Mar. 17, 2007: Security

Everyone needs to feel secure

Jihad.com , Sunday, March 11, 2007

60minutes.yahoo.com/segment/47/jihad_online

Afghanistan and Iraq are half a world away from the United States, but the most important front in the war on terror may just be a mouse click away. Correspondent Scott Pelly takes an in-depth look at the world of Jihad online, including how ordinary Americans are fighting back. [....]

Freedom of speech row as talk on Islamic extremists is banned , By John Steele, 5/03/2007, The Telegraph

www.forumsvibe.com/elwoodpdowd/view
topic.php?t=3236&mforum=elwoodpdowd

A leading university has been accused of "selling out" academic freedom of speech by scrapping a talk on links between the Nazis and Islamic anti-semitism after allegedly receiving emails from Muslims protesting about the event.

Matthias Küntzel, a German author and political scientist who specialises in the threat of Islamic fundamentalism, was told yesterday by the University of Leeds that a talk scheduled for yesterday evening, and a two-day workshop, on Hitler's Legacy: Islamic Anti-semitism in the Middle East, had been cancelled because of security fears.

[....] "My impression was that they wanted to avoid the issue in order to keep the situation calm. My feeling is that this is a kind of censorship.''

He has given the talk at Yale and in universities in Jerusalem and Vienna. [....]

Daniel Pipes: receives a Free Speech Award
“The Rushdie Rules: Will the West Accept Islamic Law?” , Mar. 3, 2007, Sponsor: Trykkefrihedsselskabet

gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2007/03/
www.trykkefrihed.dk/kalender-trykkefrihedspris2007.htm



Natana DeLong-Bas: American Professor, Wahhabi Apologist -- here , by Stephen Schwartz, Real Clear Politics, January 19, 2007

www.campus-watch.org/article/id/3035

www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/
2007/01/natana_delongbas_american_prof.html

[....] DeLong-Bas is a professional apologist for Saudi extremism. .... had found "no convincing evidence that Osama bin Laden was behind the attacks on the World Trade Center." Her interview was made public in translation by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) at www.memri.org.

In a long colloquy clearly intended to flatter her Saudi patrons, DeLong-Bas claimed that she had been studying the works of Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, founder of the Wahhabi sect, for a decade, and had read all of them. But she was forced by a persistent Saudi reporter to admit that she had never read the Islamist preacher's correspondence, which critics of Wahhabism and other Saudis consider key to understanding him. She rambled on, claiming that Islamist terror has nothing to do with radical religious interpretations, and with an almost absurd predictability blamed everything wrong in the Muslim and Arab world on the U.S. and Israel. She even described the "democracy" of terrorist groups like Hamas and the Wahhabi agents in Somalia as superior in achievement to U.S. democratization efforts.

Intellectually, Natana DeLong-Bas fits comfortably in the philosophical milieu of contemporary MES. For the majority of MES scholars in the U.S., certain cliches--little more than slogans--have become the foundation for teaching a new generation of American scholars. These truisms include the claim that radical Islam is a construct fabricated by Western "Orientalists," that all the problems of the Arab and Muslim nations are caused by Western economic rapacity, and, of course, that American support for Israel is the principal cause of Arab and Muslim discontent. [....]

List of articles by Douglas Farah

Pakistan's Downward Spiral , By Douglas Farah

counterterrorismblog.org/2007/03/pakistan_downward_spiral.php

Sudan Found Liable for Terrorism in USS Cole Trial , By Douglas Farah, March 14, 2007

counterterrorismblog.org/2007/03/
sudan_accused_of_terrorism_in.php#trackbacks

A federal judge in Norfolk, Virginia today found the government of Sudan liable for terrorism for the Oct. 12, 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in the port of Aden, Yemen. "There is substantial evidence in this case presented by... [....]

The 1,400-year war: On Wednesday, Key Porter books released reflections on Islam ideas, opinions, arguments, by National Post columnist George Jonas, National Post, March 16, 2007

www.canada.com/nationalpost/columnists/story.ht
ml?id=c2727806-3212-4217-944b-7144baebacf5

[....] The melodious ditty would be viewed as offensive to "diversity" today. We meant to give no offence to anyone -- none of us had ever seen a Turkish lad -- but we did associate the song with what we had been told about the Turkish occupation of Hungary -- the Turkish hodoltsag or bondage, as we invariably referred to it, just as Palestinians refer to the creation of Israel as nakba, or catastrophe.

