Thought I'd paste and post this article from a BC MP. I think it needs our attention.
David Hunt is a very young MP, his website is here: https://votedavidhunt.com
That said, his submissions below both on John A MacDonald and the idea of lifting the Citizenship requirement fo rthe Canadian Armed Forces are very good submissions. Read on:
>
>
> A young Conservative MP candidate for Cloverdale - Langley City named David Hunt wrote the following on the subject of Sir John A.'s statue and the Canadian military:
>
> “Know from whence you came. If you know whence you came, there are absolutely no limitations to where you can go.â€
>
> The Mayor of Victoria would do well to consider these words from the late novelist, James Baldwin, before removing Sir John A. MacDonald's statue from City Hall.
> You've likely seen the story in the news, so let's get straight to it.
>
> The Dominion of Canada would not exist without the poor immigrant boy who would one day become our Father of Confederation. No nation is more indebted to its original leader. Even his fiercest rivals said that Canada could not have been formed without him. According to Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the history of Canada's beginning, from 1844 to 1891, was the story of our founder -- Sir John A. MacDonald.
>
> To judge the man by today's standard is to misjudge him: unjustly taking his life and work out of context.
>
> Consider the world in which MacDonald lived. His political career ran parallel to some of history's greatest racial and territorial conflicts.
>
> In 1844, when MacDonald was first elected, racial slavery in the Deep South was near its peak. The infamous Trail of Tears was still in progress; displacing thousands of Indigenous peoples from their land, in a manner unfathomable to British North Americans (i.e. Canadians). Texas was an independent nation. California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah were a part of Mexico. The states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, although dominated by American settlers, were still well within British territory.
>
> Manifest Destiny was in full swing: the American belief that control of the entire North American continent, by any means necessary (no matter how bloody or ruthless), was the United States' "destiny".
>
> In Europe, nations were not merely divided by language and culture. No, in their limited exposure to diverse peoples and cultures, the English and Germans and Italians and French, etc. considered themselves not one European race but many different races. Racism, although evil, was normal.
>
> In Japan, foreigners were outright forbidden. In India, caste prejudice condemned millions to a lifetime of hopeless poverty. In Mexico, Peru, and throughout Central and South America, racism and Indigenous persecution tormented entire people groups in ways unimaginable to 19th century British North Americans.
>
> Brazil, with the worst record of all, had more than ten times the number of African slaves and would hold on to this accursed practice 23 years longer than the United States.
>
> This was the world in which MacDonald lived.
>
> By 1865, the U.S. had crushed half its own states, conquered a considerable portion of Mexico, annexed Texas, opened Japan up to trade and foreign influence by bombarding its ports, won much of the Pacific Northwest through intimidation and the threat of war with British North America, and violently ended slavery by sacrificing a million lives -- in sharp contrast to Canada, where the first and final abolition laws had peaceably been in place 71 years and 31 years, respectively. (Britain, France, and others ended slavery without civil war.)
>
> Although our history is messy and full of humanity's depravity -- as is the history of every nation, people, and culture -- we, and our great Father of Confederation, were far more peaceful, tolerant, and humble than our international peers.
>
>
> British North America -- although rural, rugged, and isolated -- was the freest country in the world at that time, even before Confederation. Neither Brits nor Americans enjoyed the spectrum of political and economic liberties we enjoyed. We were still a long ways from universal suffrage, but we were well ahead of the rest of the world in pursuing and providing opportunity and representation for all Canadians.
>
> So then why was Confederation necessary?
>
> On March 30, 1867, a heavily militarized and unquenchably imperialistic United States purchased Alaska from Russia, taking control of the entire 1,518,800 square-kilometre northwestern tip of the continent.
>
> We were to be next.
>
> The Empire made it clear that, if the U.S. wanted war (which was likely), she had no intention of defending her remaining fragmented and underdeveloped North American colonies.
>
> The situation was dire. Only one man could unite the diverse provinces, and had he failed in his task, it is almost certain Canada would have been absorbed by the United States.
>
> More than any other early Canadian, we have Sir John A. MacDonald to thank for Canada -- and the freedom, order, and good governance that has led to 150 years of peace and prosperity. Was he perfect? Of course not! Is Canada? We, too, still have a long ways to go. But, despite our faults and past wrongs, our nation and founder are worth honouring -- and remembering. But let us remember Sir John A. MacDonald rightly: judging him in context, not from the arrogant and all-too-convenient luxury of hindsight.
> In his own words: "We are a great country, and shall become one of the greatest in the universe if we preserve it. [But] we shall sink into insignificance and adversity if we suffer it to be broken."
