Do I risk being banned again for mentioning that Henry Morgantaler’s father was a Polish Communist Jew?

Not that I have anything against Jews, per se, only the ones that are communist.  For the record, I consider Paul Gottfried the greatest conservative thinker of the 21st century (I know the century is young, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he still holds that title in 92 years).

My point is: where Liberalism can be found, Jewish leadership is (von Mises, Rothbard, Kristol, Marx, etc.); the question is: Why?

Dr Gottfried, if you are out there, why is liberalism dominated by (seemingly “atheist") Jews, whereas you are among the few Jewish conservatives?  I would really like your take on it.

As for abortion in Canada: how are their laws any more liberal than here in America (abortion on demand, pretty much)?  The only more liberal law I can think of is mandatory abortions…

And if you’re an abortionist, you better be either an atheist or a Satanist, but I’m not sure that even Ol’ Nick himself approves of abortion...that’s a lot of souls in Limbo (perhaps) that he doesn’t have a chance to snag here on Earth.  Or it could be the souls of the aborted go straight to Hell and Satan is more than happy to take them…

Canada is a left-wing pinko paradise? Color me surprised. Nothing good has come from that godforsaken frozen hellhole.

Tom,
Another sharp, direct, and to-the-point commentary that should make us all pause and
consider what looms ahead very possibly for the USA, unless we redouble our efforts
and commitment. Thanks Tom.

Just as a matter of information I share the following statement.

A statement on awarding the Order of Canada to Dr. Henry Morgentaler from
Rev. Dr. Ralph Mayan, president of Lutheran Church Canada.

“Awarding the Order of Canada to Dr. Henry Morgentaler whose actions in the
name of health and choice are responsible for the slaughter of more than
100,000 unborn children each year is an insult to Canada and all who respect
the sanctity of life.

It is a sad irony that the Order of Canada was presented to Senator Romeo
D’Allaire for his noble work in preventing the deaths of some 20,000 people
in Rwanda amidst a genocide of more than a million, yet the one whose life’s
work has resulted in deaths of hundreds of thousands of unborn children is
given the same recognition.

We believe all life is a gift from God and as a country our citizens should
recognize and celebrate those whose exemplary efforts reflect the value of
life for Canadians and peoples of the world.”

Dr. Mayan should be careful in voicing his criticism of this award - this sort of “hate speech” could well put him in the cross hairs of some Stalin-inspired Canadian “human rights” commission.

@Fletcher,

Is there no fighting spirit in Canadians or has the battle been lost there before they knew to start fighting?

M. Nucci,

I’m not an evangelical, and I deplore the way evangelical churches in America kowtow to Israel on issues of foreign policy.  But they have been in the forefront (along with the Catholic Church) of the abortion issue here, and I think their relative lack of presence and influence in Canada is a significant factor here.

Mr. Hall, EVERYTHING Western must be destroyed.

Both Catholic and Protestant evangelicals in Canada have been fighting to change the abortion law for decades.  The problem is that Leviathan can fight back with extensive resources.  State-appointed Human Rights Commissions are becoming more aggressive in censoring and punishing Christian communities for practicing “hate speech” when they are only adhering to orthodox religious beliefs on the sanctity of life and the family.  What is truly appalling is that the Canadian Right has not effectively battled the tyranny of these Commissions, just as the GOP has surrendered to the American Left in the culture war.

Grant,

Just out of curiously, what proportion of the Canadian population would you estimate is either Catholic or evangelical Protestant?  My impression is that it’s quite a bit smaller than in the U.S., but that’s only my impression.

Sorry - “curiosity.”

(On that note, has Takimag considered adding an “edit” feature for postings?)

I must say that I am bemused at all the paleocons tut-tutting Canada for being oh so leftist and tyrannical.  Obviously they know nothing about the Yankee roots of Canuckistani leftism.  Canadian leaders are mostly educated at leftist Harvard.  America had abortion, the sexual revolution, feminazism, family, breakdown, Frankfurters, gay libertinism, and racial hiring all before these poisons migrated north.  If the US Right had done its job, maybe Canadians would’ve been spared this trash.  Physician, heal yourself!

To all:

Here is a very good summary of Canadian attempts to silence those who believe in traditional morality:  http://www.remnantnewspaper.com/Archives/archive-2008-0630-vere-free_speech_in_canada.htm

The GOP may have surrendered I will grant you that but the Ron Paul movement has shown that there is at least a solid contingent that is dedicated to carrying on the battle by eithere taking the party from the traitors who run it now or forming a new party of conservatives.