Being in thrall to the Turk meant being in thrall to Islam. This was worse than being in thrall to the German -- Hungary's other great historical trauma -- for Germans were at least kin in Christ, while Turks were Muslims.

Christianity's roots in Hungary were not very deep, but they did go back to the 9th century (with pagan revolts extending into the 11th). The Magyars, a coalition of seven tribes of nomadic horsemen from Siberia, kept riding west until they emerged from familiar Asia and found themselves in alien Europe. This happened shortly before the end of the first millennium. The Magyar chieftains concluded that they had no choice but to adopt Christianity and settle in the fertile lands along both banks of the river Danube, in a region the Romans had called Pannonia.

The chieftains did not realize that they had picked a natural conflict zone. They pitched their tents in the borderlands between civilizations. Buda Castle was still a long way from being built in 895 AD, but the grey Danube (it was never blue) roiling at the foot of the future seat of Hungary's kings was the last in a series of moats between East and West, Asia and Europe, paganism and monotheism. In due course, it became a moat between Islamand Christendom. [....]

Mar. 14, 2007: Quality, Not Quantity

Population: Quantity or Quality?

This is worth reading and discussing since Andrew Coyne makes valid points about larger vs smaller populations. My caveat is that, until we have the security aspect straightened out, immigration and acceptance of questionable refugees must be considered first, in the interests of Canadian citizens. Questionable entrants, those immigrants and refugees who do not choose to be tolerant and to accommodate themselves to Western culture, as well as those questionable because of their criminal backgrounds and/or criminal gang ties, such as the triad members who have entered, must be prevented from entering Canada and remaining. Get that Charter amended, reign in the courts who accord rights in defiance of logic; do something to protect us from that aspect of the Trudeaupean folly that would put the rights of strangers ahead of the rights of Canadian citizens. Because of lack of security checks or other laxity, immigration has been far from an unalloyed blessing.

Certain groups have brought their extremism and hatreds with them. I do not think we should be importing any more of them. Fill in for yourself which groups have proven to be part of what I describe. It may be politically incorrect to mention this but, since I am hardly pc, I am saying stop! until we decide as a country what our values are and what we are willing to protect to maintain our Western freedoms and democracy. Catering to disaffected entrants who hate us but want our prosperity or the space Canada affords is not the answer. Turf the worst and consider the best, for a change.

Disregard the leftist/liberal/Liberal need for voters which has unduly influenced immigration, buttressed by the appointment of immigration commissioners and members of the courts with a left/Lib slant, a need for voters which has been blatantly fulfilled to the detriment of the long term good of Canada. Don't call me racist; I am concerned about Western values, not colour. There is a difference. Canada must draw immigrants who will add positively to Canada, not come here, then whinge about their rights which, if they don't get what they want, all of a sudden become accusations of racism. Getting CBC to rant on about diversity and multiculturalism will not always paper over the problems anyone with ears to hear and eyes to read can learn. Canadians are talking and turning off the LiberalPropagandaOrgan in droves.


Let's be the Alberta of the G8
Immigration has made us wealthy in people, too , Andrew Coyne, National Post, March 14, 2007

www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.ht
ml?id=1410adfc-f59f-43eb-b5ef-e753524989e4

In recent times, the Prime Minister has taken to referring to Canada as an "emerging energy superpower," a reference to our bounteous oil wealth. But perhaps it's time to start reckoning our assets in a new way, in terms of the only productive resource that really matters: people. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Canada, the emerging population superpower.

[....] More than that, numbers do count in this world. Bigger countries, as a rule, are more exciting, diverse, consequential places than smaller ones. France is more interesting than Liechtenstein. Japan has more impact on the world than Bermuda. Bigger countries not only have a greater chance, statistically, of producing those truly extraordinary individuals, an Einstein or a Bill Gates, they also attract more talented people, in the same way and for the same reason that people move to the big city from smaller centres. They allow people to live larger lives, both individually and, in the clout they wield in the world, collectively. Alberta's rapid population growth in recent years has made it a force to be reckoned with in confederation. Why should we not aim to be the Alberta of the G8?

