Monday, November 03, 2003

GRANATSTEIN: CONCLUSION

Granatstein concludes with the unbelievable statement that, "Canada has had too much of that type of unplanned, ill-thought out policy, so much so that today we verge on becoming a noncountry." This statement is simply unacceptable. It proves that Granatstein has little understanding of the type of country Canada is. It is reminiscent of Lucien Bouchard’s quip that "Canada is not a real country."

Granatstein and those like him refuse to recognize the complexity of Canada. They want Canada to be a country of simple strident nationalism focused on achieving a clearly defined set of ultimate goals. This, however, is not how Canada exists. Formulating a foreign policy, of the type that Granatstein desires is both not desirable and not possible for Canada. Canada is a country that never should have come into being and never should have continued being. For its entire history people like Granatstein have been demanding a rapid and drastic change in course to give the nations some sense of direction some sense of purpose, some stability, some unity. Usually these calls have been ignored. Yet somehow, irrationally and unbelievably the nation continues.

Posted by Matthew @ 12:07 a.m.