Fletcher:
Last I checked, 12% of Canadians consider themselves evangelical Protestants; the figure is 7% for Catholics.  Only these faith communities are showing signs of growth; the mainline leftist denominations are in decline.  From what I’ve read, the situation in the United States is very similar.

@Fletcher,

I don’t doubt that there are numerous good people in Canada who are fighting to end abortion.  I was referring to the various police state commissions that seem to have been instituted without a fight.  The situation in Canada seems to mirror very closely the one in Eurabia.

To Messrs Nucci and Piatak:
Yup, Ron Paul’s legions are very powerful, even though he didn’t win one primary.
At least in Canada we can still criticize leftists like Pierre Trudeau without getting fired or disciplined.  Try criticizing St Martin Luther King in today’s America without any repercussions.  And Mr Piatak, who is so hard on Canada, didn’t you warn about the US “war against Christmas” some years back?  Show me one Canadian leftist idea which didn’t get started in the revolutionary republic.  Eurabia is already on your doorstep, and you exported it to the world.

Canuckistani:

As I pointed out, I have always liked Canada.  I’ve visited every province except Newfoundland and Saskatchewan, and I’ve been to Yukon Territory as well.  But I can’t imagine even a President Obama giving the Medal of Freedom to an abortionist and Christian-baiter like Henry Morgentaler.

Canuckistani,

Pace, my friend.  I don’t think anyone here is trying to put down Canadian conservatives or the nation generally on account of its recent free-speech horrors.  We’re all in this cultural fight together.

Occupied New France is always a source of amusing characters. On the other hand if I could flee I would rather go to socialist Sweden where a large part of their population protested their governments bid to spy on its citizenry unlike the US where the right has joined the left in thinking all power rests in the hands of the benevolent government which is above the law. Especially according to the Federalist Society which exceeds the commies in evil effects.

I love Ron Paul’s message and he is one of the few sane people in Congress but the Republican party is currently beyond redemption. 

God Bless Thomas Jefferson
“Damn John Jay. Damn everyone that won’t damn John Jay. Damn everyone that won’t put up the lights in the windows and sit up all nights damning John Jay.”

For the record, it wasn’t the government of Canada that awarded Morgentaler.  Gov’ts have no say in this process.  A committee of 10 prominent citizens, who don’t reflect the entire nation, made this horrible decision.  Our PM actually spoke out against this award.
I can imagine Prez Obama handing out medals of freedom to all kinds of leftists.  Can’t you?

Canuckistani:

Yes, I can easily imagine Obama giving the Medal of Freedom to all manner of disgusting leftists, but I can’t imagine even him giving the Medal of Freedom to someone whose principal claim to fame is the killing of thousands of unborn human beings, if only because such a move would likely harm Democrats at the polls.  As much as I have enjoyed my travels in Canada, I fear that the Canadian political class is even worse than its American counterpart.

“I fear that the Canadian political class is even worse than its American counterpart.”
We could go on and on about who is worse, though I wouldn’t push this in light of the fact that the US political class jumped head first into Iraq.  But there’s no denying that the most leftist ideas in Canada have a US root.  My nation always follows yours (except on Iraq, thank God).  The idea of “hate speech” is originally American.  And Canada will never abolish abortion until the US repeals Roe, and I’m not holding my breath.

The Order of Canada is given by the Governor-General, who is indeed part of the Government of Canada

Also, Catholics are over 43% of the population of Canada (in the US, they are only 24%). But, Canada has long had a tradition of leftism and statism.

The Governor-General, who is a figurehead without power, gives out these awards in an official ceremony, but she acts on the recommendations of the 10 member cte.  This has nothing to do with the MPs in the Canadian parliament or the gov’t.  Get your facts straight, Seth.
And so what if 43% of Canadians are Catholic?  Most aren’t conservative.  They are just as leftist as those 24% of Americans. But yes, Canada has had a tradition of leftism for about as long as America has.  Hmmmm…

Sorry dude, you’re flat out wrong. I was born and bred in Canada, ancestors arrived in 1790 (UEL). Not off the boat from Pakistan.

The Governor-General is nominated by the PM, appointed by the Queen. She is totally part of Parliament and the government. Go back to citizenship class!

Also, someone stated that the RC population of Canada is only 7%. Of course they’re not conservative - they’re all frogs or immigrants.

Good grief, Mr. Piatak. Bob and Doug McKenzie have done more harm to the popular image of our Lady of the SNows than the whole Trudeaupian class put together. A couple of beer guzzling slothful hosers have undone all that was magnificent and manly about our fair dominion. The fact that you would use them as a beacon of what Canada was is profoundly embarrassing.

