Hyperbole Much, Jim?
Jim Travers:
In 4,000 words and 40 minutes Tuesday night, Harper described a country many of its citizens would struggle to recognize. That Canada breaks its international treaty commitment to fight climate change, fuels unfounded fears to advance a law-and-order agenda and effectively commits to extending a polarizing Afghanistan mission months before Parliament will consider the options.
Subtler if equally worthy of citizen attention is what the Prime Minister has in mind for the federation. With a policy mix reflecting his concerns for provincial rights and market efficiency Harper is simultaneously proposing to loosen and tighten central control.
Generally appealing to Conservatives and an affront to Liberals, Harper's recreation of Canada more in the image of its North American neighbour than its traditional European soulmates demands thoughtful deconstruction
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What is funny/sad....Jim's serious here. He thinks he is touching on something profound and earth shattering. I'll maybe come back to this tonight. There is just so much to comment on here.
But he is not that wrong. Harper is, bit by bit, undoing the Trudeau settlement. In the Harper world, Canada's identity springs from the North, the building of the country through the generations, a muscular foreign policy, and honoring treaties rather than signing up to feel-good pacts which will never be implemented. This is the old, robust Canada of the 50s and 60s, not the Canada whose identity lies in the idea that we have no identity. Travers feels Trudeaupia is "traditional", but otherwise he is close.
Posted by
MarkCh |
11:47 AM