In search of A B C – A Brave Canadian

There are many reasons to believe that last week’s pow wow between Canadian chiefs was yet another failed attempt by our democratic system to throw the bones on who might lead us into an uncertain future as a nation. Trudeau showed, by his dignified presence, and big muscles, that despite his cavortations in black-face in his greener days, that he is the son of a chief and that he is deeply committed to the fair representation of all the tribes of all Canadian peoples – even if it means cutting off Canadian oil sands only to replace it with oil from Arabian sands leaving many of the Canadian plains peoples hungry for an alternative. He sees a future for Canada which lies in big offices and unrestricted use of technological advances to place Canada over other nations, even the Chinese. Meanwhile, lesser chieftains demonstrated their commitment to the great forests of Canada and seem very determined to prevent the extraction of fossil fuels from our already ravaged lands, even if it means not heating our wigwams in winter. The only chief who stood alone in opposition was the white-face Scheer, family brave from the snow lands, who believes that he can feed the Canadian peoples by concerted support for the farmers, diggers and devoted Christians of the plains. White face, promises fire in the winter, but with a fork-tongue, particularly in French – can we ever take our eye off one who bears in his belt the tomahawk of the American nation, or one who warms so unreservedly to the wealthy medicine men, fur traders, farmers and oil merchants of that nation?

A great many Canadians are torn between these two leaders, which puzzles me as an outsider. Surely, it has been shown from the mountains of Montezuma to the sands of Saud that those who toil religiously in the plunder of natural resources are rewarded with incessant troubles and woe. While in the lands of those who have engaged in enriching their peoples with the fruits of education and free trade, building their economies on trust and investing their faith in resilient systems of finance and fair judiciary have prospered beyond even their own expectations. There is no need to scrape the earth to be wealthy, but to win the confidence of our neighbours and then of other great nations is the higher endeavour. Perhaps, it is the calling being a truly brave Canadian falls upon one of our lesser chiefs, Mr Jagmeet Singh of the colourful turban, who is the real litmus test of our national confidence. He does not bear the artificial black-face of Trudeau or the fork-tongue of Scheer, but rather speaks from honesty to himself, which is the strongest medicine for our economy and future of Canadian self- determination.