Letter to Alberta
Monday, 27 June 2005
David Warren
My editor (that would be Kevin) keeps telling me to interpret the "western" in Western Standard in the broadest possible sense. Think, "the West," as the expression might be used in Paris, or Tokyo. Do not feel we must restrict ourselves to Canadian topics. The world is our oyster. I hope he will now excuse me for writing a column that can only be read as a letter to Alberta.My dear Albertans: As you may know, I am from the heart of central Canada, born in the Tranna General, fifth floor looking south (so far as I can recall). I have only ever been in Calgary to visit; and in Edmonton by mistake. I am a hydrophile. I feel uncomfortable in places far removed from large bodies of water. Though I have been often accused of harbouring a "frontier mentality," by people who are urban in the worst possible sense, I think of myself as bookish and over-civilized. I would not know what to do on a ranch. Still, "some of my best friends are Albertans."
It gets worse. I am of the Loyalist heritage--and we like to exaggerate the family genealogies. My mama's people were Gaelic-thinking Calvinistas from Cape Breton. My papa's, however, are farm-boy Upper Canadian, and as to my heart, "loyal she remains." Conservative, but adhering to the party of Sir John A. It's true I've gone Catholic, but there's a black sheep in every family. My idea of Canada has long included the accommodation of "Quebec's aspirations." I was publicly in favour of Meech Lake, and actually saddened when Brian Mulroney drowned in it.
Not a likely recruit for Western separatism. And, until the other day, I was, if possible, even more of a federalist towards burblings of sovereigntism in the oil patch, than I was a federaste towards Quebec. If, merely a month ago, you had asked me for my opinion on the topic, I would have told you (my hypothetical Albertan):
"Just continue voting Conservative, and don't rock the boat. Er, the bus. Ralph Klein is enough of a headache for Stephen Harper. We don't need the Liberals going to town on 'Bloc Alberta,' especially if it's to a small town in Ontario."
But something has happened in Canada, something big. We now have, so far as I can make out, an illegitimate government in Ottawa. The way in which Paul Martin contrived to survive confidence votes in the House of Commons was not, according to observers who happen to be awake, constitutional. That he is
able to avoid an election, after multiple disclosures of his government's overwhelming corruption and malice, by overtly purchasing the support of such low-lifes as Jack Layton and Belinda Stronach with the full resources of the state, is worse than bad form. His way of wielding power reminds one more each day of the situation in Zimbabwe.
There's no space to go into the full indictment here, which would require 10,000 words of preamble. And yet, the conclusion is grander than may appear. I have watched the Liberals subvert this country's government and society throughout my adult life. The way they are ramming "gay marriage" through Parliament is among the last straws; and as I wrote in the conclusion of a daily newspaper column:"The dignity and decency of Canadian life have been leeching away, for so long, that we are now past writing any 'lament for a nation.' The Canada of which I was once so proud now sleeps with the worms."
I meant those words. They were not a rhetorical flight. We have gone beyond the point at which we might pray for some restoration of "peace, order, and good government"; in which an opposition party could deliver such a thing. The Canada to which I continued to adhere is irretrievably busted.
An incendiary I am not, and would not be. We have never been a revolutionary people. We never left the British Empire; the Empire left us. And now, what remained of the Dominion of Canada is disintegrating. So it is time to start thinking through the terms of liquidation.
Western Standard
Monday, 27 June 2005
David Warren
My editor (that would be Kevin) keeps telling me to interpret the "western" in Western Standard in the broadest possible sense. Think, "the West," as the expression might be used in Paris, or Tokyo. Do not feel we must restrict ourselves to Canadian topics. The world is our oyster. I hope he will now excuse me for writing a column that can only be read as a letter to Alberta.My dear Albertans: As you may know, I am from the heart of central Canada, born in the Tranna General, fifth floor looking south (so far as I can recall). I have only ever been in Calgary to visit; and in Edmonton by mistake. I am a hydrophile. I feel uncomfortable in places far removed from large bodies of water. Though I have been often accused of harbouring a "frontier mentality," by people who are urban in the worst possible sense, I think of myself as bookish and over-civilized. I would not know what to do on a ranch. Still, "some of my best friends are Albertans."
It gets worse. I am of the Loyalist heritage--and we like to exaggerate the family genealogies. My mama's people were Gaelic-thinking Calvinistas from Cape Breton. My papa's, however, are farm-boy Upper Canadian, and as to my heart, "loyal she remains." Conservative, but adhering to the party of Sir John A. It's true I've gone Catholic, but there's a black sheep in every family. My idea of Canada has long included the accommodation of "Quebec's aspirations." I was publicly in favour of Meech Lake, and actually saddened when Brian Mulroney drowned in it.
Not a likely recruit for Western separatism. And, until the other day, I was, if possible, even more of a federalist towards burblings of sovereigntism in the oil patch, than I was a federaste towards Quebec. If, merely a month ago, you had asked me for my opinion on the topic, I would have told you (my hypothetical Albertan):
"Just continue voting Conservative, and don't rock the boat. Er, the bus. Ralph Klein is enough of a headache for Stephen Harper. We don't need the Liberals going to town on 'Bloc Alberta,' especially if it's to a small town in Ontario."
But something has happened in Canada, something big. We now have, so far as I can make out, an illegitimate government in Ottawa. The way in which Paul Martin contrived to survive confidence votes in the House of Commons was not, according to observers who happen to be awake, constitutional. That he is
able to avoid an election, after multiple disclosures of his government's overwhelming corruption and malice, by overtly purchasing the support of such low-lifes as Jack Layton and Belinda Stronach with the full resources of the state, is worse than bad form. His way of wielding power reminds one more each day of the situation in Zimbabwe.
There's no space to go into the full indictment here, which would require 10,000 words of preamble. And yet, the conclusion is grander than may appear. I have watched the Liberals subvert this country's government and society throughout my adult life. The way they are ramming "gay marriage" through Parliament is among the last straws; and as I wrote in the conclusion of a daily newspaper column:"The dignity and decency of Canadian life have been leeching away, for so long, that we are now past writing any 'lament for a nation.' The Canada of which I was once so proud now sleeps with the worms."
I meant those words. They were not a rhetorical flight. We have gone beyond the point at which we might pray for some restoration of "peace, order, and good government"; in which an opposition party could deliver such a thing. The Canada to which I continued to adhere is irretrievably busted.
An incendiary I am not, and would not be. We have never been a revolutionary people. We never left the British Empire; the Empire left us. And now, what remained of the Dominion of Canada is disintegrating. So it is time to start thinking through the terms of liquidation.
Western Standard
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