Perhaps if we had one-fifth the United States' population, rather than a 10th, we would look upon our neighbours with less defensiveness, less envy disguised as disdain. Perhaps we might begin to treat them less as big brothers, and more as rivals, for indeed we would then be theirs. Perhaps the 21st century might belong to Canada, where the 20th passed us by.

Andrew, I do not necessarily think bigger is better, nor do I wish Canada to be a world power. Has it ever occurred to you and others like you, perhaps with visions of dollars dancing in your heads, as Canada becomes even more prosperous, that prosperity for some of us is not reckoned in dollar terms? There is a quality of life which a Hong Kong (yes, prosperous, but unbearably noisy, for example) or a Paris (great art, great galleries and museums, extraordinarily rude restaurant personnel, of which I have met the rudest samples ever, from North Africa), a New York (Yes, it has the Metropolitan or Lincoln Centre, but have you ever made the mistake of trying to read a newspaper in a NY restaurant, while eating breakfast when the waiter wants you to leave so he might do ... whatever?). I could go on. I love Canada without some of what wealth and power bring. With the seeming death of rural areas, particularly where the farmers are not big business farms, the death of small towns, I would protest that loss.

My Canada needs to be a haven of relative peace, quiet, contemplation, time for family and friends (You can't make loads of money that way!), time for families to play with children, to join them at games, music, all the activities which make for healthy families and happy people. Money and business are not everything. Some of us want just enough to live a decent life without frills and luxury, but such that it gives a life that, at its end, may be described as rich. Another loonie in the pocket won't do it and massive immigration so that more people may make more and more loonies definitely won't do it.

It's quality, not quantity, that I want. Maybe others feel the same. The least you could do is ask. Memo to the Immigration Minister: Ask us!






Conrad and the CBC

Mention of the CBC above reminds me of the CBC glee today, emanating from all corners, in endlessly talking, under the guise of reporting news, anything negative that may be dredged up about Conrad Black. You will hear the "news" repeated endlessly. I don't know whether Black has done anything wrong or not, but CBC's bias is enough to have me at least tending toward Conrad Black's camp. At least Black produced good newspapers, for which he will always be remembered fondly, along with his mode of speech.

Feb. 28, 2007: Bud Talkinghorn

Canadian security? What's that compared to getting re-elected?

So the Liberal Party has voted against their own security bill, which allowed indefinite detention of those thought to be high terrorist risks. The provisions of the bill are draconian in many respects, yet are necessary because the Charter doesn't allow Canada to expel them to their mostly Islamic homelands. This is because every one of these countries employs torture and/or the death penalty. If they are merely innocently charged people, why would their governments do such things to them? The truth is that, often, they are known terrorist members back home as well.

So we are now caught between a rock and a hard place. If they are released, they will always remain a distinct threat. The message it sends to our sleeper cells here doesn't bear thinking about. The Liberals have come up with a solution to this extralegal security measure; however, they have nothing to offer for Canadian security. All they will would gain is the Muslim-Canadian vote in the cities. However, if you are completely opportunistic, that might be enough. On the other hand, should one of these "unjustly incarcerated" lads be involved in a horrendously successful terrorist attack on our soil, the Liberals could suffer irreparable damage to their brand. * The NDP--their cheerleaders on this legal position change--would suffer also. Small wonder that Dion had to "whip" his caucus on the vote. The stakes are very high indeed.

© Bud Talkinghorn--One could ask; why not just charge them and go to court? The rationale for not doing that is that it would destroy the inter-intelligence trust built up. The linkage for detaining these suspects is based on all kinds of secret sources. A court trial would expose these deep cover operatives, leading to chaos and possible assassinations of the agents involved. All future co-operation would disappear. A thorny problem, which perhaps the opposition can help solve. Don't take any bets on that support though.


* Which part undamaged would that be Bud? FHTR


Four Ex-Prime Ministers reflect

Roy MacGregor has written an interesting column in The Globe and Mail (Feb. 22 A-3). He corralled Brian Mulroney, Kim Campbell, Joe Clark and Paul Martin and asked them to reflect on their attitudes about the political scene. Some of their comments were right on target. Joe Clark opines; ["There was a time]...when the general assumption was that government was good. Now, almost the opposite applies. If the government proposes something, that generates suspicion about it. That's not a generational phenomenon factor; that's a broad phenomenon. It's societal."

