Sunday, April 25, 2010

Iggy will divide the country

I recommend reading Ezra Levant's latest blog post on the Liberals receiving advice from Ekos pollster Frank Graves on invoking a culture war, and how that advice in congruency with Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff's position and support of the highly controversial NDP private members bill requiring all Supreme Court justices to be bilingual.

Even (former?) Ignatieff strategist, has commented that if this culture war is the new Liberal strategy, that they shouldn't talk about it publicly.

As the Globe and Mail reported:

In his advice, Mr. Graves could hardly have been more blunt. “I told them that they should invoke a culture war. Cosmopolitanism versus parochialism, secularism versus moralism, Obama versus Palin, tolerance versus racism and homophobia, democracy versus autocracy. If the cranky old men in Alberta don’t like it, too bad. Go south and vote for Palin.”


Nice. Real nice.  If Iggy and the Grits are taking this advice, which it appears they already are, then in my opinion, I think Canadians from coast to coast are really sick and tired of it.  I agree with Ezra here in that this culture war strategy will backfire, as Iggy himself, wanted to unite Canadians:
Michael Ignatieff: "A prime minister has one simple job: To keep the country together and not seek polarization...."
So why do you want to polarize then by taking polarizing advice from your own pollster?

Official bilingualism is one of those polarizing issues.
 What's my opinion on it?  It doesn't work and never has and is costing our country in wasted tax dollars, and in actually dividing the nation more than it unites us.  Why?  Anytime the government forces culture and language upon another culture, you get backlash, not only against the government, but against the other culture. Quebec separatists can then say, "See!  Canadians don't like bilingulism. They don't like French and they don't like Quebec."  That's the trap that legitimizes their political existence.

And it appears that Iggy and the Grits are falling into this trap. You watch, with this culture war, the
one the Liberals now appear to be using, they're going for the default federalist vote in Quebec, which also makes core Torontonians happy. It's an old strategy, one that worked for Trudeau and Chretien. But again, you'll recall, that it was under Trudeau (1980) and Chretien (1995) where the separatists got their referendum, reinvigorating the original Canadian culture war, the one between French and English, dividing the country... again.

If Ignatieff understood Canada, he'd know this. But maybe he actually does and doesn't care. If it gets him and the Liberals into power, then that's all that matters, damn the country.

7 comments:

Patrick Ross said...

Sadly, there are a lot of individuals who seem eager to wage this culture war.

One particularly deluded individual has described at "conservative means to rid ourselves of Harper".

Sheesh. Just sheesh.

Blame Crash said...

I'd have to say that it's more a case of "Iffy has divided the Country"

If the Glibs want to do politics this way, I say that we quit pussy footing around and drop the gloves and have at her.

Ardvark said...

I agree with your post, but please tell me that when you wrote this you were sitting on the beach drinking some type of beverage with an mini umbrella sticking out of it.

Anonymous said...

We should thank Mr. Graves for being so candid. Now that it is out in the open for everyone to see - Liberals should be embarassed. Isn't it amazing how silent the MSM is on this strategy. They obviously like it and will continue to promote the politics of division and diversion. And then those east of the Manitoba border wonder why they are held in such disdain by us poor, uneducated, rural folk. As long as the equalization money flows without interruption, they will continue to hold their eastern noses. We may not be their cash cow forever. FernStAlbert Cheers.

The_Iceman said...

I bet that Iggy and Donolo are freaking out right now that this "culture war" stigma will stick. Now everything they do can be framed in the context of deliberately prevoking a culture war. Ironically many of us have believed that he's been up to that strategy for some time already.

Ardvark said...

Iceman, BINGO!

Now everything the Liberals do is going to be framed in this way. The MSM with their coverage of this, (all but the CBC that is) have made sure of it.

And that is a good thing.

Big Red Magnum said...

Iceman many of us believe the Liberals have been up to it since 1968.