WhatFinger


Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff.

What exactly is a Canadian?



About two weeks ago the Conservative Party of Canada began running so-called attack ads against Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff. The ads point out that Ignatieff had lived outside of Canada, in Britain and the United States for the past 34 years and only returned to attempt to become the leader of the Liberal party and ultimately the prime minister of Canada. The ads say that during Iggy’s missing years he had no particular ties to the country of his birth and is in it for himself, not Canada.

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Video clips of Ignatieff on U.S. C-Span are shown where Ignatieff tells his U.S. audience that “this is your country just as much as it is mine”. The Liberal leader is also quoted as saying that the only thing that he misses about Canada is Algonquin Park which seems strange because he doesn’t look like the outdoors type. The Liberals are naturally up in arms about these “attack” ads. Ignatieff said that he’s not personally offended but that the ads attack those Canadians who work outside of Canada and those who recently immigrated to the country. They define who is and who isn’t a Canadian by the length of time that they have lived here. As if a person who desires to lead the country doesn’t need to spend time here. Well, it’s not as though the Liberals have never questioned the patriotism of Canadians. It hasn’t been that long ago since then Prime Minister Paul Martin accused anyone who disagreed with his leftist vision of the world as “un-Canadian”. Anyone who didn’t agree with such things as gay marriage and a single payer healthcare system was un-Canadian. Canadian values were defined by Liberal Party values. So the Liberals have a lot of nerve suggesting that Stephen Harper and the Tories are inventing all of this. But of course we can’t blame Michael Ignatieff for what Paul Martin said – he wasn’t even here. Perhaps we need to have a discussion about exactly what constitutes a good citizen. As of now anyone who has or is eligible for a Canadian passport is deemed to be a good citizen of Canada whose loyalty to other countries should never ever be questioned. As Ignatieff points out, he is not alone in his scant association with the country that he now wishes to lead.

Remember Canadian citizens have no responsibilities; only rights

We have many Canadians who are simply citizens of convenience. This fact came to the forefront in 2006 during the war between Israel and Hezbollah. Canadian citizens of Lebanese descent who had no intention of living in Canada demanded that the Canadian government get them out of a war zone. And during the 1990s many residents of Hong Kong came to Canada to acquire Canadian citizenship with no desire to live here permanently. They just wanted the passport in case things became unbearable after the island reverted to China in 1997. There are also cases of anchor babies; women who come to Canada to give birth so that their offspring can be born in this country and be able to sponsor them when they reach adulthood. And, there are also cases of entire families immigrating to Canada and obtaining landed immigrant status before the parents head back to the old country, leaving their children here. The list goes on and on. But it is politically incorrect to point out those Canadian citizens who do not have strong ties to the country of their citizenship. In present day Canada, citizenship is defined by rights; not responsibilities. During the 34 years that Michael Ignatieff was absent from the country of his birth, he did nothing to contribute to Canadian society including pay taxes. But according to the Liberal Party, attacking him for this reason or even pointing this fact out is tantamount to immigrant bashing. Remember Canadian citizens have no responsibilities; only rights. So will Ignatieff’s long absence from Canada make a different during the next election? Probably not. As novelist Yann Martel once famously remarked, Canada is “the greatest hotel on earth”. There’s no reason why Michael Ignatieff can’t occupy the prime ministerial suite.


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Arthur Weinreb -- Bio and Archives

Arthur Weinreb is an author, columnist and Associate Editor of Canada Free Press. Arthur’s latest book, Ford Nation: Why hundreds of thousands of Torontonians supported their conservative crack-smoking mayor is available at Amazon. Racism and the Death of Trayvon Martin is also available at Smashwords. His work has appeared on Newsmax.com,  Drudge Report, Foxnews.com.

Older articles (2007) by Arthur Weinreb


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