Old (Liberal) Habits Die Hard
The constant-governing Liberal party in Canada has designed the courting of special voting blocks to an art. A black art, but an art, nevertheless. For in courting the ethnic vote as assiduously as they have, they have assured themselves of block loyalty come voting time. So Liberal members of Parliament are happy to receive invitations to be present at parochial ethnic events, to guest-speak, and to whisper favours when the time is right.
One hand washes the other, goes the old saying. And when the Liberals ascend to power as they so tryingly-often do - the opportunities to reward their faithful voting blocks whom they have groomed so carefully in honour of Canada's multicultural fabric - favours are dispensed. Those favours can come in the form of dispensing hard cash in support of separate social centres, ethnic sport groups, advertising in ethnic media, or lobbying within the House of Commons.
Nice work if you can get it. And they know they can get it if they try. And they do try. Trouble is, this indiscriminate lobbying and cross-lobbying can become somewhat problematical. Apart from the fact that it is crassly questionable in a purely moral sense. The practise runs counter to the very premise of a fairly homogeneous society sharing values of general acceptance by the entire population. It is a ethical travesty of shabby politics.
In catering to single blocks of ethnic representations who invariably have their own interests uppermost in mind, not that of the country as a whole, the Liberals are also behaving against the civil interest in encouraging divisiveness. In the case of the Tamil Tigers admittedly, divisiveness of a very dangerous nature abroad. Canada's enlightened welcome to newcomers is predicated on the notion that our values and priorities will be embraced.
Certainly that old enmities will be left behind in the countries of origin. Although Canada looks for cohesion in its population - and a degree of assimilation, at least as it pertains to shared values and respect for the law, and a willingness to embrace equality for all - it also encourages immigrants to retain aspects of their original traditions, culture, history. It too often appears to immigrants perhaps, that bringing their enmities with them is condoned.
Little wonder, given the approvingly complicit behaviour of Liberal parliamentarians.
Where the Liberals have veered from neutrality in equal respect and support of all Canadian citizens, to court potential ethnic voting blocks, they have handily left their moral compass in abeyance. Offering political, social and personal assistance to groups who represent violent separatist ideologies abroad while themselves being stationed in Canada, and raising 'charitable' funds within the country in support of the violence elsewhere is damning.
Previous Liberal prime ministers Jean Chretien and Paul Martin both claimed not to have knowledge of the violent terrorist actions of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, while they regularly appeared at events staged by Canadians of Tamil derivation. Wink-winkily encouraging the enterprise of violent separatists in another country, while struggling to ensure their own country remained undivided.
The latest event staged by the Tamil Tigers in Toronto was a commemorative ceremony in honour of recently-dispatched guerrilla leader Brigadier S.P. Thamilselvan of the LTTE. It was attended by a handful of local Toronto-area Liberal members of Parliament, two of whom were obligingly happy to stand forward and deliver an address to their appreciative audience. As though they were unaware that the Tamil Tigers are on the official Canadian terror list.
Canada's SCIS-linked Integrated Threat Assessment Centre has issued a report detailing the incidents of beatings, death threats and smear campaigns against Canadians of Sri Lankan and Tamil descent who refuse to support the activities of the Tamil Tigers. While Liberals have been courting supporters of the Tamil Tigers, they have failed the needs of other Canadians whom the Tigers target for intimidation.
Struggles for independence within countries which host opposing demographics; a geographically dense minority population vigorously espousing for its independence from the majority can be viewed as legitimate anywhere, as long as the struggle is a legal one, sanctioned by reasonable means, not by resorting to murder and mayhem. Sri Lanka's Tamil minority is Hindu; the majority population Buddhist Sinhalese.
The Tamil Tigers have proven their terrorist credentials in every conceivable way through their tactics in abducting thousands of children to train as foot soldiers. In assassinating government representatives in Sri Lanka and India, and through their "Black Tiger" suicide squads. It is the Tamil Tigers who hold the distinction of having authored the concept of the suicide bomber, now so prevalent throughout the Middle East.
The Liberals steadfastly ignored calls to place the Tamil Tigers on Canada's list of outlawed terrorist groups, preferring to turn a blind eye to their violent extremism, and to continue courting the Tamil vote through ethno-politics. It took a succeeding Conservative government to give full recognition to the Tamil Tigers as an appalling terrorist group of highly-murderous distinction.
As though Canada doesn't have its own problems with terrorism. Last summer police arrested a number of young adults implicated in a terrorist plot to visit fundamentalist Islamic jihad within this country by disaffected Islamic youth. The Air India bombing by a radical Sikh group located in Vancouver gifted Canada with its very own terrorist tragedy. We don't seem to take these threats to our national security, or to our responsibility as one nation among many, to be serious enough about fighting terrorism.
The mastermind of the Air India bombing was recently the subject of a religious commemorative service in a local Surrey, B.C.-area mosque. Worshippers at the mosque consider this man to be a shaheed, a saint to their cause because he was killed while in police custody in India.
Other members of the terror group he initiated, the Babbar Khalsa, banned in Canada, were in attendance at the ceremony, along with a man - unaccountably, for lack of sufficient evidence - acquitted for responsibility in the bombing, Ripudaman Singh Malik.
There were 329 Canadians - men, women and children - who were sacrificed to the demon of religious enmity born in India and transferred to Canada through immigration. We do not need the importation of slanderous and ultimately murderous activities to destroy peace and security in Canada.
