To change course now, as the history of our great nation goes under-reported by the CBC, we can always count on the Globe and Mail for an uplifting tale of their own, or usually someone else's, as in this case.
In the following piece, laugh at how our beloved business elites talk about our abundant resources in continental terms, and laugh at the 12+ other leaps they make. :)
THE WAY AHEAD
Removing barriers of all kinds will help Canada and the U.S. see eye-to-eye on energy, trade and other issues, say corporate leaders
By PATRICK DANIEL, GWYN MORGAN and N. MURRAY EDWARDS
At times of stress, we all have a tendency to turn inward. But for nations that are neighbours and friends, turning inward only leads to negative consequences for both countries. Putting up barriers can prevent countries from seeing eye-to-eye on how to be more secure, and more prosperous.
Social and economic prosperity today demands that our leaders, in both the public and private sectors, break down barriers and build stronger ties with neighbouring nations, while working together for a safer and more secure world. Canada has a unique advantage in this regard...............
To see the rest, here's the link:
THE WAY AHEAD
Note: THE WAY AHEAD
Stumble It!
But the CBC conflated that with policy--I believe Murphy said something about how this sort of cooperation puts the lie to tension between Canada and the U.S. adn arguments about it in the government. I was screaming at the TV about that one--because the tension is at the POLICY level. Did they look at the differences in health care in the two towns? No. Did they look at the differences in welfare for the poor in the two towns? No. Those difference in policy make a HUGE difference in the kind of lives lived on different sides of the border, and the different values we have as people.
The whole focus was a mushy look at why we're "just the same." Aren't these men supposed to be journalists?
For a much better picture of the similarities and differences between Canadians and Americans in border towns, I highly recommend James Laxer's excellent book, _The Border: Canada, the U.S., and Dispatches from the 49th Parallel_. And for a much closer look at how Canadians and Americans have diverging values, see Michael Adams' excellent book, Fire and Ice.
And the article is just disturbing.
What I think would be better would be if more (not all, but more) stories actively tried to show BOTH sides--ie two differing opinions--and then allowed readers/watchers to draw their own conclusions. Balanced coverage. What a concept. That's something journalists CAN and SHOULD do but it seems to me to be getting far more rare--more often, one bias or one opinion is paraded as fact (and both left and right are guilty of this).
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Dave Ruston