Joe Clark is a good place to begin to examine why this has been happening. I can't think of a better example of why people so dislike and distrust politicians. Always the reddest of Red Tories, he never accepted that real conservatives could no longer stand his squishy, quasi-liberal platforms. When the various sections finally united under The Conservative Party banner, with Stephen Harper as leader, he did not leave the scene gracefully. Instead, he turned positively traitorous, urging his Red Tory rump to vote Liberal. As they did in a number of ridings. He does not reflect on that scurrilous business however. Rather, he blames the organization of government, saying it allows less and less latitude for change. How ironic that Harper proved him so wrong on that score.

Brian Mulroney is another one to look at for this widespread disaffection of the electorate. He wooed the likes of Lucien Bouchard to his party and watched them defect and form the Bloc Quebecois Party. Then, in a last ditch effort to appease Quebec, he thought up Meech Lake and The Charlottetown Accord. These would not have only given Quebec unequal benefits, but would have allowed their veto on any future Canadian Constitutional change. When the Accord was put to a national referendum, it was soundly defeated. This, despite the support of the media, Acadians and cultural elites. I'm sure that the rousing defeat of the government and its acolytes was so embarassing that another referendum will never be considered. Mulroney lamely stated afterward that "he had rolled the dice" on the issue. Unfortunately, for him and his party the dice came up snake eyes.

Brian brings us to Kim Campbell, the sacrifical lamb substitute for Mulroney in the next election. Campbell, who had held a couple of cabinet positions, was chosen but given no time to properly prepare for an election. This however cannot be an excuse for the infamous campaign comment, "An election campaign is no time to discuss ideas". Duh! She was doomed to failure anyway as the albatross--no, elephant--of Mulroney hung around her neck. The PCs were nearly wiped out, electing only Jean Charest and Elsie Wayne. Jean shortly crossed over to the Quebec Liberal Party and Wayne was anything but a Red Tory. Kim was given a golden parachute, the Consul-General position for LaLa-land, where she attends endless receptions. What business she has directed our way is a state secret.

Paul Martin ended up with two albatrosses to bear. Having the nickname of "Mr. Dithers" attached to you is heavy enough. Than he had the resentful Chretien clique to contend with. But for me it was his statement during the election debate that poleaxed him. After hysterically demanding that Harper not touch a single article in The Charter or The Constitution, he blurted out that if he won he would take the Notwithstanding Clause out of the Charter. That Harper shouldn't touch anything (without being labelled a fascist in waiting), but Martin then proposed to gut the only check on legislation which is a gold mine for our social activist industry.

MacGregor should have demanded some personal accountabilty from these four. Perhaps their egoes wouldn't allow for such intospection. The commonality among them is that they feel they have diminished respect from Canadians. How those sentiments might have come about from their own behaviour is never explored. Since they have left the area, we have witnessed shameless floor crossings, and renunciations of former policy positions. Each one is a slap in the face to the electorate. It proves that too many of them are mere opportunists. Along with the pols, the MSM also are losing ground to the used car salesmen in the trust polls.

To be fair, the Canada of the past has changed beyond recognition. As the ghettoization of our cities continues apace, the politicians have to keep recrafting their messages to fit the immigrant demands. The Charter challenges all seem to be curve balls. The split between lower case liberals and conservatives is becoming wider. Any discussion of political social policy is a party spoiler. Still, all the aforementioned party leaders have a sad role to play in this current divide.

© Bud Talkinghorn

Feb. 28, 2007: Security, the Spin, Another Private Foundation

It has irritated me that, while repeatedly mentioning that PM Harper apologized to Mayer Arar, there was virtually no exploration of whether torture actually occurred, that is, proof other than Arar's word, and the mainstream media have been his champion. Nor was there any questioning of, if torture occurred, what went wrong under the previous administration(s), nor exploration of how this might have occurred, why Arar was under surveillance, nor discrepancies, and there were discrepancies. None of this has been explored by journalists, at least from what I read or listened to from the usual suspects. It is as though Arar's troubles were the current government's fault.

