Imagine small communities in Canada’s northern wilderness making unanimous and democratic declarations to separate from Canada. Less than a year later, Canada no longer has any land north of Edmonton. It is very unlikely to happen but it does point out the vulnerability of Canada as a nation.

Democracy has more than once been a threat to the Canadian confederation as a whole and surprisingly few politicians, writers and pundits have addressed this important issue. The United States fought its bloodiest battles in its own Civil War. The lessons learned from that bloody war is that America, the bastion of democracy, has placed value of its own security and continuity above democracy. The American nation must be protected at all costs from external and internal forces seeking its demise. The priorities are different in Canada because of our different background and history.

The basic underlying principle that is dangerous to Canadian sovereignty is that democratic rights supersede the survival of the Canadian nation. The province of Quebec has held two referendums – asking its people to decide whether or not to remain in Canada and both times the results were affirmative to stay.

The danger does not only come from Quebec sovereignists but also federalists. When Prime Minister Harper scathingly criticised the Liberals and NDP for allying themselves in a coalition with the separatist Bloc Quebecois, the Liberal leader Stephane Dion defended the separatist Bloc as having the right to be in parliament. Jean Charest, the Quebec premier and leader of the Quebec Liberal Party has continually supported the right for Quebecers to secede from Canada through democratic means. Let me be clear that Charest is a federalist and wants Quebec to be part of Canada but he advocates that Quebec should have the right, if it decides, to bow out of Canada.

How can anyone show love for Canada by continuously supplying those who don’t with the tools to flush Canada down the toilet? A more disturbing development was the election laws that allowed the Bloc Quebecois to be a viable movement in the House of Commons. This party that openly seeks the dissolution of Canada is allowed to be a part of the opposition and is paid by our Canadian tax dollars. The mistake was made to allow the Bloc to run as a federal party precisely because they were anti-federalist and a threat to Canadian sovereignty. Let’s be clear here; every time Quebec howls, Alberta growls. Western separation is always lightly simmering, waiting to rear its ugly head when controversy with Ottawa erupts. Should things not go Alberta’s way (and there are more storm clouds on the horizon), do not be surprised if an Alberta Block Party is formed.

Apart from those who dangle Canada dangerously to the capricious democratic processes, who is really defending Canada and her right to survive?

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Tags: canadian democracy, canadian sovereignty, jean charest, Quebec seeparatists, stephen harper

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 11th, 2009 at 11:48 pm and is filed under Federal Government. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.