Note: The following is an excerpt from a piece I’ve been working on for a long time about regionalism and separatism in Canada. The rest of the piece hasn’t been coming together, but this section neatly sums up my feelings and I’d rather not let it sit unread in the middle of a chunk of less successful writing. -josh
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Stephen Harper’s greatest crime is stoking the fires of regionalism in this country. Remember that this is the same guy who spent years in the house accusing the Liberals of a Quebec bias. Well you see his true colours now. Stephen Harper is without a doubt to the West what Gilles Duceppe is to Quebec. He’s got the same chip on his shoulder and the same sense of entitlement born of the same victim complex. Those attitudes breed regionalism and regionalism is and always has been the greatest threat to our massive and fragile nation. You may not be a fan of Pierre Trudeau but he had a unique ability to identify this threat and he attacked it wherever he could, most famously in Quebec. He didn’t fight the separatists because they sought independence; but rather because they sought to reward Quebecers for thinking small by embracing isolationism. The Conservatives play the same game; rousing their base while casting the rest of us aside. It’s somewhat ironic, actually; for someone who so gleefully mocks the separatists to be so like them.
Long have I enjoyed your writing style. While admittedly having very little ability myself to argue politics with anyone, your arguments are always clear, thought provoking and often cause me to consult the internet for more detail.
I would like to humbly throw down a gauntlet. Why don’t you write a Canadian politics 101? Sort of a “Hinterland Who’s Who” of the current landscape? Your writing is so readable and accessible and it would be both interesting and super-informative to read your breakdown of “Canadian Politics for Dummies”.
I will happily return the favor with any sexual subject upon which you might like me to expound. You can message me privately at misskittylovett@gmail.com to request the topic(s) of choice.
Thanks for all you do.
Miss Kitty Lovett
http://www.kittylovett.com