O Canadanby Allan CarlsonnThe Trouble With Canada: AnCitizen Speaks Outnby William D. GairdnernToronto: Stoddart PublishingnCompany; 448 pp., $29.95nIf the fuss over Canada’s Meech LakenAccords has you confused, WilliamnGairdner’s The Trouble With Canadanis a fine place to turn to. The book is ansolid personal jeremiad against thenegalitarian evils taking root in Canada,nand the spineless politicians who makenit possible.nGairdner fits the conflict over Quebecninto this broader fabric of warnagainst public order and decency. Hengives thoughtful attention to subjectsnranging from the follies of Canadiannwelfare policy to his government’s corruptionnof sport, always driving back tonthe perils behind the pursuit of equality.nGlobalist dreams by Ottawa’s apparatchiksnalso receive frequent fire asnGairdner indicts the political elitesnstriving to submerge Canadian identityninto an internationalist utopia.nOften in making his case the authorncites familiar American names such asnGilder, Friedman, Murray, and Novak.nThis use of American writers maynexplain-his over-reliance on the phrasen”democratic capitalism,” where thenphrases “republican,” “federal,” andn”market economy” would better describenthe clear intent of his politicalnand economic programs. He draws tonbetter effect on Peter Brimelow’s importantnbook on Canadian affairs. ThenPatriot Game, published in 1986. YetnCitizen Gairdner is strongest when henfollows his own instincts and personalnsources to shape a commonsensicalnresponse to Canada’s grievous problems.nHis chapter “The Silent Destructionnof English Canada” is exemplary.nHere he tackles the knotty matters ofnmulticulturalism, bilingualism, and immigrationnin a disarmingly practicalnway. Behind these three issues, hen36/CHRONICLESnREVIEWSnidentifies a common goal: “to replacenall natural cultures with the idealistic,nartificial, bureaucratic culture of thenState itself” Multiculturalism, he says,nis a calculated political program tondestroy the natural common denominatorsnthat held Canadians together fornthree centuries. Official bilingualism,nmeanwhile, has dismembered thencommon social fabric of the country,nenergized a “language police” to monitornand punish those who violate bilingualnlaws, and effectively made thenFrancophone minority the new governingnelite.nConcerning immigration policy,nGairdner laments that massive changesnin immigration law in 1967 occurrednwithout democratic sanction, changesnthat he says are fundamentally alteringnthe Canadian identity. He details thenappalling abuses to which Canada’sn”point system,” refugee program, andnfamily reunification plan have beennsubjected. For example, he tells the talenof Harbhajan Singh Pandori, who emigratednto Canada in 1970, and over thennext seventeen years brought in 70nfamily members under the “reunification”nproject. Not surprisingly. NewnDelhi, India, has become Canada’snlargest immigration post, while consulatesnhave been closed in Birminghamnand Perth, and cut back in London.nThe question, Gairdner says, “hasnnothing to do with admiring deservingnimmigrants” and “everything to donwith the people’s fear of losing theirnconnection with the familiar.” This isnnot “discrimination,” he says, but rathernthe natural desire to give preferencento the known; in Canada’s case, tonimmigrants from the historic sourcencountnes of Great Britain, Ireland, thenUnited States, Australia, and NewnZealand. As he explains: “The humannfears about continuity, similarity, andncultural comfort are the same for allnpeoples. For everyone affiliates backward,nso to speak, with his own historynand culture, not forward to an unknown,nfaceless, and confusing future.”nIn short, Gairdner refuses to apologizenfor loving the land of his fathers. Ifnnnmore people are needed in Canada, henurges development of “a pro family,ntax-relief-based, ‘made in Canada’ incentivento encourage young Canadiansnto have larger families.” If that fails, hencalls “at least” for the government tonshow the good sense “to attract immigrantsnwho are compatible with ourncore culture in every way possible, andnif not, then at least willing to assimilatento it.”nOn every issue he touches, Gairdnernoffers practical, levelheaded responses,nranging from the defunding of officialnstate feminists to a compelling programnof economic reform. He has particularnaffection for the Swiss system of governance,nand proposes a devolution ofnpower in Canada back to the provincesnand greater use of referenda and initiativesnto break the stranglehold of nationalnpoliticians cast in the Trudeau-nMulroney mold. If it’s not already toonlate, Gairdner’s agenda could just salvagenthe faltering frame of the Canadiannnation-state.nAllan Carlson is president of ThenRockford Institute, and publisher ofnChronicles.nPhonic Boomsnby fames B. GravesnForked Tongue: The Politics ofnBilingual Educationnby Rosalie Pedalino PorternNew York: Basic Books;n285 pp., $22.95nIn Forked Tongue, her important newnpublic policy study-cum-exposenwhose proposals seem as likely to creatennew problems as to solve some oldnones, Rosalie Pedalino Porter doesn’tnget down to root causes. That is, shennowhere notes that when activist judgesncreate new opportunities for turfhungrynbureaucrats the result is similarnto what it is in this case: a scam peddlednunder the studiously falsified label ofnTransitional Bilingual Education.n
January 1975July 26, 2022By The Archive
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