Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Ste. Michaelle

John Ibbitson's mash note to Michaelle Jean is the most annoying editorial I have seen in the Globe and Mail ever. And that's saying something:

Her promise is the promise of what we almost are, of what we want to be. She is the becoming Canada.


....

The millions -- no, the many millions -- who are in our land today having arrived from somewhere else can tell us of real wounds, real pain, a pain known to those who came here a quarter century ago from a ravaged Southeast Asia, or half a century ago from a ravaged Europe. Our new Governor-General knows this pain.

"The story of that little girl, who watched her parents, her family, and her friends grappling with the horrors of a ruthless dictatorship, who became the woman standing before you today, is a lesson in learning to be free," she declared.

Those who came before can take life-fulfilling pride in knowing that they created the country that brought her here, and her brothers and sisters from Sri Lanka and Somalia and Lebanon and Guatemala. They created a place where she could be free because all are free.

Now a new Canada seeks to fashion a new kind of freedom, the freedom to renounce ethnic perimeters, the freedom for all to embrace all. Michaƫlle Jean is their voice.


Ibbitson must be angling for an appointment. He really had to reach to transform a shabby political appointment done in a rush to shore up the Haitian vote in Montreal into a living Statue of Liberty lifting her lamp beside the golden door.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Whats the matter are you afraid of new ideas. Thats why Steven Harper will never ever become P.M. Does it mean that anyone who thinks of a better way to make this country better is anti Canadian

Loyalist said...

What new ideas does Michaelle Jean represent, Bruce?

Has she given any indication of having any vision for Canada, a country that couldn't even claim her undivided allegiance until a few days ago?

The man who appointed her certainly hasn't, other than the eternal dominance of the Liberal party.

Mark said...

"Does it mean that anyone who thinks of a better way to make this country better is anti Canadian [sic]"

You mean like endorsing Quebec sovereignty, Bruce? Seeing Ms Jean and her separatist husband La Fond on those two throne made me sick. What an affront to the concept of "Canadian".

ALW said...

To be fair, her speech was pretty damn good. The question is: does she actually mean what she said?

Brian C said...

It was an emotional speech that meant nothing. The solitudes exist due to the realities of this country. Stating that the "solitudes should be eliminated" is vacuous since they exist due to differences between regions in the country. Also indicating that we use our influence and prosperity to increase harmony in the world without giving details of how we would do that is not useful. After all, China is using its influence and properity to promote the Chinese view of harmony in Asia.