, but when you think about how the provinces work together, I think we all secretly want to separate so we no longer have to share our stuff. So what exactly are we celebrating? Being 10 solitudes?
We still play hockey better than anyone else, but we sold the game to U.S. corporate interests. Lord Stanley gave Canada the cup that bears his name to be awarded for excellence in amateur hockey. I'd call Gary Bettman many, many things , but he is definitely not what Lord Stanley had in mind when he supplied the trophy for the game. Meanwhile Lacrosse, our real national sport, struggles to survive.
We no longer have Simpson's, Eaton's or The Hudson's Bay Company (OK, The Bay is still around, but the company that actually helped explore and settle this country, is American owned now....as are our nickel and steel powerhouses). We even sell our government buildings, so we can lease them back. Maybe somewhere along the line one of our leaders sold our souls to raise money for some necessity that taxes used to pay for (before we became unwilling to cover the costs of running a country/province/city if it interfered with summering in the Caymans). After all why should any of US have to invest in our country!? I know I'm alone among a bunch of "me" generation folks, but I would much rather pay high taxes that provide clear advantages to citizenship, then to pay lower taxes and live in a country where it's survival of the fittest and let everyone else rot. Otherwise we may as well become part of the U.S. (they already own most Canadian companies anyway) where capitalism means look out for number one and screw the rest.
It's time we start to realize that our shit stinks as bad as anyone's. I am so very fortunate to have been born and raised here, but that makes me lucky, not special. We just can't seem to work together for a single Canadian vision...our concerns and loyalties are far more regional than they are national, and so it may be inevitable that when we celebrate our 200th in 57 years, the Canadian identity will have been swallowed up in the frenzy for globalization. All the more reason to celebrate who we used to be, and take a long hard look at who we are today - because no people with this much potential should ever accept global standards of mediocrity as a barometer of how we're doing.
So as the fireworks explode with our national pride, I dare Rick Mercer to do a "Talking to Canadians", segment and ask us the questions! I bet the average Canadian knows as much about the world outside our borders as Americans do - we just enjoy pompously pointing our collective fingers south, so no one notices that we're no better up here.
So as the fireworks explode with our national pride, I dare Rick Mercer to do a "Talking to Canadians", segment and ask us the questions! I bet the average Canadian knows as much about the world outside our borders as Americans do - we just enjoy pompously pointing our collective fingers south, so no one notices that we're no better up here.
(Although we ARE smart enough to know that you don't allow idiots like us to carry guns!)
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