Further to this post,

Militants? Insurgents? Nice flipping guys?

Douglas Bland does not speak with forked tongue in the Ottawa Citizen:

Merely stating the obvious
It is quite proper for a military counter-insurgency manual to identify native Warrior Societies as a potential threat to Canadian sovereignty

A masked Mohawk Warrior protests in Kanesatake in January 2004. To suggest that the Mohawk Warrior Society can be viewed as an insurgency is not to label anyone, or any organization, terrorist, argues Douglas Bland.
Photograph by: Shaun Best , Reuters, Citizen Special

The Canadian Forces does not owe the Mohawk Warrior Society or the wider First Nations an apology for references to the society in the first draft of the armed forces manual on Counter Insurgency Operations, or COIN…

The various so-called Warrior Societies proclaim in their several websites that their organizations are armed forces meant to act as a type of militia in the defence of First Nations communities and their rights. They are, arguably, an open challenge to the sovereignty of Canada, unless, of course, Canada surrenders in some fashion its right and responsibility to defend all Canadian territory and all Canadian citizens, including every reserve and all aboriginal people, to the self-appointed Warrior Societies…

…to suggest that the Mohawk Warrior Society can be viewed as an insurgency is not to label anyone, or any organization, terrorist. To suggest that the Canadian Forces prepare its commanders to conduct anti-insurgency operations in Canada, as they did against the FLQ and at Oka, demands no apology.

The entire discussion, however, may be moot given the government’s apparent preference to cede its sovereignty to every First Nations challenge [emphasis added, Dauntless Dalton is no better] – including this one — a policy that will surely inflame disputes and make the Canadian Forces COIN training all the more necessary.

Douglas Bland is chair of the Defence Management Studies Program at Queen’s University and author of the novel Uprising, the story of a future aboriginal insurgency in Canada.

Mark
Ottawa

Canadian apologomania continues (and what may it cost in money in the end?).  Paul at Celestial Junk has some real acid in his keyboard:

Cozy Up To Violently Militant Organizations

I guess it’s the new CPC plan to attract Liberals:

According to CBC, the Canadian Forces are going to provide a ‘heartfelt’ apology for listing the Warriors in a counter-insurgency manual in 2006…

It all makes sense now, that Mr. “I have never had any tolerance whatsoever for crime” is in The House.

And the “T” word wasn’t even used.

Mark
Ottawa

Nasty potential future implications as seen from a flight on Taylor Empire Airways:

When a state refuses to enforce its monopoly on violence—allowing others to arrogate that prerogative to themselves—that negligence destroys public confidence in its institutions. This is precisely what has happened at Caledonia’s Douglas Creek Estates…

The Ontario government has created a precedent whereby it has tacitly accepted the right of certain ethnocultural groups to take up arms and oppose the Crown, which hardly seems like a long-term recipe for peace and amity in a province whose heterogeneity is steadily increasing [emphasis added].

How delightfully delicately put.  Lots more on Caledonia here.

Mark
Ottawa

Earlier. Now Publius drills down, a sample:

…how would a typical Canadian fare on Mr Kenney’s new immigration test? Thanks to the vast resources of this blog, and its network of agents and correspondents through out the Dominion, we have located the typical Canadian. He’s a male in his late thirties and lives in Kenora. Which I think is in Alberta. But from Toronto it’s hard to tell. We brought the typical Canadian to our high-tech testing center at the corner of Center St and Universe Ave, in downtown Toronto. Here is the test. And here is the typical Canadian’s answers:

- Identify four (4) rights that Canadians enjoy.

The right to complain about the weather. The right to complain about how taxes are too high. The right to complain that the government isn’t spending enough money on me or my community. The right to stand in the middle of the cookie aisle at Loblaws and block everybody’s way (I know who you are)…

-Who are the Metis?

They’re kind of like Indians, but not really. Their leader guy was crazy or something. Can I say that? I didn’t mean to be offensive. I mean he was kind of weird or something. But I’m sure he was a great guy and all. Really, I mean that. I met one of these guys at work once, he seemed really cool and all.

