Canada Worries About Offending The Communists
A bit windy, but some good stuff in there, too.
Or, if you prefer a printier version, here's one from Ken Libbin, in Canada's Nat Post:
Plans for a monument on Parliament Hill to honour the estimated 100 million or so innocent men, women and children killed at the hands of Communist regimes around the world, on the other hand, have hit a snag, with the NCC worried that a "Memorial to the Victims of Totalitarian Communism" risks giving offence to communists.At a public meeting last week in Ottawa, members of the NCC's board approved the plans for a monument "in principle," allowing that the submitted application for the memorial "largely meets" the commission's criteria for a public exhibit on capital land. But several members expressed concern the name was too provocative, and should be revised to eliminate any mention of communism.
"I was unsettled by this name, and other members of the committee agreed with me," Hélène Grand-Maître, one commission member, said at the public approval hearing. "We should make sure that we are politically correct in this designation.... I feel this name should be changed."
Board member Adel Ayad noted that people who identify as communists might "not like" the memorial. "It's not communism itself that we should be fighting here. It is rather totalitarianism we are against in any form."
One commissioner questioned whether Canadians could even legitimately point fingers at the brutality of Stalin or Pol Pot, given that our own federal government had put Japanese-Canadians in internment camps during the Second World War.
Um...would now be a good time to mention that Stalin murdered tens of millions?
Thanks, RobertW
I object to the distinction "totalitarian communism," since widespread Communism requires totalitarianism in order to suppress black markets and prevent the disaffected from leaving.
If Communists are offended, perhaps it will prompt them to reflect upon the nature of their philosophy and why it has killed three times the population of Canada.
Pseudonym at September 19, 2009 8:56 AM
"We should make sure that we are politically correct in this designation"
"It is rather totalitarianism we are against in any form"
The fact that political correctness IS totalitarianism in thought & speech, and that it was invented by Marxists to pave the way for communism, seems to have entirely escaped the intrepid members of the NCC.
Martin at September 19, 2009 9:33 AM
Is anyone surprised? The last time Canada had a spine was on the beaches of France.
Robert at September 19, 2009 11:30 AM
Pseudo beat me to it... I'd like Adel Ayad to point out a few examples of non-totalitarian communism.
Cousin Dave at September 19, 2009 8:54 PM
"One commissioner questioned whether Canadians could even legitimately point fingers at the brutality of Stalin or Pol Pot, given that our own federal government had put Japanese-Canadians in internment camps during the Second World War."
What a fucking idiot.
Internment does not equate to what Pol Pot did.
Spartee at September 20, 2009 8:19 AM
Exactly, Spartee! I'm sick of people constantly bringing up Japanese internment camps in the US or Canada and acting like it means we were just the same as Hitler or Stalin or now Pol Pot apparently! WTF? They weren't good, but we didn't storm into these peoples homes and smash their babies' heads in front of them and then shoot them in the heads.
Fink-Nottle at September 21, 2009 7:29 AM
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