The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
There are many stories that are whipped to death by the national media, causing overburdened readers to cringe and eventually stop paying any attention. Think of the Mulroney-Schreiber affair that is still going on with an expensive inquiry yet to come, and for what? ItÕs all based on claims by a convicted German criminal to stave off deportation. The issue is kept alive by the Liberals, who hope to make political gains. None of the allegations are proven and not even the public inquiry may reveal the truth, but it could sully the reputation of many people ÐÊand you and I are paying for it! Another happening is the Omar Khadr affair. Arab and Muslim organizations, along with Liberals like Bob Rae, have been demanding Prime Minster Stephen Harper intervene and ask the Americans to send Khadr home for trial and Canadian-style punishment. Khadr is a being held prisoner at Guantanamo Bay. He was shot and captured by the Americans in an Afghanistan firefight six years ago, accused of killing an American medic. Of course his lawyers claim he is innocent and have been doing everything possible to whip up support for this poor young man, who took insurgency training and joined the Taliban at 16. They claim he was manipulated by his terrorist father and as a Canadian should be sent home for trial. The Harper government does not agree and neither did the previous Liberal administration. Harper is following a policy of not asking for those accused or convicted of murder to be returned to Canada. Some Muslim-Canadian leaders have accused Harper of racism, but opinion polls of Canadians show a solid majority support the prime minister on this issue, which should really not be an issue at all. Information released about the Khadr family makes one wonder why they were allowed into Canada. The father was a friend of Osama Bin Laden, became an insurgent fighter, and was killed fighting with terrorists. The oldest son was severely wounded and allowed to return to Canada. Others, except one boy, were terrorist supporters, including the mother, who publicly praised the terrorists of 9/11. One boy claimed to be a CIA informant. A reader asked The Corner why this family was not deported, and said that Omar should certainly be dealt with by the Americans. One would think that citizenship should certainly require responsibility, as it did in the past when tens of thousands of English, Irish, Ukrainians, Slovaks and Germans immigrated to Canada and declared their loyalty to the country. These immigrants fought in wars for Canada and helped make the country a Western democracy. Is it that lax immigration policies by previous governments have allowed some citizens to hold Canadian passports but live back in their native land and not support Canadian ideals and policies? Some would say ÒEnough already!Ó What about the Winnipeg Free PressÕs so-called contest to vote for the greatest Manitoban in history? People were allowed to vote every day for as many of the candidates as they like. Of course groups have organized themselves around the candidates to get their favourite elected, just as they did when the CBC ran its Greatest Canadian contest, which selected late New Democrat Tommy Douglas. As Sid Green wrote: ÒSince I am a Douglas fan, the designation doesnÕt bother me, but if I were a Liberal, I would no doubt feel that the achievements cannot really compare with those of Mackenzie King . . . (And) Sir John A. MacDonald was the father of Confederation and this achievement would be considered to have dwarfed anything that Tommy Douglas accomplished.Ó Green went on to point out that there is nothing objective about these selections for public honours. There will be a winner of the Greatest Manitoban contest even though itÕs an honour that will not really be deserved, as there is no way such a designation can be made. However, the family and friends of such a hero will have a good excuse for a party. Enough already! RogerÕs Right Corner runs Wednesdays.
