Inanely, Insanely Ironic

We've so long congratulated ourselves so warmly on our perspicacious civility as a country. We tend toward moderation. We celebrate our diversity. We appreciate that we live in a plurality of ethnic, religious and ideological/cultural backgrounds. As Canadians, appreciative of the Canadian way of life.

Offering equal opportunities for advancement to all who aspire. All the freedoms are ours, to live independent, useful and attractive lives, if we care to pursue those avenues open to us.

We're not overly assertive, but rather fairly accepting. It's taken quite some while for us to attain that comfort with ourselves, but we've achieved it. We're a malleable, reasonable, population. Fairness dominates the agenda, justice and openness the narrative.

It's the Canadian way. Boring, but steady as she goes. It's why so many refugees seek refuge in the country; that, and the relatively easy accommodation to accepting them. We've become a United Nations of a population, with representative groups of citizenry from around the world.

Our three major political parties are well balanced against each other; or they were until latterly. We've kind of tipped the scale toward the centre-left and the left-left, with the third more centre than right and a fourth bringing up the rear at left-of-left.

Not, dare one mention it, like our great neighbour to the south of us, where there are two major political parties; neither of which could be described as entirely left-leaning. Neither, it would seem, entirely dedicated to the prospect of equalization of society through the advent of universal health services.

Our Conservative party's platform is roughly analogous to that of the U.S. Democrats, the social softies. While we have nothing quite resembling the hard-right ideology of the Republicans. Or so we thought.

Yet here's the Washington-based Democracy Institute believing that the Canadian Conservatives' platform is entirely consonant with that of the American Republicans'. Come again? Surely, they jest.

On the other hand, aren't Canadians themselves being informed, repeatedly, by their left and left-left parties that the Conservative Party of Canada is President George W. Bush's best friend internationally? Well, it's simply not so, and to suggest otherwise is deliberate falsification of reality.

Although, come to think of it, Stephen Harper's years-ago stated yearnings for Canada to be more like the United States does give ammunition to that camp.

Can we believe he has changed, unalterably, become more Canadian in the process of becoming more magisterial and responsible as the premier among Canadian premiers? One would hope so.

Else admit to having been taken in by a falsely-presented persona, and a timid agenda kept that way until success was achieved in garnering a majority government.

A little late for second thoughts, but it's well to recall that former Conservative governments never ever inflicted the harm on Canada's vital social-support programs that Liberal governments did in their arrogant, entitled governance.