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Conservative MP, David Hunt, has also gone after Prime Minister Trudeau in regards to the current state of the Canadian Forces:
>
> The CBC reported on Friday, May 25th: "Canada's military is considering lifting a longstanding citizenship requirement as a way to boost its numbers."
>
> No, Mr. Prime Minister, we do not want mercenaries in our Armed Forces to make up for the lack of recruits.
>
> It is not surprising why young Canadians are not joining the Force.
> When you remove from our beloved national anthem the reference to the 60,849 brave Canadian sons who died and the additional 172,000 sons wounded in the Great War, you tell patriotic Canadians not to enlist.
>
> When you welcome convicted terrorists "home", and give them more respect and attention than you give disabled Canadian veterans, you tell patriotic Canadians not to enlist.
> When you lack the courage to see through a court case and choose instead to award millions of dollars to a terrorist, but tell veterans you cannot afford to fulfill your campaign promise to give them a standard disability and benefits program, you tell patriotic Canadians not to enlist.
>
> When you then appoint a former attorney of this terrorist to be a judge, you insult the 159 dead and 1,859 wounded brave Canadians who fought in Afghanistan to defend us from such militants, and tell patriotic Canadians not to enlist.
>
> When you encourage record numbers of illegal immigrants, you tell patriotic Canadians that you believe our borders are not worth defending -- so don't bother enlisting!
>
> When you "equip" our air force with 30-year-old Australian hand-me-down jets, you tell patriotic Canadians that you believe we are not a serious military -- don't enlist!
>
> And when you, Mr. Prime Minister, claim Canada is "postnational" and has "no core identity", you belittle the true patriot love we sing of, and tell Canadians not to enlist.
>
> No, we do not want to pay foreigners to defend our nation. We want to see pride restored in our military.
>
> If we need more recruits -- which we do -- how about we begin by honouring the current, retired, disabled, and deceased men and women of our Armed Forces.
>
> Let's honour them by equipping them with the very best, paying them a respectable wage, compensating those who face disability, caring for those in retirement (and their families), and remembering those who have fallen.
>
> Our military spending is currently less than half of what we agreed to invest in our Armed Forces as a member of NATO.
>
> Restoring our military budget, restoring respect and honour for our troops, and restoring the timeless principles that made us great, will attract to the Force those who still believe in true patriot love: Those who still believe in Canada.
>
>
>
David Hunt is a very young MP, his website is here: https://votedavidhunt.com
That said, his submissions below both on John A MacDonald and the idea of lifting the Citizenship requirement fo rthe Canadian Armed Forces are very good submissions. Read on:
>
>
> A young Conservative MP candidate for Cloverdale - Langley City named David Hunt wrote the following on the subject of Sir John A.'s statue and the Canadian military:
>
> “Know from whence you came. If you know whence you came, there are absolutely no limitations to where you can go.â€
>
> The Mayor of Victoria would do well to consider these words from the late novelist, James Baldwin, before removing Sir John A. MacDonald's statue from City Hall.
> You've likely seen the story in the news, so let's get straight to it.
>
> The Dominion of Canada would not exist without the poor immigrant boy who would one day become our Father of Confederation. No nation is more indebted to its original leader. Even his fiercest rivals said that Canada could not have been formed without him. According to Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the history of Canada's beginning, from 1844 to 1891, was the story of our founder -- Sir John A. MacDonald.
>
> To judge the man by today's standard is to misjudge him: unjustly taking his life and work out of context.
>
> Consider the world in which MacDonald lived. His political career ran parallel to some of history's greatest racial and territorial conflicts.
>
> In 1844, when MacDonald was first elected, racial slavery in the Deep South was near its peak. The infamous Trail of Tears was still in progress; displacing thousands of Indigenous peoples from their land, in a manner unfathomable to British North Americans (i.e. Canadians). Texas was an independent nation. California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah were a part of Mexico. The states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, although dominated by American settlers, were still well within British territory.
>
> Manifest Destiny was in full swing: the American belief that control of the entire North American continent, by any means necessary (no matter how bloody or ruthless), was the United States' "destiny".
>
> In Europe, nations were not merely divided by language and culture. No, in their limited exposure to diverse peoples and cultures, the English and Germans and Italians and French, etc. considered themselves not one European race but many different races. Racism, although evil, was normal.
>
> In Japan, foreigners were outright forbidden. In India, caste prejudice condemned millions to a lifetime of hopeless poverty. In Mexico, Peru, and throughout Central and South America, racism and Indigenous persecution tormented entire people groups in ways unimaginable to 19th century British North Americans.
