The Lucknow Sentinel, 2015-12-16, Page 44 Lucknow Sentinel • Wednesday, December 16, 2015
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Den Tandt: Go ahead and cringe
As a catalyst for
grumpiness, he's off
the charts.
As though it weren't
enough Prime Minister Jus-
tin Trudeau spent most of
the past month being
lauded by presidents, prime
ministers and the occa-
sional hereditary monarch,
he must now add insult to
injury by getting himself
held up by The New York
Times as an example to the
world on Syrian refugees.
He must be featured in a
fawning Vogue magazine
article that both deploys the
dreaded Camelot reference
and features sumptuous
photographs of the beauti-
ful, famous, wealthy, young
and now powerful
Trudeaus looking as though
they're very fond of one
another. Can anything be
more galling?
In the Stephen Harper era
we had khaki vests, reced-
ing hairlines and bulges
where there should be
none, as well as a world-
view that filtered all reality
through the eyes of an
annoyed accountant. We
were used to that. But now,
this ... effusia. It's a lot. It's
an as -yet un -deployed
argument for proportional
representation, that it could
mitigate whiplash -inducing
revolutions in personal
style among the political
class. Let svelte Tories
henceforth wear silk
scarves over tuxedos to
CBC galas while Liberals
are lumpy and wear plaid.
Can it be so hard?
But we digress. Let's look
more closely at where we
but Justin Trudeau can't be waved aside
Column
Michael Den Tandt
stand, six weeks in.
It's quite fair to say the
Trudeau government is
highly aspirational - even
perilously so. This is, as the
slogan says, a real change.
Jean Chretien took office in
1993 with an implicit prom-
ise to stay out of our faces,
as Brian Mulroney had
never managed to do.
Harper borrowed a leaf
from Chretien's book.
Hence the incrementalism
to which Canadians had
grown quietly, if glumly,
accustomed.
Trudeau has upended
that apple cart, and in so
doing is daring the risk of
failure on multiple fronts.
His first act was to put in
place a cabinet dominated
by talented, politically
untested newcomers and
set them free. Since then
potentially transformative
events have followed thick
and fast. The Senate is in
chaos, with century -old
norms of operation sud-
denly up for re-examina-
tion. The new appointments
process, intended to be
non-partisan, could fail
utterly. The first Senate
appointments in the New
Year will be picked over for
even minute traces of pro -
Liberal partisanship, which
will be held up as evidence
of hypocrisy. How the new
Upper House will push
through legislation remains
anyone's guess.
To call the government's
just -renewed commitment
to First Nations sweeping is
an understatement. There's
the inquiry into missing
and murdered aboriginal
women as a starting point.
Long overdue, it is a poten-
tial minefield because of
the truth it will likely lay
bare, which is that the racist
Indian Act itself is a huge
part of the problem. That's
not even getting to redress-
ing the underfunding in
aboriginal education,
ensuring potable water on
reserves and adopting all 94
recommendations of the
Truth and Reconciliation
Commission. Success in
each of these areas will
require a sea change in atti-
tudes as well as very sub-
stantial spending. Then
there are the outstanding
land claims - the settle-
ment of which will cost an
unknown sum, certain to be
in the billions.
The Liberals' democratic
reform agenda — in partic-
ular their vow to abolish the
first -past -the -post electoral
system before the next vote
— is a monumental chal-
lenge all by its lonesome.
It's already clear, from the
tenor of early debate, that it
will be very difficult to jus-
tify pushing this through
without a referendum. Yet,
aren't such potentially frac-
tious national debates just
what these Liberals, on the
campaign trail, promised to
avoid? Here again, the
potential for a teeth -shat-
tering misstep is large.
Set against that, how-
ever, is this: The status
quo in the Senate was bro-
ken — and had been bro-
ken for longer than any-
one can remember. The
status quo in aboriginal
affairs was appalling ineq-
uity and injustice, dating
back 150 years. The status
quo in Canadian democ-
racy, by common agree-
ment since at least the
Pierre Trudeau era, has
been one of steady decay.
Would it be better to just
leave it all alone? Forever?
In broaching major
reforms the Liberals are
inviting the certainty of
some future failures. They
are also opening the door
to debate, which can lead
to eventual compromises
that may result in lasting
improvements, whereas
until recently there was
little hope of any, on mul-
tiple fronts.
No one in Canada, six
months ago, contemplated
a Syrian refugee rescue on
the scale being imple-
mented now, missed
deadline or no. Yet it is
happening. That the Prime
Minister was on hand to
greet the first planeload of
arrivals, and that opposi-
tion critics were invited to
attend and did so, can't
easily be waved aside. It
marks a profound change.
From the start of his run
for the Liberal leadership
in 2012, Trudeau said he
would not be a place -
holder. It appears he
meant that. We are in for a
ride.
letters to the editor
Reader: Jesus Christ
Dear Editor,
I was a bit puzzled after read-
ing last week's 'Thoughts on
Things' re: the marketing of the
holiday season.
I read the whole article, and I
was with you, right up to your
last word: the reason for the
is reason for season
season - family.
I think you have confused
Christmas with Family Day,
which, in Ontario, is the third
Monday of February. Family is
the reason for that day; how-
ever, the reason for the Christ-
mas season is our Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ.
The true meaning of Christ-
mas is reflected in Gordon Mor-
rison's beautiful poem, also
included in this issue of the Sen-
tinel, where two boys, inspired
by Love, sacrifice part of their
own Christmas to share with
two boys they don't even know.
The spirit of Christmas has
more to do with the intentions
of the giver, whether to family or
not, than with the gift itself.
Merry Christmas Mr. Patterson!
Jean Hedley
RR 1 Holyrood