One Canadian’S Opinion?

The concept of Canada as a Multi-Cultural society can be interpreted in different ways: • Deceptively (as a sociological fact) • Prescriptively (as ideology) • From a political perspective (as policy) • As a set of inter group dynamics (as process) As fact, multiculturalism in Canada refers to the presence and the persistence of diverse racial and ethnic minorities who define themselves as different and who wish to remain so. Ideologically, multiculturalism consists of a relatively coherent set of ideas and ideals pertaining to the celebration of Canada’s cultural mosaic. Multiculturalism at the policy level is structured around the management of diversity through formal initiatives in the federal and provincial and municipal domains. Finally, multiculturalism is the process by which racial and ethnic minorities compete with central authorities for achievement of certain goals and aspirations. Thus, Canada has been largely free of racial tension. Canada is found upon principals that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms equally to citizens and non citizens set out in its subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society. Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms: 1. Freedom of conscience and religion 2. Freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the Press and other media of communication 3. Freedom of peaceful assembly 4. Freedom of association This explains why Canadians have a different way of looking at themselves and the world around them, especially sociologically! US Ambassador to Canada Paul Cellucci was particularly critical of Canada’s reluctance to join the war effort in Iraq. He said: “There is no security threat to Canada that the United States would not be ready, willing and able to help with. There would be no debate. There would be no hesitation. We would be there for Canada – part of our family.” His implication being that Canada failed to come to the aid of the United States in its time of peril. The reality was that there wasn’t one; they were under no threat from Iraq but quit the opposite. Simply put the United States was not in peril. The points made by President Bush about certain issues as well as some aimed at Canada are up for debate. Canada’s participation in the Second World War was not pre-emptive as he said but a declaration of war due to defense treaties, plus the United States didn’t support Canada, even when Canada and Britain requested their help separately but made profits from selling to both sides of the conflict till Pearl Harbor occurred. The same can be said for the First World War 1914 – 1918. Let’s also take a moment to mention that Canada has never had a large standing military but in WWII with its 11 million population 1.5 million of its population served during this conflict alone. We were there for the US in Korea but not Vietnam but both sides agree now, we were right on that one. The UN operates due to the way the United States set it up to operate because at the time it was to their advantage and has done everything in its power to prevent change for the better because it was in its best interests to do so, not in anyone else’s interests. Let’s not forget the UN veto process, that the US has in the past prevented from being change, which is the real reason that the UN is irrelevant. NORAD was set up to protect the United States from Russian missiles landing on American soil not Canada’s as stated by the US Commander of NORAD in the early 1970’s, Canada was not a consideration. The U.S. informs its allies but does not consult them. What would be different with the Missile Shield Program? NAFTA and the NAFTA dispute board was created by the United States with three Americans sitting on it out of five. As for international organizations, it will accept their judgments or use their procedures if it wills to do so but not otherwise. Canada went down the road to peacekeeping because the United States said the next War would be nuclear war fought with ICBM’s and they would defend North America not Canada. Yet, now the U.S. condemns Canada for the size of its military. President Bush condemns Canada for not supporting the United States, not having a military force large enough to fight a war, not trading on a level playing field and not benign friendly. Lets remember that the United States Of America has walked away over the recent past decade from, worked against or failed to support a long list of international agreements supported by Canada and the overwhelming majority of countries - the Land Mines Treaty, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the agreement to provide lower cost drugs to developing countries battling AIDS and other diseases, the International Criminal Court, the U.N. protocol on Developing, Producing or Stockpiling Biological or Toxic Weapons, the Small Arms Treaty, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child supported by 191 countries, but not the U.S. or Somalia. When people feel indebted to others they tend to forget or don’t speak of slits that have been done to them previously. That still does not mean that it didn’t occur. Let’s not forget that Canada leaped to America’s aid immediately on September 11, 2001 without being asked, without caring where the threat came from, knowing that our neighbors to the south of us were in peril. Why? It’s our Canadian social responsibility and common good attitude that drives us to do it. Canada as well as Canadians has accommodated the United States in the past to a nationally detrimental point. Trade between Canada and the United States has developed to the point that Canadians are hard pressed to find anything in Canada that is 100% made in Canada that Canadians can buy. Everything is either made from materials made in the US, assembled in the US, manufactured in the US or can’t be made without tools made in the US. Do you believe that this type of situation would be tolerated in the United States? NO! I strongly believe in free trade and a level playing field but at the same time I feel that a level playing field means totally something different to the US then it does to the rest of us in the free world. Americans should be reminded that millions of American jobs depend on their exports to Canada, that as every year goes by you will become increasingly dependent on imports of Canadian resources, that for 46 years in a row Canada has been the leading export market in the world