A veteran‘s opinion

[bossi]

This is not the country I fought for

The Ottawa Citizen
Thursday, March 04, 2004

Burt Harper says patriotism and love of country have been engrained in him since childhood, but the corruption of government institutions in recent years has left him feeling betrayed.
CREDIT: Rod MacIvor, The Ottawa Citizen


I have taken down the Canadian flag from my house where it had flown for many years. The federal sponsorship scandal was the last straw.

As did many thousands of Canadians, I have had the privilege of offering my life and well-being to this country during the Second World War, as had my father in the First World War. For most Canadians of those generations, therefore, pride in country and in our flag has a natural growth from childhood.

The depth of our citizens‘ patriotism has been tested over the years by certain social and political events (including a replacement flag), and left us bruised but still united. However, the series of scandals in government coming to light over the last few years reflect dishonour and leads to the ultimate test, the current imbroglio involving the sponsorship shame.

The arrogance of our elected leaders over this period and into the present, along with the deceit, untruths, denial of responsibility or knowledge and blame of subordinates is, to use a currently politically popular word, "unacceptable." It is the hallmark of institutional corruption.

The scene grows darker with the realization that, according to the latest polls, more than one-third of Canadians apparently still accept this abuse of power and support the abusers. This is not the sort of country for which past sacrifices were made.

A country‘s flag is its identification, and should call forth pride and trust. Patriotic love of our country embraces many things, including its past, remembering that the boundaries of this land of immeasurable riches became ours only through the toil, struggles, sacrifice and suffering of multitudes of people. This patriotism reinforces our belief in the role of democratic institutions, and the need for trust in fair and truthful governance.

When I remember this country‘s past, but see the present and reflect on the probable future, my disillusionment and sense of betrayal may be understandable. For me to continue to fly that flag would be a hollow pretense.

In 1993 another political party in power also abused its mandate terribly. The voters (myself included) combined to administer the most emphatic political defeats in Canadian history. Can we not learn from that?

Burt Harper,
Nepean

 

[muskrat89]

Since I‘ve been old enough to follow politics, and I‘m sure long before that, our politicians and most political systems have been a joke. Canadians seem to keep sucking it up. Even on a provincial level, patronage and scandals seem to be the way. Often when reading this stuff, I would think I was reading of some "banana republic" if not for the fact that I was born and raised there. It‘s an absolute shame.

 

[bubba]

i read this fourm alot,i my self feel the same about are political system as do others.it is corrupt and does not represent the comman canadian citizan.alot of politicians are lawyers,big buisness types,etc.but my question is how can we,the common people ie blue caller,soldiers etc,turn are political system around??? i know alot of guys are sayin wtf, but really how long can this type of bs keep goin on before somthing or someone snaps.im looking for real answers not stupid little comments.

 

[KenRob]

I think that what we need is a system that allows the people of this country to hold our politicians accountable for thier blunders IMMEDIATELY. Not wait until the next election.

If the "sponsorship scandal" had happened in some private sector company, people would have been fired the very day that it all came to light. This is what I think our Govt. needs. Some kind of mechanism that holds politicians immediately responsible for their actions.

Another big problem is voter apathy. Out of the people who showed up at the last election (one of the smallest number of voters in recent history), many of them now look at the mess our Govt. is in and say "Oh well, what can I do?" People need to make their voices heard. Write, E-mail, phone, do whatever it takes to get your Govt. representitive to realize that you, his BOSS, are keeping an eye on him.

They work for us, not the other way around. We are the employERS and they, the elected officials, the employEES.

A Govt. needs to be run like a company. Run like someone actually wants to see it succeed, and run it like it‘s accountable to it‘s stock holders.

I don‘t remember who said it, but I think truer words were never spoken on the topic of people and Government: "You get the Government you deserve".

 

[The_Falcon]

Good question bubba, one would hope for that it stops and soon but........

 

[Infanteer]

A Govt. needs to be run like a company

No so. A government is a guardian institution. To subordinate it to the rules of the capitalist market is to invite disaster. Check out Jane Jacobs‘ "Systems of Survival" for a good read on the concept. There is no way to equate services delivered to overall profit margin (ie. look at the state of the military).

It doesn‘t mean that our guardian institutions should not be held accountable for their actions though.

 

[KenRob]

Originally posted by Infanteer:
[qb]

A Govt. needs to be run like a company

No so. A government is a guardian institution. To subordinate it to the rules of the capitalist market is to invite disaster.

It doesn‘t mean that our guardian institutions should not be held accountable for their actions though. [/qb]

Very true. I guess I misspoke myself a little bit. What I mean is that through our taxes we give the government the money to do the things they are mandated to do. They have the responsibility to spend that money wisely. Anyone remember the $90 hammers?