November 2001
by Barry Stagg
It seems that if Canadians follow the lead of the Liberal Government and the slippery antics of Prime Minister Chretien then shopping, hiding and giving comfort to the enemy will be foremost on our minds. However, that seems highly unlikely. Most Canadians with any common sense at all look upon the mass murders in New York and Washington as just that. They were homicidal atrocities carried out by religious fundamentalists who think nothing of killing others to advance their religious tyranny. Most Canadians will take the position that if extremists regard killing in the name of God as normal, then the only proper Canadian response is to expeditiously arrange to kill the terrorists. That may be a wrong assumption and without doubt members of the overcivilized chattering classes will disagree but most others will agree with a vengeance.
For Newfoundland, this means renewal of its importance as a strategic military post in the defence of this continent. Fortress Newfoundland fought long, hard and well in the Second World War as the ship convoys carrying vital equipment fought their way across the North Atlantic from Fortress North America to the beleaguered but ultimately triumphant allied forces stationed in Britain.
Newfoundland's contemporary importance to the rest of North America was never more apparent than on September 11 when scores of international flights were diverted to the airports at St. John's, Gander, Stephenville and Goose Bay. Those same airports, all former military bases, as well as magnificent St. John's Harbour must become staging areas for the protection of the northeast sector of the North American continent. If our Liberal Government, which seems dedicated to representing shoppers and illegal refugees in priority to anyone else, cannot muster the courage to implement this sort of strategy then the government should be changed. The only way that can be accomplished in our democracy is for people of virtue and political courage to come together behind a united opposition party that will promote pragmatic security measures for this country to go along with a stable and substantive economy.
Let us cast aside the nonsense of the virtual economy and the empty balloons of investment profit that seem to impress so many of the Liberal party, not least of all Newfoundland's cabinet representative and would be leader, Brian Tobin. These baubles waved in front of impressionable Liberals seem to divert them from the real task of both protecting and governing our country. If the shoppers of Canada think that their cash register receipts and stock certificate slips will protect them against terrorists, then they are fools. They are doubly fools if they depend on the likes of Jean Chretien and his opportunistic pacifists to lead them.
Sometimes it seems that an ethos of war profiteering has stuck with the Liberals. Remember, it was the oily and elusive Mackenzie King who was prime minister of Canada in the Second World War. King deserves political infamy for his statement about military conscription which goes as follows: "Conscription if necessary but not necessarily conscription". That totem to indecision provided a slippery template that was ably adopted by such war bystanders as Pierre Trudeau. The whole concept of standing idly by, exuding condescension and tacitly supporting a refusal to fight evil seems a product of Liberal politics going right back to the last war. While loyal Canadians fought and died in Europe, King's policies of appeasement to Quebec produced the ' Zombie' soldiers who were in the army but restricted to home defense.
There is an old and otherwise thoroughly forgettable song from the sixties that captures the visual imagery of the Liberal cabinet as it crafts its response to the terrorist menace. Pink Floyd, rock group and a venerable and very profitable British import to America put together this tune titled: "Several Small Furry Animals Gathered In A Cave". The image is irresistible with your choice of animal left to the imagination. Weasels come to mind except that these little creatures seem too aggressive for the role. Perhaps poodles fit the bill.
Maybe it is a policy of condescending pacifism that explains how Chretien marginalizes his only sensible and forthright cabinet minister, John Manley and sends Sheila Copps and Brian Tobin to buy the Juno Awards for St John's instead of sending a few navy ships to guard the coast. The Liberals seem to be running a shopping mall instead of running a country called Canada.