Why We Must Stand Up To The Bully, And How

What clearly irks McQuaig about these naysayers is that for her, and in her view most Canadians, our country works pretty well. We have a domestic public domain that serves most citizens equitably (you would get an argument on this from our aboriginal people) and we have exercised a positive influence internationally not by flexing muscles but by taking leadership on initiatives that promote international co-operation and eschew ideological grandstanding. This balanced approach has become passé, at least in the eyes of many who now carry the torch for closer ties with U.S.-style policies. McQuaig sees this as a problem not of anti-Americanism, but of anti-Canadianism. Particularly pungent is the description McQuaig applies to the owners of these views as a "comprador class." The term, which dates back to 19th-century colonial times, was used to describe a local elite that served the interests of a foreign business class. Members of the class acted "as intermediaries, presenting the goals of the foreign interests to the local population in a positive light." This is tough language, indeed. But it is not the members of the chattering class who are the worst offenders; they are simply the messengers. McQuaig reserves her most scathing comment for those political and military leaders who buy into this pandering point of view and have set about redirecting Canadian public policy. There is General Rick Hillier, who internalized the U.S. military's war-fighting ethos and disdain for peacekeeping during his sojourn at Fort Hood, Tex. McQuaig devotes considerable ink to the instalment of Hillier as Canada's top solder in February, 2005, signalling "the transformation of the Canadian military into a combat force, and one that would mesh neatly with the U.S. military ... brazenly thumbing his nose at the Pearsonian peacekeeping tradition." In her eyes, Hillier is clearly the one who has dictated our shift in Afghanistan from protection of civilians toward an offensive search and hunt for the Taliban. http://www.theglobeandmail.com:80/servlet/story/LAC.20070428.BKCOAT28/TPStory/Entertainment [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on April 30, 2007]

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