Canadians Don’t Know Enough About The Holocaust

A recent national survey about Canadian’s knowledge about the Holocaust has revealed a considerable knowledge gap. This is especially true among younger and less educated Canadians, as well as significant portion of francophones. The survey coincided with intaernational commermorations of the Night of Broken Glass in 1938, when 92 Jews were killed and another 30,000 were arrested.

Here are some of the more surprising findings:

The telephone poll of 1,500 Canadians, conducted in October for the Montreal-based Association for Canadian Studies, showed seven per cent of all respondents had never heard of the Holocaust.

However, 13 per cent of those between the ages of 18 and 24 said they didn’t know what the Holocaust was, and nearly one-quarter of respondents with only elementary-level education – 23 per cent – had never heard of it.

Meanwhile, about 12 per cent of francophones reported no knowledge of the Holocaust compared with about four per cent of English-speaking respondents.

Despite the validity of some of the explanations (Quebec’s opposition to conscription caused less emphasis to be put on the “traditional historical narratives”), the results are still both concerning and saddening.

Let Us Never Forget Our War Dead

In Flanders fields the poppies grow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

— Lt.-Col. John McCrae

Totally unacceptable

Before the recent US election, fifth grade teacher Diatha Harris decided to ask her students who they would vote for and why. While I am not even sure if this is appropriate, it gets a lot worse. Making the rounds throughout the classroom, she ridicules those students that put their support behind John McCain.

The classroom discussion begins with Harris asking the class who they support for president. When two students say McCain, she responds with “Oh Lord” and “Oh Jesus.”

When one girl says that she will support McCain because her parents do as well, Harris moves on to another girl who says that she will support Obama becuase he will end the war in Iraq, a “senseless” war according to their teacher. Harris then targets the McCain supporter again and asks her what she know about Iraq. When the little girl cannot answer, Harris has this to say:

And by the way the person that you’re picking for president said that our troops could stay in Iraq for another hundred years if they need to. So that means that your daddy could stay in the military for another hundred years.

After the exchange, the little girl is so embarassed that she doesn’t respond. The little girl was totally intimidated and essentially bullied by her teacher, a person of trust, infront of her entire class.

Conveniently enough, the exchange was captured by a Swedish television documentary crew. You can catch the video here:

New Tone For The Coming Session of Parliament

It appears as though this session of parliament will have a much different tone. With a renewed mandate, the Conservatives are moving beyond the defensive, everything is a vote of confidence, mindset that plauged the previous session of Parliament, and moving towards something more collaborative.

Even admist the tough rhetoric of Liberal Leader Stephane Dion, claiming that the Conservatives would no longer have a “free ride” (referring to the string of Liberal abstentions during the last session), the Prime Minister has extended an olive branch. On Friday the two leaders met to discuss the economy, and to develop ways to cut government spending during this time of financial uncertainty.

The political rivals met yesterday and agreed to collaborate on ways to help the slumping economy during the upcoming session of Parliament. Described by one senior government official as “cordial and business-like,” the two leaders will seek common ground on government spending cuts, accelerating infrastructure investment, strengthening the ban on bulk water exports and keeping corporate taxes intact.

Further evidence of this new tone can be seen in the First Minister’s meeting scheduled to occur before the new session opens on November 18th. Again, promoting a collaborative tone, the Prime Minister “wants to see political leaders working together through the financial crisis instead of quarrelling over jurisdiction or critiquing the past.”

I for one am excited to see what can be accomplished this time around. Stay tuned!

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EDIT : How WRONG was I on this one?

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Ontario to get Equalization Payments Next Year

On Friday the Globe and Mail reported that in the wake of a looming deficit, Ottawa would be limmiting the growth of the equalization program. Since the economy has only grown by 1% instead of the predicted 2.9%, the government is arguing that it cannot afford to let the program to grow.

Speaking to reporters after the first meeting of Stephen Harper’s new cabinet yesterday, Mr. Flaherty said the equalization program, which redistributed $13.6-billion in the current fiscal year, is growing at an unsustainable pace of about 15 per cent a year.

However, today’s Globe and Mail is reporing that for the first time in its 51 year history, Ontario will be receiving equalization payments. More importantly, Flaherty said that it will be more than what Ontario is expecting and that “Ontario will be very happy with the figure I give them.”

Is this development really becuase Ontario is facing poor economic times?

The economy of Canada’s largest province is being battered by the global financial crisis and a recession in the United States, events that have destroyed demand for Ontario’s factory exports.

Ontario has faced tough times before and has never, in 51 years, been on the receiving end of the equalization program.

I wonder though. Perhaps this has more to do with the recent election results than actual financial need. For its role in enhancing the Conservatibe minority Ontario has already been given thanks. This took the form of numerous strong Cabinet positions. Is this simply a continuation of rewarding Ontario for its help? As Ontario has shown that it is willing to vote conservative I wonder if we will we see a move to put less emphasis on Quebec and more on Ontario?

On the 2008 Federal Election

Over the past two weeks I have heard ordinary Canadians and journalists alike claiming that the recent election was a waste of time. More importantly they argue, it was a waste of $300 dollars. I wonder… if it had been a Liberal minority would these same people be calling the election a waste? Is a successful election really dependent on electing a new government? Regardless of who won the election, I want to argue that it was important. More importantly, regardless of party affiliation, every Canadian benefited from it.

Obviously, with all of my conservative bias, the election was a good thing. The CPC watched its seat count and popular vote go up in every single region. We also saw impressive gains in key battlegrounds such as Ontario and British Columbia. I argue that Canada benefited from the election for reasons beyond these purely partisan reasons.

(1)Before the election it was clear that the House was not working. Of course things go slower in a minority situation, but near the end the House was unmanagable. A meeting of all of the Party Leaders illustrated this fact. It was essential that a new House be made. Regardless of who formed the government, the makeup had to change so that work could be done.

(2)The election provided the opportunity for something that is quite rare in this country of ours. That is for national issues to be debated and discussed (the environment, Afghanistan etc.). Most important was the economy. During a time of a financial crisis, I for one found it very beneficial to have all of the leaders debating the issues and articulating their point of view.

(3)The electorate, the small percentage that turned out, was given the opportunity to exercise a fundamental right. This right, the right to vote, is not something that should be taken lightly. Instead of complaining about the third election in 4 years, instead of complaining about the $300 million, instead of complaining about having to get off of the couch to vote, the Canadian people should be celebrating the fact that they are blessed with the opportunity to change governments peacefully, a luxury we have become too complacent about.