Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Deconstructing institutions

Since the '60s, Liberals have been deconstructing the foundations of Canada. Maybe it started with the flag. The new flag represents nothing -- not our history, not our heritage, not our founding nations -- it's a Liberal fabrication.

They deconstructed marriage through no fault divorce and by giving parity to common law unions. Traditional single-income families are penalized through an unfair taxation system. Further assaults on the family are greeted with a shrug and a demands that politicians stick to the 'important' issues.

They tossed the BNA Act and created a constitution, which since its inception, has brought this country to the brink of destruction on more than one occasion. Our Constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms are divisive and so open to judicial interpretation that the lawmakers of our country defer to the courts before legislating -- and our judges, appointed by the PMO -- wield more power than an elite, unaccountable segment of society should.

Of late, the position of Governor General has been granted to people of celebrity, rather than substance. The office, though it holds some real and significant powers, is considered by most to be a 'figure-head' position, where substance and qualifications are unnecessary. Maybe that's why the selection of Michaelle Jean, though causing some ripples, will fail to make real waves. She'll take the post, feign loyalty to crown and country, and her separatist past(?) will be forgotten as she continues to draw a government paycheque.

The Liberals make a mockery of our heritage. Once no one takes our institutions seriously anyway, deconstructing them altogether will be that much easier. For years there have been calls to do away with the Governor General -- when the job is already considered irrelevant by many, these calls might have more traction as the role is filled by a self-proclaimed separatist -- better the role eradicated than open to ridicule.

The less respect we have for our traditions, the less likely it is we will complain -- or even notice, when our traditions pass away. That's why the Liberals attack our heritage from within.

canadianna

Monday, August 15, 2005

The unimportant lockout

CBC employees have been locked out. Maybe I should care; I know there are some communities that depend on our national broadcaster for their news and other programming -- but I don't care.

The employees want us to believe that because the CBC is 'special', its needs as a broadcaster are different from other networks. The only thing 'special' about it is that their funding comes from us and they are not accountable to us.

Our other national broadcasters, CanWest Global and CTV, have to concern themselves with the opinions of their viewers. Advertising dollars keep them in business, and advertisers respond to the public. The difference between CBC and the other networks is that our state broadcaster doesn't depend on advertising revenue.
TVO & PBS are examples of public broadcasters, obligated to their viewers because their viewers are also their patrons. These stations receive tax dollars, but that funding is augmented by donations from those who enjoy what they air. Their funding is tied to their ability to raise revenue based on the public response to their programming.

CBC is expensive, and provides little that couldn't be done just as well by a private broadcaster.

The CBC employees should take note of the NHL lockout. The players lost big-time. Why? Because they can be replaced. The people who bankroll the teams (the owners) or the CBC (taxpayers) will always be more important to the equation than the workers, even as a group.

We can do without the CBC. There are other networks where we can watch bad Canadian shows, repeats of original comedies, children's television and even sports.
Now that the NHL lockout is over, I would hope we don't lose Saturday night hockey to this dispute, but if we did . . . we're already used to it, so who would care?