>
> Brazil, with the worst record of all, had more than ten times the number of African slaves and would hold on to this accursed practice 23 years longer than the United States.
>
> This was the world in which MacDonald lived.
>
> By 1865, the U.S. had crushed half its own states, conquered a considerable portion of Mexico, annexed Texas, opened Japan up to trade and foreign influence by bombarding its ports, won much of the Pacific Northwest through intimidation and the threat of war with British North America, and violently ended slavery by sacrificing a million lives -- in sharp contrast to Canada, where the first and final abolition laws had peaceably been in place 71 years and 31 years, respectively. (Britain, France, and others ended slavery without civil war.)
>
> Although our history is messy and full of humanity's depravity -- as is the history of every nation, people, and culture -- we, and our great Father of Confederation, were far more peaceful, tolerant, and humble than our international peers.
>
>
> British North America -- although rural, rugged, and isolated -- was the freest country in the world at that time, even before Confederation. Neither Brits nor Americans enjoyed the spectrum of political and economic liberties we enjoyed. We were still a long ways from universal suffrage, but we were well ahead of the rest of the world in pursuing and providing opportunity and representation for all Canadians.
>
> So then why was Confederation necessary?
>
> On March 30, 1867, a heavily militarized and unquenchably imperialistic United States purchased Alaska from Russia, taking control of the entire 1,518,800 square-kilometre northwestern tip of the continent.
>
> We were to be next.
>
> The Empire made it clear that, if the U.S. wanted war (which was likely), she had no intention of defending her remaining fragmented and underdeveloped North American colonies.
>
> The situation was dire. Only one man could unite the diverse provinces, and had he failed in his task, it is almost certain Canada would have been absorbed by the United States.
>
> More than any other early Canadian, we have Sir John A. MacDonald to thank for Canada -- and the freedom, order, and good governance that has led to 150 years of peace and prosperity. Was he perfect? Of course not! Is Canada? We, too, still have a long ways to go. But, despite our faults and past wrongs, our nation and founder are worth honouring -- and remembering. But let us remember Sir John A. MacDonald rightly: judging him in context, not from the arrogant and all-too-convenient luxury of hindsight.
> In his own words: "We are a great country, and shall become one of the greatest in the universe if we preserve it. [But] we shall sink into insignificance and adversity if we suffer it to be broken."
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Conservative MP, David Hunt, has also gone after Prime Minister Trudeau in regards to the current state of the Canadian Forces:
>
> The CBC reported on Friday, May 25th: "Canada's military is considering lifting a longstanding citizenship requirement as a way to boost its numbers."
>
> No, Mr. Prime Minister, we do not want mercenaries in our Armed Forces to make up for the lack of recruits.
>
> It is not surprising why young Canadians are not joining the Force.
> When you remove from our beloved national anthem the reference to the 60,849 brave Canadian sons who died and the additional 172,000 sons wounded in the Great War, you tell patriotic Canadians not to enlist.
>
> When you welcome convicted terrorists "home", and give them more respect and attention than you give disabled Canadian veterans, you tell patriotic Canadians not to enlist.
> When you lack the courage to see through a court case and choose instead to award millions of dollars to a terrorist, but tell veterans you cannot afford to fulfill your campaign promise to give them a standard disability and benefits program, you tell patriotic Canadians not to enlist.
>
> When you then appoint a former attorney of this terrorist to be a judge, you insult the 159 dead and 1,859 wounded brave Canadians who fought in Afghanistan to defend us from such militants, and tell patriotic Canadians not to enlist.
>
> When you encourage record numbers of illegal immigrants, you tell patriotic Canadians that you believe our borders are not worth defending -- so don't bother enlisting!
>
> When you "equip" our air force with 30-year-old Australian hand-me-down jets, you tell patriotic Canadians that you believe we are not a serious military -- don't enlist!
>
> And when you, Mr. Prime Minister, claim Canada is "postnational" and has "no core identity", you belittle the true patriot love we sing of, and tell Canadians not to enlist.
>
> No, we do not want to pay foreigners to defend our nation. We want to see pride restored in our military.
>
> If we need more recruits -- which we do -- how about we begin by honouring the current, retired, disabled, and deceased men and women of our Armed Forces.
>
> Let's honour them by equipping them with the very best, paying them a respectable wage, compensating those who face disability, caring for those in retirement (and their families), and remembering those who have fallen.
>
> Our military spending is currently less than half of what we agreed to invest in our Armed Forces as a member of NATO.
>
> Restoring our military budget, restoring respect and honour for our troops, and restoring the timeless principles that made us great, will attract to the Force those who still believe in true patriot love: Those who still believe in Canada.
>
>
>
Comment