for U.S. goods and services, that your exports to Canada every year are greater than your exports to all fifteen European Union countries combined, greater than your exports to Japan, the United Kingdom and Germany put together and more than to all of Latin America and the Caribbean countries combined. The United States dictates the rules of any agreement it signs. When things go in their favor the rules are fine. When US producers start to feel as though they are losing something, whether real or not, then the agreement must be renegotiated. The real issue is that the US has too great of a hand in framing international trade rules, which it uses to ensure that its own producers are somehow insulated from the tough realities that it recommends for others. It is in the end it is a commitment to getting other countries to give American producers access to their markets and the US reciprocates when it is convenient. This is due to a lack of checks and balances that other countries in the world have to entice them to keep an even keel on their trade agreements. Even with all this condemnation from our only true friend, the load cries of anti-Americanism, I have only found Canadians feelings toward Americans disagreeable is when individual Americans and American Companies / Corporations take a anti-Canadian attitude of retaliatory action against Canadians outside of their own governments action. Yes, I hear the calls of anti-Americanism from the United States when Canadians stand up for their rights or express themselves rightfully or not. Yes even the firing of people in Canada for doing it. It is on every American Broadcast Station in the U.S. What I don’t hear is Americans denouncing American Presidents, Senators, Congressmen, Ambassadors, Broadcasters, and Announcers etc. for trashing, attacking or justifying Americans retaliating against Canadians and Canadian Businesses as anti-Canadian and detrimental to American foreign relations. Canada with its population of 9% of that of the United States of America is of no threat to American sovereignty by any means. The question at the end of the day is; has Canada lost its sovereignty over its foreign and domestic affairs as to international trade due to its close trading relationship with the United States? That Canada can not exercise its democratic rights and move freely without fear because it has not gotten approval from and risking offending our neighbor / friend / family to the south of us. Have Canadian producers and suppliers become so tied to the high profits margins in the US that it is no longer profitable to look after Canada’s own domestic market? The matter of Canada/US relations the Canadian people have been the losers and their wishes for their country have rarely been followed by those entrusted to express those wishes. It seems to suggest, too, that US leaders have always had, and expressed, a clear interest in subordinating Canadian wealth and freedom to the needs and wants of the USA. This anti-Canadian attitude in the United States is awakening Canadians to the fact that Canada can not exercise its democratic rights and operate freely without fear because it has not gotten approval from and risking offending our neighbor / friend / family to the south of us. Canadians will soon be demanding Canadian producers and suppliers start to look after their own domestic markets as well as processing its own raw materials. It is now becoming clear that looking after our own domestic markets first as well as having a diversified foreign trade with other countries other then the United States, will Canada be able to enforce a level playing field with outside markets and free trade agreements with the United States. The world is now changing from a multi-national attitude to a uni-lateral attitude. It is time that Canada change as well in its national and international thinking. Those nations that we had once come to depend on are now less eager to be there for us unless it requires Canada to accommodate to a nationally detrimental point of undermining Canadian sovereignty and independence. The people of Canada count on its military in time of need. Canadians rely above all on the Military to protect their interests and values. Our neighbor to the south with its uni-lateral military ideas has forced the issue that Canada must now rethink and rebuild its military levels to a level that will allow Canada to patrol and respond to any threat whether it be Air, Water, or Land in strength as to borders, territory and world peace keeping interests. This will require large purchases of technology, equipment and personnel. Canada is a vast country requiring a larger then most standing military. Already we see Canada’s territory and boundaries challenged by the United States, Spain, Norway to name a few. As previously mentioned, Canada has already been denounced for not having a larger standing military. It is my opinion that Canada must build a standing military to a level of 300,000, 50,000 being reservists, to fulfill its world interests and domestic needs. If we do not, we will be unable to defend our selves, protect our sovereignty, territory as well as fulfill our world obligations and interests. It is due to Canada's large territory that the size of our military must be larger then other world nations on a percentage base per population. We already have problems with sovereignty and territorial disputes from the US, Norway, Spain, Japan etc. If Canada intends to maintain its UN peacekeeping activities as well as other international requests such as those requested by and complained about by the United States of America as well as a rapid deployment unit. The 50,000 reservists will be needed for domestic responses such as forest fires, flooding etc. emergencies and to maintain military training facilities activities with their training personnel. The purchase price of military equipment, which this should go without saying, can be spread over decades but at the same time can be a financial boost to defense industries in Canada as well as a vast number of Canadian support Businesses. It is beyond my intelligence that Canada can not defend its borders even from US police forces crossing at their whim without challenge from Canadian police and security units. It must have dawned on someone that the continued violation of Canadian sovereignty, borders and territory that those doing it will no longer recognize these barriers or there legalities.