Many Are Waving the Flag, But Who Is Defending the Nation?

Statement of the Manitoba Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) July 1, 2000

Canada Day is seen by most Canadians as the affirmation of Canada as a sovereign nation. Others see it as a day to negate the sovereignty of the people of Quebec and the Aboriginal peoples. Still others see it as a day to wrap themselves in the flag to cover up the fact that they are destroying the nation of Canada.

Every year the federal government spends tens of millions of dollars organizing Canada Day festivities across the country, with special attention being paid to waving the Canadian flag in the province of Quebec. These activities are presented as being in defence of Canadian unity and of the Canadian nation.

Samuel Johnson once said that "patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel". This observation quite aptly describes the kind of patriotism of those in Canada who most fervently wave the flag and spout jingoistic phrases about "Canadian unity" and "Canadian values" - Jean Chretien, Preston Manning, Mike Harris and others of their ilk. At the same time that they make pompous speeches about how Canada is the "greatest country in the world", by their deeds they are auctioning the sovereignty of the nation to the highest bidder.

For the past decade the federal government has been selling off Canada's national institutions, such as Air Canada and Canadian National Railways. Other institutions, such as the CBC and the National Research Council, are being slowly bled to death. There are suspicions that Canada Post was converted into a crown corporation as a prelude to privatization. The provincial governments across the country have pursued similar policies of selling off publically-owned assets and privatizing public institutions. All of the assets of the nation are being put at the disposal of the rich.

Jean Chretien travels around the world boasting about the "Canadian values" of compassion and caring for one another, while his government systematically cuts spending for health, education unemployment insurance and social assistance. He talks about respect for democracy, while ordering police to pepper-spray protestors. He talks about assistance to developing countries, while promoting policies of globalization in which the plunder of labour and natural resources masquerades as "free trade". Deeds speak louder than words and at another time such deeds would rightly be labelled treasonous.

Who is defending the nation of Canada? Those who work to build a strong national economy - the workers, small farmers and fishers, and other working people - are the defenders of the nation. Those who fight to defend our public institutions, our health and education systems, are the defenders of the nation. Those who fight for the right to a livelihood for all Canadians are the defenders of the nation. And those who are labelled "criminals" and pepper-sprayed because they oppose the economic, political and social domination of Canada by U.S. imperialism and the multi-national corporations are the defenders of the nation. Such people have no need to wrap themselves in a flag and hide behind pious declarations of patriotism. They are building and defending the Canadian nation through their deeds. On the occasion of Canada Day 2000, the Manitoba Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) hails all these true defenders of Canada and wishes them success in their struggles.