-What does the word “Inuit” mean?

Eskimo. But like the modern way of saying Eskimo.

-What is meant by the term “responsible government”?

The government is responsible for paying for my health care, education, pension and whatever else I can stick ‘em with.

-Who was Sir Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine?

The inventor of that fancy fountain in Shawinigan in front of that hotel near the golf course. You know the one…

-What are the three branches of government?

The Prime Minister’s Office, the Prime Minister’s wife’s office and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

-What is the difference between the role of the Queen and that of the Prime Minister?

The Prime Minister builds the useless community center in his riding, and the Queen (if available) shows up to open it…

-What is the role of the courts in Canada?

To uphold the laws of Canada, unless it conflicts with their personal political beliefs. At that point they just make stuff up, and then use some latin terms to cover their tracks.

-In Canada, are you allowed to question the police about their service or conduct?

Yes, but not during the APEC conference, the G20, or if you’re living in Caledonia…

More on Caledonia from Publius:

Desperate Men: Julian, Stephen and Justin

Mark
Ottawa

Excerpts from a big-tent post by Publius:

…how bitter, and frankly insincere, those words from the former OPP Commissioner must seem to the residents of Caledonia. The image of the crime-fighting crusader contrasts sharply with the OPP’s inaction during the occupation of the Douglas Creek Estate. Fantino’s status as a star candidate for the Conservative Party belies opposition from genuine conservatives.

In his four years in power Stephen Harper has played bait and switch with the Canadian electorate. He has talked of conservative values, and fear mongered on the dangers of a Liberal-NDP coalition government, while running a government which is fiscally to the Left of those of Paul Martin and Jean Chretien. In Julian Fantino he has again offered Canadians a false bill of goods, a law and order candidate who, as OPP commissioner, failed to uphold basic law and order.

What has allowed the Prime Minister to get away, so far, with the candidacy of Julian Fantino is the near silence the MSM has offered on the Caledonia tragedy. With the honourable exception of Christie Blatchford, the media has largely ignored the near anarchy which persisted for years in a Canadian small town…

Our universities, and their journalism schools, dutifully teach their wards the new version of the white man’s burden, that descendants of Canada’s original colonizers grew rich on the suffering of the pre-Columbian inhabitants. In consequence the sins of the great-grandfathers must be expiated by the apologies, and subsidies, of the great-grandchildren.

This involves a selective observation of the facts. Many reservers are third-world hell holes not because of corrupt unaccountable quasi-tribal governments, but because Ottawa hasn’t spent enough money. Land claims are portrayed as honest attempts by modern day Davids – pardon the Euro-centrism – against the Goliath of the federal government That many of these claims are on the filmiest of pretexts is ignored. We must feel sympathy for the victims of land allegedly stolen centuries ago, as if these events were fresh in the memories of their participants.

The aboriginal is aways right, the non-aboriginal is always wrong…

Well, Publius, what about global warming, Afstan and the F-35, eh?  As for J-Schoolism in action, take a look at this:

Blatchford booted: Fair and balanced reporting…

As for Indians, Paul at Celestial Junk has more on the exploitation of person by person:

How to Get Rich in Canada

Become an Indian Chief…

Mark
Ottawa

The story below is from the Canadian Journalism Project, an effort “of The Canadian Journalism Foundation in collaboration with leading journalism schools and organizations across Canada.”  Note the viewpoint of those whom the author chooses to quote about Ms Blatchford.  You wonder what is wrong with journalism in this country (thank goodness for the headline)?

Waterloo protesters silence Blatchford

The University of Waterloo called off a speech by Globe and Mail columnist Christie Blatchford last Friday night after a small group of protesters accusing Blatchford of racism occupied the stage.

Blatchford was there to talk about her book Helpless: Caledonia’s Nightmare of Fear and Anarchy, and How the Law Failed All of Us. As readers of her Globe column will know, Blatchford has been vocal about the problems faced by residents of Caledonia, Ont., during the aboriginal land dispute there.

