Canadian flags from a boat in the Victoria harbour is framed with the Legislative building Victoria, BC on Canada Day.The Globe and Mail/Chad Hipolito
NDP Party President and fellow Globe and Mail blogger Brian Topp has a piece in this space today criticizing those of us in English Canada who have had the audacity to question Nycole Turmel's membership in two separatist parties and what it says about the NDP.
At its core, his argument is that people who have reacted negatively to the news are the real enemies of Canadian unity. As someone who respects Mr. Topp, I take this critique to heart.
The thing is, that wasn't my first reaction. Upon learning the news that Ms. Turmel was a member of the Bloc and is a member of Quebec Solidaire, I wrote up a post along the lines of how Mr. Topp wanted -- no, make that expected -- English Canada to react. Here it is for your consideration:
Finally Canada Matures as a Country
For 144 years, Canada has been a broken, immature country. Well, not Quebec -- it has always been very sophisticated -- but English Canada (and, in particular, those of us who hail from Toronto or Calgary) have had the political maturity of 6-year olds. That ends today.
You see, for our country's entire existence, we, as a country, have insisted that our leaders above all else defend Canada. That they're federalists, full stop. These leaders could of course differ on what that federation looks like and how it operates, but we had a narrow, even shallow, belief that a necessary precondition of being a national leader -- regardless of how long they held the job -- was an unwavering commitment to national unity.
What a mistake that was.
You see, lots of Quebeckers have, at one time or another, voted for separatist parties. A minuscule fraction of Quebeckers actually joined separatist parties.
Now in rigid pre-today Canada, you couldn't both lead a federalist party and be a member in good standing of a separatist party. At the same time. That's right, us superficial ogres in English Canada saw it somehow as an irreconcilable conflict to both lead a federalist party while being a member of one committed to breaking up the country.
Just writing that sentence, I can't help but shake my head and ask myself what were we thinking? Clearly, we -- especially those of us in Toronto and Calgary -- are the problem. Let's grow up and embrace a federalist party being led by an active member of a separatist party. It shows just how unified our country is. How sophisticated we are. She says she joined the Bloc and Quebec Solidaire because of their social policies? Who are we to put national unity ahead of a good social policy? What a silly English Canadian thing to do.
Bravo, NDP. Thanks to your interim leader's willingness to join both federalist and separatist parties at the same time, finally, us children in English Canada who have been the real enemy of national unity can embrace our new ambiguous commitment to Canada. I know I feel better about our country today.