In 2000, John Aimers, the Dominion Chairman of the Monarchist League of Canada, spoke at a Senate Committee meeting, on Bill C-16, an Act respecting Canadian Citizenship, that in part discussed the role of the monarchy in our country. In 2002, Aimers objected when John Manley, then Deputy Prime Minister, suggested that it was time to abolish the monarchy.
Seeing a political advantage, Jason Kenney stood up in the House and declared:
Mr. Speaker, I rise to join millions of Canadians in expressing profound dismay at the rude and thoughtless remarks of the Deputy Prime Minister this weekend .... [he] has a high responsibility to lead Canadians in honouring our sovereign as we thank her for her 50 years of graceful and selfless service to Canadians and members of the Commonwealth throughout the world.I doubt millions of Canadians thought much about it either way, and "selfless service" would be a bit of a stretch. We are not talking about Mother Theresa. Queen Elizabeth is a very wealthy woman who lives large at taxpayers' expense. If she was truly selfless, she would give some her fortune away to her "subjects" who are suffering because of cuts to essentials, like healthcare and education.
Personally, I hadn't really thought much about the Queen. Some Canadians love the tradition of the Royal Family, and I never questioned that. However, after first being made aware of the Monarchist League, once led by John Aimers, an Orange Lodge member with dual Canadian/U.S. citizenship, I'm now taking a very keen interest.
Jason Kenney not only showed his loyalty to the Queen, but also to the League, allowing them to all but write his new time warp citizenship guide. The inducement for such a guide was not a desire for immigrants to have a better understanding of Canadian history, it was to present a guide to how all Canadians should be living, and to where our allegiances should be.
Aimers and his Orange Lodge were disgusted when Canada removed the loyalty oath that public servants had to take. "I pledge allegiance to the Queen .... " and just as upset when the Citizenship oath, while still swearing allegiance to a foreign monarch, no longer included her "heirs and successors".
The "new" Oath of Citizenship reads:
I swear (or affirm)
That I will be faithful
And bear true allegiance
To Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second
Queen of Canada
Her Heirs and Successors
And that I will faithfully observe
The laws of Canada
And fulfil my duties as a Canadian citizen
This was written for John Aimers, the Orange Lodge and the Monarchist League. One supporter of the new guide wrote about how thrilled he was that his "8-year-old daughter [was] doing a school project on Henry Kelsey, a British fur trader, explorer and sailor who is credited as the first white man to discover the Canadian prairies."
"The first white man to discover the Canadian prairies?" Why is this something we should celebrate? Wow!
Who is John Aimers?
Aimers had been fighting for the Royal Family in Canada since the 1970s, when Trudeau sought independence from the Crown. When not doing that, he was a teacher at several exclusive private schools. A regular Mr. Chips.
However, the torch had to be carried by someone else, when it came to changing our rules of citizenship, because he was named in a sexual abuse case, while teaching at an expensive private school in Montreal.
According to the court documents, Mr. Aimers, a respected debating coach, allegedly offered to tutor D.J. at his home, where he plied the boy with liquor and marijuana. "Thereafter, Aimers proceeded to fondle D.J.'s crotch and attempted to forcibly remove D.J.'s pants," the lawsuit reads. "Aimers kissed D.J. and forced his tongue into D.J.'s mouth and put his penis in D.J.'s mouth," the court documents say.It cost Selwyn House millions. Goodbye Mr. Chips.
Had the Liberals been working with a child molester to alter the social makeup of Canada, the Reformers would have been all over it. Instead they've allowed his replacement, Robert Finch, to have crowns put back on uniforms, fly the red ensign (not YET our official flag), implement a citizenship guide reflecting "values" of the 1950s and place our navy and air force at the Queen's command.
Let the Games begin
Historian Margaret Conrad said of the new guide, that it “represents a new kind of Canada, one that is less sympathetic with my personal sense of a progressive, forward-looking nation, but the new slant is no doubt in keeping with the sentiments of the current administration in Ottawa ... It's kind of like a throwback to the 1950s, ... It's a tough, manly country with military and sports heroes that are all men."
Women were all but written out.
And we continue to be written out.
The appointment of female judges has diminished to a trickle under the Harper government, dashing any hopes that equal gender representation is on the doorstep. Only eight women have been appointed to the federal judiciary this year, compared to 41 men. Figures for 2010 were only slightly less skewed, with 13 women and 37 men being given judgeships.The thought that Stephen Harper has appointed 99 judges in two years is frightening enough. Paul Weyrich is cackling while dodging flames.
That citizenship booklet was a guide for us. Welcome to Canada, unless you're a woman, a Muslim, a non-white, or anyone who reads the Toronto Star.
What we need is a completely new Oath:
I swear (or affirm)
That I will be faithful
And bear true allegiance
To Canadian values of tolerance
Equality and fairness
And join the fight to end poverty and homelessness
That I will recognize the full rights of gays and women
The rights of religion, including the right not to have one
And that I will faithfully observe
The multicultural makeup of this diverse country
Maybe we could even throw in in another one: And I promise to never again elect a Reform Party government. That one is for us, while we still have an us.
