It has been difficult to find anything positive in the news of the world since 2022 began. And indeed, this year may well be a watershed year for western civilization.
I am old enough to remember the Second World War, when Adolf Hitler’s armed forces blitzkrieged Poland. After that he was joined by Japanese General Hideki Tojo. who bombed Pearl Harbour, opening up a global massacre of nations and people. And now we have a similar threat from another sociopathic egomaniac. Fortunately for us all at that time, the West was led by then U.S. president Franklin Delano Roosevelt and then British prime minister Winston Churchill. This time it is President Vladimir Putin in Russia about to smash Ukraine into submission, while recruiting China’s Xi Jinping into attacking Taiwan. Meanwhile, Joe and Boris have replaced Roosevelt and Churchill.
Canada also had William Lyon Mackenzie King as prime minister. He surrounded himself with a worldly experienced cabinet (since replaced by the Prime Minister’s Office) and thus was able to successfully broker lend-lease. Presently we have Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who couldn’t keep our borders free from rioting and seditious fringe groups — some with life-sized Tonka trucks. Meanwhile our national police force — the RCMP — have horses but were being held back by our prime minister over jurisdictional concerns of who is responsible for the approaching roadways. He conveniently forgot the border is his responsibility. The debacle in Ottawa remains a shambles at all three levels of government.
At the same time, there is something to be marvelled at. Canada has had considerable difficulty being taken seriously on the world stage — particularly since then prime minister Stephen Harper chose to attend the opening of a Tim Hortons franchise in New York City instead of addressing the UN General Assembly. Well, we have everyone’s attention now — with our expertise in demonstrating to fringe group riot organizers how to tie up a country’s national economy. It appears to be catching on.
As for our climate warming dilemma, we know solar farms and wind power would be capable of supplying less the 20 per cent of our country’s energy needs, when and if fully developed. We know that generating a national hydroelectric power grid will also not meet our energy needs. Increasing natural gas production and distribution would be a reliable year-round energy source and is a relatively good bridging strategy. But if we want to get serious about reducing greenhouse gases, we need to develop our nuclear energy industry on a national scale. This is a touchy subject, and will require political courage and wisdom to implement. Presently, we lack that in Canada.
As for COVID-19, it would appear we have settled on how to solve the vaccine passport and mask-wearing dilemma. The answer lies in individual decisions by people and workplaces. It will now be up to each of us individually to decide how much we want to place ourselves at risk from exposure to the unmasked, non-vaccinated, freedom-fighting, self-absorbed, COVID-19 virus spreaders. Will we abandon the ideal of living in a country that is committed to peace, order, and good government for the Trumpian violence-riven commitment to self-centred individual pursuit of happiness? If so, we will have embarked on a fundamental re-examination of who we are as a nation. One would hope we would take into some account that one in 20 children who become infected will end up developing a long-COVID syndrome with permanent vital organ damage and shortened lifespans. But then, that’s the price of freedom.
Or is it?
Alan Murdock is a local pediatrician.
