by Klaus Rohrich
February 16, 2004
To listen to the pundits and the talk radio calls over the past week, one would think that the Liberals in Ottawa had done something unconscionable. So they stole a quarter billion bucks, big deal! To hear the outrage in peoples’ voices, it sounds like they think this is something new. as far as I can remember, the Liberals are famous for stealing money and proud of it. Maybe it would help if we did a little reality check.
Can you say "billion dollar boondoggle"? I knew you could, because I’ve heard Canadians use that phrase countless times in the past decade referring to some of the Liberals’ more obvious miscreances. Let’s see, there’s the Lady Jane Stewart HRDC Billion Dollar Boondoggle; then there’s the Canadian Gun Registry Billion Dollar Boondoggle; then there’s the Department Of Indian affairs Eight Billion Dollar Boondoggle; as well as the Seven Billion Dollar Boondoggle that’s seen the Feds funnel taxpayers’ dough to government "foundations" that are not accountable to Parliament or anyone else; and who could forget Teflon Paul Martin’s own brilliant version of the Multi-Billion Dollar Boondoggle with the Canada Employment Insurance Surplus tucked neatly under his pillow for a rainy day. and Canadians are complaining about a measly quarter billion!
Just in case no one has reminded you recently, you do live in Canada and the Liberals are the natural governing party. So get used to it. This money-laundering scheme, like all previous criminal acts committed by the Liberal Party of Canada will blow over and voter amnesia will kick in as soon as "Hockey Night in Canada" comes on.
The next election will see the same 25% of the electorate go to the polls and dutifully cast their ballot for- wait for it- THE LIBERaLS! Then they can continue to run us into the ground for yet another decade, while the citizens have temporary onsets of outrage every six months at the latest Billion-Dollar Boondoggle.
In my opinion, this propensity on the part of the Liberals to turn Canada into a kleptocracy is buried in the party’s Quebec roots. I realize that by making such a politically incorrect statement I stand a good chance of sharing a prison cell with Don Cherry, but one could do worse than go to jail for telling the truth.
It is clear that in the last 40 years (which is the limit of how far back I can personally remember) the majority of Prime Ministerial tenures have been held by politicians from Quebec. Starting with Pierre Elliot Trudeau, whose hallmark was to saddle Canadians with Really Big, Really Intrusive Government, to Brian Mulroney, who perfected the art of porkbarreling and patronage, to Jean Chretien, whose excesses read like those of a third world dictator, to the current denizen of 24 Sussex Drive, who, though complicit in the current scandal, will manage to survive nicely, thank you very much. Canadian politicians have traditionally cared much more for themselves than they have for those who voted them into office.
If you don’t believe me, then please explain why 30% of their exorbitant salaries are tax free or why their pensions are worth millions after being in office for as little as a decade. Explain why it was more necessary to purchase two $100 million jet aircraft for the Prime Minister’s use than to resupply the Canadian Military whose helicopters are literally falling out of the sky and who don’t have the armoured vehicles needed to protect them mines in afghanistan. It’s a grand example of how the life of a politician is worth a lot more than the life of a Canadian soldier.
It’s because power is everything. If you’re in power you can force the Canadian Business Development Bank to lend gobs of money to people who do not qualify so they can buy a hotel of which you are part owner. If you’re caught you can then direct the investigatory bodies to ascertain that there was no conflict, destroying the career of an honest man in the process. If you’re in power you can make a mistake on the magnitude of 10,000% in reporting how much money the federal government sent to companies which you controlled and then claim that it was an honest mistake. This despite the fact that as a former finance minister, one might be expected to have a passing acquaintance with numbers.
Truthfully, I am probably the only anglo Quebec separatist is Canada, as I firmly believe Canada would be a better and stronger nation if Quebec attained nationhood on its own. It’s not that I have a particular dislike for Quebecers. It’s just that their politicians are killing us slowly, but surely. Maybe it’s because Quebecers live under a different legal system than the rest of Canada, whatever the reason, I see no future in continuing to appease a fascist provincial regime with its draconian language laws all in the name of unity.
If you do not recognize the face of fascism then let me show it to you: "The government will not tolerate statements that create dissonance in our society and disrespect for others." While this statement could be ascribed to adolf Hitler or Benito Moussolini, it was made by our very own Junior Multiculturalism Minister, Jean augustine, whom I presume is also a Quebecer. There’s something terribly "soviet" about having a Junior Multiculturalism Minister, as it implies that there is also a Senior Multiculturalism Minister. all we still need in this banana republic is a Minister of Truth.
and the truth is, if Quebec were to become a separate nation, then we would be rid of the Martins and Chretiens and Mulroneys and their toadies forever. Surely that can’t be all bad.