WILL CANADIANS SURVIVE THEIR POLITICIANS?
There is a strong tendency in Canadian political circles to delay decisions, to postpone action, to procrastinate in the hope that our political problems will disappear. They seldom open Parliament – 92 days in 2000. And if they bother to answer parliamentary questions, a lie may be more convenient than the truth. They call it “question period” not “answer period.” The TV cameras are not allowed to show the whole Parliament, which may be empty except for the one person asking the question and another somewhere listening. They never take attendance and Parliament is mostly empty on Fridays.

Therefore the government operates in a veil of secrecy for approximately 9 months a year and parliament, when it is open, barley shows the tip of the rotten iceberg.

Canadians have bent over backwards for the last 40 years in order to placate the separatists in Quebec. It often appears that the prime-ministerial job requirement forbids anyone who unilingual English from outside Quebec from being prime minister. Trudeau, Mulroney and Chretien have dominated Canadian politics in recent years. The Charter of Rights was written by a Quebecois Prime Minister Trudeau and his then Quebecois Minister of Justice Chretien and the Province of Quebec itself refused to sign this Charter. Of course this Charter gave rights to everyone in the world and no property rights to Canadians. It also gave special rights to Indians – most of northern Quebec – and Indians have since then claimed and been given most of British Columbia. It saddled Canada with bilingualism and multiculturalism. Maybe the Quebecois could see something the rest of Canada couldn’t see. Quebec has had two referendums to separate from Canada in 1980 and 1995 and came within 1% of getting their majority in 1995.

Therefore it is obvious that Canadian unity has been on shaky ground for some time. The idea of government of the people, by the people for the people is definitely not Canadian. Our politicians have attempted to correct this constitutional problem several times, at Meech Lake, Charlottetown and Calgary, all to no avail. Add to this phenomenon, the strong western alienation of Canadians in the West emphasized by the recent election results, and we get more grounds for dissatisfaction. Then add to this stew the strong possibility that Quebec will have another referendum on separation within a few years and it ups the ante again.

It is obvious to even a casual observer that Canada needs to revamp the Charter, the Parliament, the Immigration Act, the Supreme Court – the complete system of government – in order to pull Canada back from these perennial referendums, western alienation and oddball decisions of the appointed Supreme Court—all based on their private interpretations of the Charter. It is obvious that if Canada is worth saving someone somewhere will have to make the right decision and follow it through to the end or Canada might fade away from lack of interest.

There are too many political problems that emphasize the lack of pride in Canadian unity.
Quebec separatism.
Western alienation.
Forced bilingualism across the country.
No bilingualism in Quebec.
Quebec unilingual French.
Weird Supreme Court decisions.
Indians without personal rights.
Indians with too many group rights.
Canadians without property rights.
The American enticements for highly educated Canadians to move south.
The 60-cent dollar.
Extreme taxation – highest in G7.
Extraordinary national debt -- FIVE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE BILLION.

Will Canada survive these politicians?