A world of Maher Arars
Why won't the U.S. admit Maher Arar's innocence? It may be fear of precedent. Tales of other suspects seized and sent abroad to face torture are beginning to come to light in Europe. This week, those stories helped bring down the Italian government. And as Doug Saunders reports, this could be just the beginning. , Doug Saunders, Globe and Mail, Saturday, Feb. 24, 2007

www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/
RTGAM.20070224.wararus0224/
BNStory/International/home

Note: PM "Harper apologizes to Arar for torture in Syria" -- Actually, he apologized on behalf of Canada. What occurred, whatever it was, occurred under a previous administration but apologies customarily come from whoever is PM when the issue is settled (Or said to be settled, considering that there may yet be a sequel, imho).

Does it serve the BCE/Globe and Mail/CBC political purpose to muddy the waters concerning Arar? While propagandizing for him, there is much missing, as the next article will detail.



Paid $10.5-million ... taken at his own word

What really happened to Maher Arar? Maher Arar received the largest government settlement in Canadian history. Even after an inquiry, the public should ask, why? Kevin Steel, Feb. 26, 2007

www.westernstandard.ca/website/ind
ex.cfm?page=article&article_id=2333

Excellent. Read this one closely.

The problem is, Arar's claims of physical torture have gone largely unchallenged. The Canadian media has been eager to report every dramatic detail and columnists write as if the allegations are established fact. But even though the Arar commission wrote that he had been tortured, it did little to substantiate the 34-year-old wireless technology consultant's assertions. [....]

When compared to the recommendations outlined in the Istanbul Protocol, the Toope Report can only be characterized as inadequate. For instance, the Protocol emphasizes the creation of a medical report by a physician with expertise in documenting physical abuse. But no such medical report appears to have been created .... Toope relied on an oral interview with Doug Gruner, a doctor who Amnesty International, which had politically lobbied for Arar, had recommended--hardly an independent expert. As for expertise, [....]

The Protocol stresses the selection of an unbiased physician, but Toope makes no effort to establish Gruner as unbiased and actually notes Gruner is also working for another political activist. [....]

Search: why Canadian police were suspicious of him back in 2001 , whipped with a two-inch-thick electrical cable , an experienced consular official , Martel , Even after Arar was released, he did not speak of beatings., Stephen Toope, president of the left-leaning Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, was appointed as fact-finder , rapporteur of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances , al Qaeda teaches them to make a claim of torture , Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, otherwise known as the Istanbul Protocol , The credibility of Arar's allegations of physical torture , gone unchallenged , to obtain any documentation establishing Maher's whereabouts , produced none.


More on another Foundation

I thought the fact that the one investigating came from the Trudeau Foundation; yet Trudeau's son Sacha Trudeau was one of the ones supporting one or more of the ones picked up on security certificates was intriguing. What, exactly, is the Trudeau Foundation for, the one Canadian taxpayers kicked $125,000,000 into ... in honour of something or another?


A "Private" Foundation for "advanced research in the humanities and the human sciences"

Frost Hits the Rhubarb -- or you may find it here but it would not come up for me this morning. I posted it but it did not exist ... this morning. Try Frost Hits the Rhubarb Dec. 5, 2006

Dec. 5, 2006: Ring around the rosie ...

Caveat emptor: Please note that, even as I was putting this up, the first link developed some strange extra marks ... maybe normal, maybe Gremlins.


Based on the Liberal leadership fest, yesterday, Dec. 4, 06, I posted "CTV interrupts convention coverage to interview Alexandre Trudeau in Havana". Intrigued, I searched and found the following; you might be similarly intrigued.

Table of Contents [....]

[Naturally, some information goes astray.]

Search:

Sacha Trudeau - Security Certificates
Missing history and screen capture

Trudeau takes up cause of hunger strikers held on security certificates

www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/story.ht
ml?id=c0c9c837-6ed5-4864-83e0-72fce4c6603f&k=4724

Filmmaker Alexandre Trudeau [Sacha] has come to the defence of two security detainees now on a hunger strike for improved conditions, appealing to federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler to intervene on their behalf.