Mr Piatak has written another fine article and I welcome his views - even if I am somewhat baffled over his calling “SCTV” the “most intelligent comedy program ever on television”!!! (I can think of about 45 others that would better fit that description, starting with Sid Caeser, the Honeymooners, Sgt Bilko, Jack Benny, etc. etc. etc.)

And, yes, the US has been one of the villains causing the trouble in that beautiful land Up North.  But I would suggest that the biggest single cause of Canada’s moral problems (and many other countries for that matter) has been the dereliction of duty on the part of the Catholic Church hierarchy.  The liberals, idiots and poofs that comprise a significant number of the Church’s bishops (and the cowardly Popes, alas, who allow them to continue to masquerade as Bishops in good standing) are certainly at the heart of the problem.

Until the Church is healed, until that sleeping giant awakens again, I’m afraid we’re in for far worse things to come.

I just saw a story on a CTV poll of Americans and Canadians on a number of issues.  Here’s what it found as to how frequently Canadians and Americans attend religious services:

* Every week or almost every week: Canada 23 per cent, U.S. 46 per cent
* Once a month: Canada 8 per cent, U.S. 11 per cent
* A couple of times a year: Canada 27 per cent, U.S. 16 per cent
* Never or hardly ever: Canada 42 per cent, U.S. 27 per cent

That is, seven out of ten Canadians rarely or never attend religious services.  Is it any surprise that anti-abortion Canadians seem to be fighting such an uphill battle?

canuckistani has a point about American leftism making its way across the 49th parallel where Canada’s “first past the post” parliamentary system provides fewer checks and balances than what Americans have...for now.

Another example would be immigration. It was only after the 1965 immigration bill in the US that Canada radically changed its immigration policies. Australia then followed suit. The USA is the cultural hegemon of the West, especially the English-speaking countries. Our political activists - left and right - are heavily influenced by events in your country.

I never said Bob and Doug McKenzie were “a beacon of what Canada was.” I said that the Canada of today is a far more sinister place than the one they gently lampooned. 

The story behind why these characters were created is a good one.  SCTV was told by a Canadian bureuacrat that the show, filmed in Canada and featuring mostly Canadian perfomers, was lacking in “Canadian content.” Hence, the McKenzie brothers--a proper response to officious bureaucracy.

But I would suggest that the biggest single cause of Canada’s moral problems (and many other countries for that matter) has been the dereliction of duty on the part of the Catholic Church hierarchy.

Historically, the RC Church has only been dominant in the French speaking province of Quebec and a few pockets elsewhere. Quebec’s conflict with the Anglo majority in Canada has taken precedence over other concerns.

Among English-speaking Catholic European ethnics, such as Italians and Eastern Europeans, group resentment towards Anglo-Canadians and their British heritage placed them firmly in the Liberal Party. Multiculturalism has been sacred to such communities and, judging by their voting patterns, trumps religious conservatism.

For example anti-communist, socially conservative Polish Catholics in Toronto have always been loyal to the pro-abortion, occasionally Soviet-sympathising, Liberal Party! The only explanation is that they saw/see themselves as a minority in opposition to the “WASP establishment”. Needless to say all these ethnic Catholic votes for the left has contributed to left wing drift in Canadian politics.

I probably went a bit too far saying the Libs were “Soviet-sympathising” but Trudeau hardly ever met a communist he didn’t like. He even expressed sympathy for General Jaruzelski in Poland and his response to USSR shooting down a Korean airline was memorable.

I was the blogger who cited the stat that 7% of Canadians were Catholics, but I was specifically referring to evangelical (conservative) Catholics, not the 43% of Canadians who are RC.  Like US Catholics, most of the Canadian Catholics are happy to vote for pro-choice and pro-gay rights parties.  Obama would win hands down in an election in Catholic Quebec.

Seth:  you are woefully uninformed!  PM Harper denounced the Morgentaler award; now, that means he didn’t support it, ok?  The Governor-General is an unelected toady of this cte, and doesn’t represent the gov’t.  Clear?
Fletcher:  church attendance doesn’t mean a damn thing.  Sure, Americans attend church more than Canadians.  So what?  The Obamas and Clintons attend church regularly.  Are we to think that church attendance stops the leftist drift of US politics?

“The Obamas and Clintons attend church regularly.  Are we to think that church attendance stops the leftist drift of US politics?”

No - but judging from the fact that American pastors, unlike their Canadian counterparts, aren’t being hauled up on charges for preaching their churches’ beliefs, I’d say that it at least moderates such a drift.