Nor do we need to observe the nasty spectre of our elected legislators hastening to give excuses for such violations, and by their flagrant acts of courting the vote, undermining our democratic freedoms and societal imperatives for moderation and acceptance.
One hand washes the other, goes the old saying. And when the Liberals ascend to power as they so tryingly-often do - the opportunities to reward their faithful voting blocks whom they have groomed so carefully in honour of Canada's multicultural fabric - favours are dispensed. Those favours can come in the form of dispensing hard cash in support of separate social centres, ethnic sport groups, advertising in ethnic media, or lobbying within the House of Commons.
Nice work if you can get it. And they know they can get it if they try. And they do try. Trouble is, this indiscriminate lobbying and cross-lobbying can become somewhat problematical. Apart from the fact that it is crassly questionable in a purely moral sense. The practise runs counter to the very premise of a fairly homogeneous society sharing values of general acceptance by the entire population. It is a ethical travesty of shabby politics.
In catering to single blocks of ethnic representations who invariably have their own interests uppermost in mind, not that of the country as a whole, the Liberals are also behaving against the civil interest in encouraging divisiveness. In the case of the Tamil Tigers admittedly, divisiveness of a very dangerous nature abroad. Canada's enlightened welcome to newcomers is predicated on the notion that our values and priorities will be embraced.
Certainly that old enmities will be left behind in the countries of origin. Although Canada looks for cohesion in its population - and a degree of assimilation, at least as it pertains to shared values and respect for the law, and a willingness to embrace equality for all - it also encourages immigrants to retain aspects of their original traditions, culture, history. It too often appears to immigrants perhaps, that bringing their enmities with them is condoned.
Little wonder, given the approvingly complicit behaviour of Liberal parliamentarians.
Where the Liberals have veered from neutrality in equal respect and support of all Canadian citizens, to court potential ethnic voting blocks, they have handily left their moral compass in abeyance. Offering political, social and personal assistance to groups who represent violent separatist ideologies abroad while themselves being stationed in Canada, and raising 'charitable' funds within the country in support of the violence elsewhere is damning.
Previous Liberal prime ministers Jean Chretien and Paul Martin both claimed not to have knowledge of the violent terrorist actions of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, while they regularly appeared at events staged by Canadians of Tamil derivation. Wink-winkily encouraging the enterprise of violent separatists in another country, while struggling to ensure their own country remained undivided.
The latest event staged by the Tamil Tigers in Toronto was a commemorative ceremony in honour of recently-dispatched guerrilla leader Brigadier S.P. Thamilselvan of the LTTE. It was attended by a handful of local Toronto-area Liberal members of Parliament, two of whom were obligingly happy to stand forward and deliver an address to their appreciative audience. As though they were unaware that the Tamil Tigers are on the official Canadian terror list.
Canada's SCIS-linked Integrated Threat Assessment Centre has issued a report detailing the incidents of beatings, death threats and smear campaigns against Canadians of Sri Lankan and Tamil descent who refuse to support the activities of the Tamil Tigers. While Liberals have been courting supporters of the Tamil Tigers, they have failed the needs of other Canadians whom the Tigers target for intimidation.
Struggles for independence within countries which host opposing demographics; a geographically dense minority population vigorously espousing for its independence from the majority can be viewed as legitimate anywhere, as long as the struggle is a legal one, sanctioned by reasonable means, not by resorting to murder and mayhem. Sri Lanka's Tamil minority is Hindu; the majority population Buddhist Sinhalese.
The Tamil Tigers have proven their terrorist credentials in every conceivable way through their tactics in abducting thousands of children to train as foot soldiers. In assassinating government representatives in Sri Lanka and India, and through their "Black Tiger" suicide squads. It is the Tamil Tigers who hold the distinction of having authored the concept of the suicide bomber, now so prevalent throughout the Middle East.
The Liberals steadfastly ignored calls to place the Tamil Tigers on Canada's list of outlawed terrorist groups, preferring to turn a blind eye to their violent extremism, and to continue courting the Tamil vote through ethno-politics. It took a succeeding Conservative government to give full recognition to the Tamil Tigers as an appalling terrorist group of highly-murderous distinction.
As though Canada doesn't have its own problems with terrorism. Last summer police arrested a number of young adults implicated in a terrorist plot to visit fundamentalist Islamic jihad within this country by disaffected Islamic youth. The Air India bombing by a radical Sikh group located in Vancouver gifted Canada with its very own terrorist tragedy. We don't seem to take these threats to our national security, or to our responsibility as one nation among many, to be serious enough about fighting terrorism.
The mastermind of the Air India bombing was recently the subject of a religious commemorative service in a local Surrey, B.C.-area mosque. Worshippers at the mosque consider this man to be a shaheed, a saint to their cause because he was killed while in police custody in India.
Other members of the terror group he initiated, the Babbar Khalsa, banned in Canada, were in attendance at the ceremony, along with a man - unaccountably, for lack of sufficient evidence - acquitted for responsibility in the bombing, Ripudaman Singh Malik.
There were 329 Canadians - men, women and children - who were sacrificed to the demon of religious enmity born in India and transferred to Canada through immigration. We do not need the importation of slanderous and ultimately murderous activities to destroy peace and security in Canada.
Nor do we need to observe the nasty spectre of our elected legislators hastening to give excuses for such violations, and by their flagrant acts of courting the vote, undermining our democratic freedoms and societal imperatives for moderation and acceptance.
posted by Pieface | 5:06 PM
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