Frost Hits the Rhubarb December 11, 2006
Dec. 11, 2006: Propinquity

It's wonderful how the concerns of various groups coalesce ... or appear to ... academe , "doing good" for students , academics , mentors , foundations , mining , mining engineering , investment banking , bank profits , taxpayer money

First, some background and / or related items, then the current news below those items -- Street race: Now TD vies for the prize

re: Toronto Dominion Bank, TD Securities, Frank McKenna and ranging over Falconbridge, CVRD, mining and energy, oil sands, Air Canada, AIM funds, Cheung Kong and its partners, Deutsche Bank and Bilfinger Burger, Anglo-Swiss miner Xstrata PLC, Toronto-Dominion advisory deals, equity deals and more


Background

Dec. 5, 2006: Ring around the rosie ...

frosthitstherhubarb.blogspot.com/2006
/12/dec-5-2006-ring-around-rosie.html

Scroll down to this section: The Pierre Trudeau Foundation - Scholar in Mining Engineering Grant -- Global Citizenship - Canadian Taxpayers' Contribution

Sacha Trudeau on Global Citizenship , UBC Report, Nov 3, 2006, Public Affairs, UBC / University of British Columbia [....]

Not exactly how it all began, my son, but moving in that direction , a bit of Memory Lane from Industry Canada, 2002 [....]

modern technology network

[....] Update 2:....

More Background

The halls of academe , CVRD Brazil , Trudeau Foundation Mining Engineering Grant , UBC Mining engineering , internships in Brazil at CVRD , Vancouver-based Teck Cominco Ltd. , Xstrata , Falconbridge and Inco , Noranda , Sumitomo , and more [....]

There is much more on that foundation, should you check.


Frost Hits the Rhubarb Sept. 21, 2006: Crying Wolf or ... what?

Al Shukrijumah, Adnan G. , tbk.com -- The Terrorism Knowledge Base

frosthitstherhubarb.blogspot.com/
2006_09_17_archive.html

[....] Bit by bit, the al-Qaeda operative allegedly managed to pilfer approximately 180 pounds of nuclear material from the university - - enough to build several radiological bombs.[xv]

CFP article: Al-Quaeda' "hidden arsenal"

www.forumsvibe.com/elwoodpdowd/view
topic.php?t=359&mforum=elwoodpdowd

Feb. 23, 2007: Bud Talkinghorn

Welcome to the new world of Supreme Court security

I am flabbergasted by the Supreme Court's surprise decision to abolish one of the few legal safeguards against a remorseless Islamic enemy. This decision a few days before there would have been a vote in Parliament to renew the security certificates is proof of judicial interference. The decision has allowed the Liberals never to have on record their wish to cancel these certificates. So if a horrific attack on Canadian soil occurs the Liberals and NDP can say, "We didn't cause this". Blame the Supremes.

The implications for reduced security will not come from those held under the certificates. They will probably be released but kept under close police scrutiny. The danger is from the sleeper cells, who will be emboldened by ruling to be more active. By the time that the police have enough foolproof evidence to charge them it may be too late. This ruling is but another weapon in the hands of our sworn enemies. Perhaps it will take a successful attack on the CBC headquarters for the leftist elites to reconsider security.

© Bud Talkinghorn



I asked Bud to contribute his ideas based on a book that I mentioned this week; the result is below. Thanks for the contribution, Bud.


Politicizing the judiciary? Please!

The selection of judges, especially at the highest levels, is the oldest political game in town. This faux outrage by the Opposition parties would be laughable, if not so cynically hypocritical. One Liberal pol actually lost it and blurted out, "How dare they try to introduce their conservative ideology into the judiciary?" By definition he is saying only card-carrying liberal ideologues need apply. But of course, we shouldn't logically see this as naked stacking of the courts. The MSM certainly didn't make this assumption, under the Liberals.

Let us examine one of the Liberals' Supreme Court choices. Mr. Michel Bastarache was lauded by then Justice Minister, Irwin Cottler, as a "recognized legal expert on Acadian rights". In New Brunswick, amongst the anglophone community, he is recognized as a quasi-separatist author of the notorious Poirier-Bastarache Report. A report which paved the way to francophone control of senior Civil Service positions. The "I demand to be serviced in my native language" cry effectively meant that mainly Acadian bilinguals would man the government desks. Any francophone (who probably was fluently bilingual) could call every department (and its subsections) in the capital and demand a French speaker. It was the beginning of the exodus of bright anglophones, who realized that advancement in the Civil Service and much else was now impossible. Forget the earnest attempts by the English middle class to enrol their children in French immersion. Almost none of the graduates could pass the fluency tests to get hired, let alone to reach management level.