Fletcher:  are you aware that the IRS investigates churches who allow politicians to use the pulpit for political purposes? In the Clinton era, the IRS went after right-wing politicians in particular--big surprise.  You no longer live in the land of the free.  And you export your statist ideas to other nations, then blame them for being leftist.  Egad!

Canuckistani, even assuming it’s true that most of the leftist ideas we’re talking about came to Canada from the U.S., (1) it’s not exactly American readers of Takimag who were responsible for that, and (2) that doesn’t change the fact that your country has chosen to adopt them so much more aggressively.  We don’t exactly excuse Mao and his cohorts for their crimes because their ideas originated with Germans (Marx, Engels) and Russians (Lenin, Trotsky).  Honestly, I don’t think it’s been the intention of anybody here to insult Canada in this discussion (we have “South Park” when we feel like that).

“Is there still a lumberjack under that mascara?”

O’Sullivan nails it: http://policystudies.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=89&Itemid=27

Tom is right, BTW, about the greatness of SCTV!

Thanks, Dan, for being another voice of reason on SCTV!

This is just typical of the disdain that the elites - of all countries - have for the great unwashed. 

Henry Morgentaler?!?!?!

Nobody asked me!  I would have opined that he be jailed for the remainder of his days.

John Candy was at his best on SCTV, eh?

The SCTV episode that pretends to be a Soviet television program is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen - right up there with the best of Monty Python.

“even assuming it’s true that most of the leftist ideas we’re talking about came to Canada from the U.S., ... that doesn’t change the fact that your country has chosen to adopt them so much more aggressively.”

Fletcher,

We adopt your ideals more aggressively because our culture teaches us to put ideals into practice.

And it’s silly to talk about us “choosing” these ideals. In Canada, like in the U.S., intellectual and cultural life is dominated by groupthink and cartels. It is only with the advent of the Internet that we’re starting to get real choice.

Is the music that I hear “Blame Canada?” The offensive term “Soviet Canuckistan” may be a
nice inside joke to conservatives but it also shows some around here are no better
to Canada than the neocons are to France.

I agree giving Mr. Morganthaler the Order of Canada is pretty outrageous but every country
has its share of outrages, Canada is no different. George Bush II awarded a Presidential
Medal of Freedom to a suck-up of a CIA Director who gave him bad intelligence. Go figure.

We do not have a Commission on Human Rights here in the U.S. (at least not yet) but our
version of the PC enforcers is called the “mainstream media” and do just as an effective job
of stifling dissent and punishing transgressors (like Don Imus for example) at no cost to the
taxpayers.

Given that 2/3rd of Canada’s population lives near the U.S. border and is inundated with
American media, is it too much to think they could resist all the cultural trends coming from
the U.S.?  Although Canada has always been economically liberal thanks to its strong unions and
prairie populism, it was once socially conservative. There were Scottish Presbyterian blue
noses who ran Toronto (once known as “Toronto the Good” where all commerce was banned on
Sundays)and of course there was the strong Catholicism of Duplessis’ Quebec.

Three things happened to change all this: 1). Trudeau, 2). The Quiet Revolution,
3). The influx of Vietnam War deserters and draft evaders and other hippies into the country.
As a result, by 1982, Canada now had a Constitution that codified PC behavior and only a
few objected, and those objections weren’t coming from the Brian Mulroney’s Tories when
they took power in 1984.

Canada’s paleos you could fit in a phone booth and the rest of its conservatives are only
as conservative as the general public allows them to be. They know exactly what they want
and who they vote for which is why there are five leftist or center-left parties compared to
a measly center-right party. There once was a truly conservative
Canadian political party, Ken Manning’s Reform Party, which basically destroyed Mulroney’s
ruling coaltiion in 1993. However, Reform could not win votes past Manitoba and was seen as
a Western protest party. So they had to merge themselves with the powers that be in the East, whether
it was the neocons of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives of the 1990s in the diasterous
Alliance Party or the “Red Tory” federal PCs. As any political grouping, those who have
the money call the shots and Mulroney and his Bay Street cronies basically rebuilt his
winning coalition in 2004 only with the subservience of former Reform Party leaders like
current PM Stephen Harper and because the Tories got tired of losing and were broke.

Yet it would be hypocritical for American conservatives to be so smug given the fact the
country is by a radical (and could soon elect another one) and the leader of the supposed
“conservative party” is hardly that at all. You talk about socialized medicine and I give
up Medicare and medicade which are the same things and are back stalwartly by most of
the population.

Maybe someday if the U.S. becomes a real conservative place then maybe Canada will follow
suit in theb due course of time. Until then, why are you surprised that when you look into
the mirror you see a reflection yourself, or what you might become?