National Interests?
Getting Canadians to agree on our NATIONAL INTERESTS seems an impossible task, but has not stopped some from speculating on WHAT they should be, HOW to achieve them, and by WHOM.
CANADA 2024
A confident resilient nation, or, a fearful fractured country?
By DAVID REDMOND
Above is the title of the document linked below:
https://fcpp.org/wp-content/uploads/FC-PS243-E_Canada2024_MR1524_F1-1.pdf
On pages 7 and 8 under the heading NATIONAL INTERESTS, you will find these six bullet points stating broad objectives.
Unity;
National/Canadian Security;
Good governance;
Protection of Rights and Freedoms;
Economic prosperity and growth; and,
Personal and community well-being.
I recommend that you download the 20 page pdf and read at least those two pages to get a more complete context for this list. The paper was published by the Winnipeg-based Frontier Centre for Public Policy as No. 243 of its Policy Series.
While I superficially agree with David’s 6-point list in theory, and from a 10,000 foot perspective of what one might think of as Canada’s “NATIONAL INTERESTS”, I believe that the “devil is always in the details” and that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”.
Priority is established by your life lens.
I wonder if David made this list ranked by his priority. He served in the Canadian Armed Forces for 27 years and has only known government employment. As someone with only private sector employment, my choice of priorities differ from his.
Like an iceberg, there is depth to our being.
Each person possesses a metaphorical ‘life lens’ through which all observations are made. With each observation, surface level impressions are formed first, much like the visible part of an iceberg. Nearly simultaneously, past experiences begin to kick in rising up from the mind’s depths like from the huge mass of an iceberg hiding beneath the ocean surface. These subconscious contents entering your mind serve to add perspective to your observations along with influences from previously established beliefs and preferences.
Each person’s ‘life lens’ acts in real time and largely determines how the mind considers that which is under observation or consideration. David’s life lens is sure to be very different than mine given that he has travelled on a very different life current than me. This is true for all Canadian ‘beings of consciousness’ since we have all travel entirely unique life currents.
The WHAT, WHO and HOW
David has listed WHAT needs to change, but not HOW and by WHOM. Under the kind of failed leadership Canadians have experienced since 2015, surely David does not suggest the Government of Canada in its current manifestation to be the WHO, does he? Its chances for success are dubious to say the least.
Perhaps the WHO should come from the non-government sectors. It would be wise to exclude any organization or individual who receives any funding whatsoever by taxpayers.
Yesterday, I posted another priority list here. On page 2 is The PEOPLES CONSTITUTION of 2024. It lays out “good governance” succinctly and clearly. Yes, I realize that it is also a “wish list” with no better chances for success than David’s list, but at least it was authored by Canadian patriots who would not accept ANY inputs from government personnel.
Daunting
I do, however, share with David some agreement on WHAT must change. It’s the HOW that continues to bedevil both of us.
However unlikely, the people of Canada currently outnumber the privileged people employed in the federal civil service.
Could real Canadian patriots ever get sufficiently organized to vote for a Libertarian-Conservative majority government with a clear mandate to reduce the size, cost and scope of authority in all levels of public services?
If so, then perhaps the fate of the great ship “CANADA” will be able to avoid a foreseeable collision with an iceberg.