Friday, June 30, 2006
Pity the American Canadian
Poor Margaret Wente. Her American ancestory [her family left the U.S. after the War of 1812], female gender and German name give her a lot to be worried about. She's going to end up apologizing and paying reparations to herself for all the immigrant wrongs of her ancestors!
"Canada has honed the arithmetic of grievance to the second decimal point. We are, as Joe Clark said, a community of communities, each with its own set of gripes. Even as Stephen Harper prepared his apologies for the Chinese head tax, members of the Sikh community were demanding redress for the harsh treatment of their great-grandfathers aboard the Komagata Maru. That's the ship that was forced back to India after trying to land in Vancouver in 1914. "We want a clear and unequivocal apology from the government of Canada," said B.C. politician Raj Chouhan. "We have an apology for the Chinese head tax. We have an apology for Japanese internment. Why not an apology for the Komagata Maru?" . . .
The [Canadian] government has a pot of money for a program called Acknowledgment, Commemoration and Education. Victim groups are swarming to this pot as bees to nectar. According to government records released to the Winnipeg Free Press, Ukrainians want $12.5-million for their internment during the First World War. The Germans want $12.5-million, too. The Italians want $12.5-million for the internment of 700 men during the Second World War. The Sikhs want $4-million, the Croats $2.8-million, and the Jews $2-million for being barred from immigrating to Canada between 1923 and 1945. African Canadians and Doukhobors want another $7-million for unspecified grievances.
What happens when identity lobbyists are allowed to rewrite history? Take a guess. Some of those interned Italians, for example, were no doubt treated unjustly. But plenty of them were loyal fascists with a fierce allegiance to the Axis cause. "With a backroom accord, the government and community associations are -- unwittingly, I hope -- trying to treat a group of fascists as innocent bystanders," wrote Angelo Principe, a former University of Toronto professor who is an expert on the history of the internees."
Read the whole piece at Canada's community of victims
"Canada has honed the arithmetic of grievance to the second decimal point. We are, as Joe Clark said, a community of communities, each with its own set of gripes. Even as Stephen Harper prepared his apologies for the Chinese head tax, members of the Sikh community were demanding redress for the harsh treatment of their great-grandfathers aboard the Komagata Maru. That's the ship that was forced back to India after trying to land in Vancouver in 1914. "We want a clear and unequivocal apology from the government of Canada," said B.C. politician Raj Chouhan. "We have an apology for the Chinese head tax. We have an apology for Japanese internment. Why not an apology for the Komagata Maru?" . . .
The [Canadian] government has a pot of money for a program called Acknowledgment, Commemoration and Education. Victim groups are swarming to this pot as bees to nectar. According to government records released to the Winnipeg Free Press, Ukrainians want $12.5-million for their internment during the First World War. The Germans want $12.5-million, too. The Italians want $12.5-million for the internment of 700 men during the Second World War. The Sikhs want $4-million, the Croats $2.8-million, and the Jews $2-million for being barred from immigrating to Canada between 1923 and 1945. African Canadians and Doukhobors want another $7-million for unspecified grievances.
What happens when identity lobbyists are allowed to rewrite history? Take a guess. Some of those interned Italians, for example, were no doubt treated unjustly. But plenty of them were loyal fascists with a fierce allegiance to the Axis cause. "With a backroom accord, the government and community associations are -- unwittingly, I hope -- trying to treat a group of fascists as innocent bystanders," wrote Angelo Principe, a former University of Toronto professor who is an expert on the history of the internees."
Read the whole piece at Canada's community of victims
# posted by Norma : 6/30/2006 02:37:00 PM
