Tuesday, July 1, 2008

My Canada


Happy Canada Day everyone!

In the year and a half since I started this blog, I have learned more about my fellow Canadians than I ever thought possible. Canadians I would never have had contact with otherwise, from Newfoundland to Victoria and all points in between. Not just the ones I agree with, but those whose opinions and attitudes differ radically from mine.

And although I don't always agree with or even understand their many varied points of view, I have learned to respect many of them and understand that, at heart, they love this country as much as I do. They want Canada to be better, just like I do - it's just that sometimes they have a different idea of what "better" is than I do.

Here is one articulation of how I see this country, both as it is and how I would wish it to ultimately be. You results may differ.

"The Just Society will be one in which all of our people will have the means and the motivation to participate.
The Just Society will be one in which personal and political freedom will be more securely ensured than it has ever been in the past.
The Just Society will be one in which the rights of minorities will be safe from the whims of intolerant majorities.
The Just Society will be one in which those regions and groups which have not fully shared in the country's affluence will be given a better opportunity.
The Just Society will be one where such urban problems as housing and pollution will be attacked through the application of new knowledge and new techniques.
The Just Society will be one in which our Indian and Inuit population will be encouraged to assume the full rights of citizenship through policies which will give them both greater responsibility for their own future and more meaningful equality of opportunity.
The Just Society will be a united Canada, united because all of its citizens will be actively involved in the development of a country where equality of opportunity is ensured and individuals are permitted to fulfil themselves in the fashion they judge best."

- Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 1968

5 comments:

  1. The Just Society will be one in which the rights of minorities will be safe from the whims of intolerant majorities.

    Reverse the two and you get the frivolous HRC witch hunts.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Trudeau was an intellectual. His speeches sound great. The implementation of it, however, was less than perfect. Speaking of Trudeau, his Liberal party did precious little about #5.

    ReplyDelete
  3. See, this is the difference between you and me. I look at that speech and see all that we've accomplished and all that we can still hope to achieve. You, apparently, see all that we failed to do and all that you wish we had never done at all.

    Except that you're not seeing "we" - you're seeing "him" and "they".

    Go away now. I don't feel like fighting, and you're killing my Canada Day buzz.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I see it now, in the 21st century as this: "A Just Society is one in which all people will be safe from the whims of intolerant majories *and* those of intolerant minorities.

    ReplyDelete