Oh! Not My Canada

Musings of an old immigrant

Canada is one of the most diverse societies on earth. It is almost as big as Russia and has been a continuous democracy for 155 years. It is blessed with resources of all kinds, including oil and plenty of fresh water. It should be a kind of paradise. But we have always had mediocre governments. One of our (underrated) authors, Mordechai Richler, described it thus: Canada is an obscenely rich country run by idiots. No wonder the elites have never liked him. We’re also world champions at apologizing. It began with a first reading the British North America Act to the UK Parliament by the then Colonial Secretary, who apologized that it took so much time and was in any event a founding document full of ‘defects’. The Canadian Founding Fathers sat in the Gallery, dumbfounded by the evident disinterest in the new nation. Read the full, bizarre story of how Canada began its Nationhood here:

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/this-measure-has-not-excited-much-interest-the-brits-who-created-canada-150-years-ago-were-bored-out-of-their-minds

Having got that bit of history out of the way, let me assure you that I never shared the boredom of Canada’s colonial overlords. Quite the contrary: the day I arrived in Canada, July 10, 1953, was one of the best of my life. I fell in love with Canada on the spot, an instant, fervent New Canadian who would tell anyone that immigrating to Canada, leaving behind the devastated country of my birth, Germany, was the smartest thing my mother ever did. The train ride from Quebec City, where we first landed, to Calgary, was immensely exciting. This was such a huge empty country! Beautiful, wild, dotted here and there with friendly, helpful people. We felt lucky though we spoke maybe 51 words of English and had $5 between us.

Arrival in Calgary, 1953. Monika on the left with her mother, Margret Finscher.

I had no cause to change my mind for the next sixty years or so. Canada kept its promise of ‘peace, order and good government’. It had a few ‘defects' but they were not serious enough to undermine my basic pro-Canada outlook. I was never tempted to migrate back to Germany, where I spent a good deal of time, traveling, visiting my relatives and even teaching English. I thought we were more liberal, less racist, though clearly not as rich as the Germans. Also, we did not carry the dreadful burden of the Nazi past. I for one refused to shoulder it and being Canadian made it easier.

All of that changed during the last two years. We went from mediocre to quasi authoritarian government as my usual freedoms were lost or curtailed. I have lost my democratic right to determine what goes into my body. I cannot leave the country without endless hassles. My Prime Minister has declared me and others like me as people with unacceptable views, racists, and basically, second class citizens. An Untermensch. Canada’s government is Woke, sanctimonious and not at all shy about passing undemocratic laws, grabbing people like Tamara Lich off the street because she accepted an award honouring her brave fight for Canadians, incarcerating her again. And stealing millions from the Truckers. The oppressive vaccine mandates have not been scrapped, only ‘suspended’. All perfectly ‘legal’.

Today, they are turning what should be a day of celebration into a dystopian nightmare of over- the-top ‘security’ on Parliament Hill. Nobody can get near the place without submitting to frisking and having your backpack searched. Fear rules in Ottawa. Meanwhile, our economy is lurching towards a crash, we have runaway inflation and the highest gas prices on earth. It was predictable. Trudeau printed more paper money than we can count, so we shouldn’t be surprised that inflation is eating us alive.

https://www.rebelnews.com/man_arrested_on_parliament_hill_was_it_because_he_is_a_freedom_convoy_supporter?utm_campaign=dm_ottawa1_6_30_22&utm_medium=email&utm_source=therebel

What has happened and continues to happen is a nightmare that even I, a veteran cynic, never imagined. I no longer trust anyone in a position of power. I fear my doctor, who hectors me about Covid every chance he gets though he disdains having a computer in his office. He knows he can get away with being a jerk because I am lucky to have found him at all.

This is a country unraveling. It is an illiberal democracy. It is not friendly. It’s not even safe—just like other democracies, notably the USA, we now have violent unrest in the shape of ‘social justice’ warriors tearing down or defacing public monuments while the guardians of order watch. We even had a deadly bank holdup in Victoria last week, where people got shot and died. Unheard of in the past. We are permanently frightened of the future. I am quite frightened of my government. They are determined to keep hounding us with illiberal mandates and glitchy apps because ‘the pandemic isn’t over’. For them, it will never be over because it’s such a great way to gain and keep power. Both Trudeau and his second in command, the odious Chrystia Freeland, are products of Klaus Schwab’s little school for dictators. These people have plans for us.

Alas, there is no other country I could flee towards and there is no other planet, either. Stuck in this new, dystopian Canada, I find little to celebrate on this Canada Day. Except for the Truckers. They and their millions of brave followers are the last best hope for repairing and reviving our dying democracy. I salute them and hope that by next year, we will be able to celebrate Canada Day, again