Let us now examine the June 19, 1986 report that made Michel Bastarache so famous he was made a Supreme. First of all it dealt with a dramatic shift in governmental policy, with a potentially devastating loss of power for the two-thirds English majority. The "tail wagging the dog" literally. Originally, the report called for a duality of services across the province, not surprising, as Bastarache was a believer in the Acadian Party's call for a separate province altogether. Duality of services in every department was a sidedoor substitute. The so-called information meetings turned into a fiasco, as the English saw the naked power grab for what it was. It didn't help that Bastarache's committee was composed of eleven francophones and three anglophones, hardly a balanced group. The report was filled with sneering sarcasm about the "puritanical English, who were inheritantly bigoted and who spoke Shakespearean English." Anyway, the public's opinion was beside the point as Poirier and Bastarache had drafted the key demands even before the information sessions began. The meetings were mere window dressing. All in all, the report disregarded any opinion that didn't come from a small francophone elite.

Bastarache hired a French researcher, Rene-Jean Ravault, to examine the situation and then ignored his key recommendation to soft-pedal some of the report's ideas, such as affirmative hiring of unilingual francophones in government, and duality. This, while demanding that top management be fluently bilingual (i.e. francophones). But Bastarache, a former dean of law at the francophone University of Moncton, was going to avenge The 210 year old Expulsion of the Acadians. His manipulative, ethnically biased and flawed report was condemned by the President of UNB, James Downey, and the Father of Equality himself, Louis Robichaud. It was also the death knell for Hatfield's Conservative Party. When the dust settled, the PCs lost every seat to the Mckenna Liberals and in the next election the anglophones rose up and the Confederations of Regions Party (COR) formed the official opposition, with a rump of three elected PCs. COR won eight seats and came a strong second in a dozen more ridings based on protecting English rights. The Poirier-Bastarache Report was a huge torpedo into the Good Ship Ethnic Unity.

Now the Civil Service of N.B. is controlled by francophones, predominantly. The exodus of the best and brightest anglophones has become a small flood. The N.B. government is rightfully panicked. It cannot admit the reason for this flight, so it tables committees to "analyze" this distressing situation. In Canada as a whole, we see the same linguistic ploy being played out. Now, if you are not fluently bilingual when applying for top federal positions, you are toast. In the West, we are not familiar with the travesty of The Poirier-Bastarache Report, but its insidious effects are being duplicated everywhere. Slowly the voters are waking up, and all the king's men and the CBC can't put the lie back together again. The election of Dion, an effete Sorbonne-educated Quebecois over his Ontario rivals has not been lost on Anglo-Canadians. How many years does that make the tail wagging the Canadian dog?

I'm sorry that I don't have time here to shine a light on Justice L'Heureux-Dube's influence on the Supreme Court--another institution that is heavily over-represented with francophones. She was a piece of work. Russ Limbaugh's "feminazi" made manifest. Not only is this court [SCOD] filled with liberal ideologues, so is its large legal team. Traditions are to be voided; Natives are to be given special legal rights; and the leftist, thug-infested U.N. is to be listened to on legal issues. As Justice Binnie has stated, "The Charter never said that moral and ethical issues couldn't be decided by The Supreme Court. Therefore we consider those issues be to be in our realm also." The various Human Rights Commissions became their shock troops. Between these two groups and their enormous unrestrained powers, the democratic freedom of speech withered. Eventually the average citizen would began to learn the totalitarian art of self-censureship. Ancient grievances, like The Acadian Expulsion or some "oral history" aboriginal land claim, could be kept on the front burner. The victim groups have come piling out of the woodwork. You thought that your divorce settlement was final? Forget that, Buster. Possibly the Supremes may have scripted "The First Wives Club".

Divide the anglophones and conguer was Trudeau's stategy, knowing that the francophones would vote as a bloc. It worked, as that is the main reason (along with the urban immigration vote) he won his last election.

The handwriting is on the wall, anglophones. Time to wake up to its dire message.

© Bud Talkinghorn--My information on Michel Bastarache was based on the biography of the NB Conservative Party, entitled "The Right Fight--Bernard Lord and the Conservative Dilemma." A large section deals with the Hatfield era and the Acadian rights movement. Jacques Poitras, a longtime CBC political reporter, was the author.