Canada and Martial Spirit

Conservative party: To fight the forces gnawing at our vitals, he quoted philosopher George Santayana, according to NOW Magazine. He rallied the martial spirit for "our unflinching march into the future." Canada will only be saved by a reassuring Conservative party "strong leadership," the title of the budget, in which the word "strong" appears 194 times. Equal parts patriotic bombast, fear-mongering and existential angst, it was almost Churchillian in its references to "security," "geopolitical uncertainty," "risk," "a gathering storm" and "disciplined and deliberate choices in dark times." It all sounded like Canada was hostage to a medieval siege of plague and pestilence. As expected, the budget was part of an election strategy to convince Canadians to stay the Conservative course or risk falling victim not only to financial ruin but also to a quantity rarely mentioned in financial documents: "evil." There in chapter 4 of the 528-page tome are two references to the "evil" that allegedly faces us in the form of "violent jihadist terrorism." The dreaded T-word shows up an additional 25 times. More than $60 million is going to security for Parliament Hill, but only $23 million for security on Canada 38 military bases. In the U.S. has acknowledged that the greatest global security threat is man-made climate change, but the words "changing climate" appear only once in Canada 2015 budget: as a benign-sounding term related to tree breeding.A good chunk of the document itself is framed by the "dangerous world" thesis, to which the Conservatives are "determined to respond responsibly, without ambiguity or moral equivocation." In keeping with the Conservative rejection of the scientific method, the budget makes the case for increased funds to drop bombs on people in Iraq and Syria by declaring that other war efforts elsewhere have brought "stability to troubled countries and regions." It specifically names three countries that have allegedly benefited from Canada military interventions: Afghanistan , Libya and Iraq . While failing to make a case for the pacifying role of Canadian militarism, the budget commits an additional $12 billion to war spending over the next decade . Meanwhile, soldiers clinging to the idea that the feds have their back have yet more reason to remain in the ranks of the disillusioned. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.