The protesters labelled the views she expresses in the book as racist. The Kitchener-Waterloo Record quoted one protester, Dan Kellar, as saying Blatchford’s book does not explore issues central to the aboriginal occupation, such as historic land claims and treaties. “You can’t take these things out of context,” Kellar is quoted as saying. “To ignore the history is a dangerous thing to do, especially when she is so well-regarded.”

The Record quoted Blatchford as saying her book was intended to look at the situation in Caledonia through “a very narrow prism” around the rule of law and lawlessness.

The Globe’s own review of the book, by Ryerson School of Journalism interim chair [that tell you anything?] Suanne Kelman [see here], says: “Do not look here for a balanced view of the conflict. Blatchford, nobody’s fool, proclaims at the outset that her book will not examine the validity of the native land claim, nor trace the sorry history of Canada’s relations with its First Nations.” But the review goes on to say the book “does a service to everyone” by documenting how government inaction in the face of the protest hurt Caledonia residents.

Tallula Marigold, who was identified as the protesters’ media representative, was quoted in the Wilfrid Laurier University student publication The Cord: “We don’t want people who are really, really racist teaching [the people we love]. And we don’t want that person to have a public forum because it makes it dangerous for others in the public forum.”

University of Waterloo officials said they chose not to proceed with the talk because it appeared Blatchford would not be able to speak, and, according to Michael Strickland, assistant director of media relations, “We also had no interest in providing a photo op of our security dragging three people off the stage.”

Free speech? Who cares?  Waterloo student Mohammed Shouman does, a lot: a letter of his to the University’s president you should read (via SDA).

Meanwhile, here’s an excerpt, the first of four at the National Post’s “Full Comment”, from the book itself (not, how delightfully ironic and telling, in the Globe and Mail):

Christie Blatchford: If the suspect wasn’t white, the police learned to walk away

Earlier:

Caledonia and…a conservative?

Update: With considerable comment from Publius:

U of W Issues Apology to Christie Blatchford

Mark
Ottawa

Excerpts from a major and well-sourced post by Publius, well worth the read:

Caledonia and Mr Law and Order

When Stephen Harper first presented himself as a national figure, he consciously projected the image of a conservative reformer, someone who would fight to overturn Canada’s growing position as a “northern European welfare state.”..

With Prime Minister Harper’s support, former OPP commissioner Julian Fantino has been nominated as the Conservative candidate in Vaughn…

As former head of Canada’s second and third largest police forces, Fantino carries an enormous prestige and is seen by the party as a star candidate. For the Tories, Julian Fantino is Mr Law and Order, exactly the sort of figure who can appeal to crime worried suburban voters. In his four years as Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), a term which ended this summer, Fantino has been front and center in the ongoing Caledonia land dispute.

To evaluate Fantino’s fitness for political office and, if rumours are correct the cabinet table, it is important to look into his conduct during the Caledonia crisis. Assuming command of the OPP in October of 2006, seven months after the initial occupation of the Douglas Creek Estate, the majority of the nearly five year long saga has taken place during Fantino’s watch.

The Caledonia crisis represents the longest single breach of the peace in modern Ontario’s history…

Had only the land claim been at stake, it’s unlikely the residents would have been much disturbed. Instead a wave of terror was initiated in Caledonia against its non-aboriginal citizens. During this wave of terror Julian Fantino, likely bowing to political pressure from Queen’s Park, failed in his duty as an officer of the law.

His failure became the failure of the OPP forces station in Caledonia, leaving Canadian citizens at the mercy of a lawless mob obviously contemptuous of our laws and government…

In his four years in power the Prime Minister has sold Canadian conservatives a false bill of goods. He has promised us greater freedom from the state, a fight against crime and a strong defence of Canadian sovereignty. In supporting Julian Fantino for Parliament he has again failed to live up to his promises.

Despite the disgraceful neglect of the Caledonia Crisis by the mainstream media, there is a wealth of resources available online…

The formidable Christie Blatchford will soon be out with a book on Caledonia: Helpless…

Update: Paul puts it nicely at Celestial Junk:

Stephen Harper: The Law and Disorder Prime Minister

Mark
Ottawa