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Wednesday August 21 HERALD Opinion Psgell Multicultural mosaic a fingerpainting farce Canadas socalled and much- heralded multicultural policy is in tatters Instead of our country being pictured in hues which suggest a multicultural mosaic what we basically have is finger painting of the worst kind perpetrated by politicians whose only concern is garnering the ethnic vote Countless Canadians might suggest that these erstwhile ar tists put their collective fingers to better use I couldnt agree more One only has to look at the tragic example of Yugoslavia and the bitter bloodletting bet ween the Serbs and the Croatians to realize the extent to which ethnicity in its barest form is nothing less than racist and the world community be damned How does this tiein with Canadas multicultural laissez- faire policy you ask Very easily when you note that Canadians of Croatian descent are flocking to the Balkans to de fend what they view as their true homeland A disquieting article appeared in last Thursdays Toronto Star which chillingly pointed out how ludicrous Canadas multicultural policy really is As stated by a number of pointyheaded who were pontificating on the respective party line as it relates to our multicultural policy it is suppos ed to allow people of different cultures and ethnic backgrounds the right to retain their beliefs while adjusting to Canadian society What a load of hogwash What has happened is that Canadian society including the North American lifestyle takes a back seat to people who just cant leave their cultural and ethnic baggage behind The Toronto Star article con cerned three young Canadian males of Croatian descent who left Canada to join the Croatian National Guard It is estimated there are Canadians of Croatian descent involved in the fighting in Yugoslavia The brother of one of the three Canadians a 21yearold com puter repairman explained why his sibling had gone off to fight and possibly die in Croatia He referred to a conversation between his mother and the now modernday warrior He said If you had sent me to play hockey as a kid or to things like Cubs and Scouts then I wouldnt have this feeling Its your own fault mom for bringing me up this way The mother according to the article spent hours teaching her son Croatian in his formative years and insisted he go to even more Croatian language classes The mother also dressed him up in Croatian costumes and had the young boy go up on stage to perform Croatian folk dances Only in Canada- you say Pity isnt it But dont have pity for the young Croatian or even his mother Have pity for Canada Prime Minister Liberal leader Jean Chretien and leader Audrey McLaughlin are whining about national unity and a sense of Canadian identity It is to laugh it is to cry The reason we dont have a Canadian identity is because in terfering politicians more in terested in votes than the coun trys wellbeing have fouledup royally I was born in Scotland and rais ed in Canada I am Scottish by birth but Canadian by choice My loyalty is to Canada not the kilt or Robert Burns poems I would rather read Farley Mowat Were I to journey to other coun tries even for a visit I would be required to obey their laws and respect their customs and tradi tions And I would In Saudi Arabia I would not think of kissing my female com panion in public because I could bethrownm jail Why must it be so different in Canada An example The Royal Canadian Legion in Red Deer Alberta is in hot water Why you ask Because a baptized Sikh was asked to remove his turban when walking through the Branch canteen Ram Singh Chahal is also the Secretary of the Alberta Liberal Party so you can be sure there will be reverberations Apparently Chahal was also heckled as he walked through the canteen While this type of behavior is not in be condoned Chahal himself who was quoted as saying After all Im a Cana dian citizen in reference to the incident is not blameless It is Canadian Legion policy that no of any kind be worn in canteens This is in respect to Canadian war dead it is not a racist policy in any sense of the word Since Chahal is as he claims a Canadian citizen and since the Legion policy has become a Canadian tradition there should be no question about which party was in the wrong It is this kind of ethniccultural balderdash that really frosts my toes Only in Canada you say Yes it really is a pity As I see it anyway Better solution was available for town council During Hal ton Hills Councils recent discussion over an ap plication by local businessman David Tarzwell to operate the video store part of his business Country Lane on the Tenth Line in Georgetown councillors put forth compelling arguments for and against the application However was there a better solution Mr Tarzwell applied for and received from Town council changes to the locations zoning and official plan designation ther- permitting the video store part of the operation to continue The majority of Councillors followed the lead of Town Coun cillor Joe Hewitt in support of the continued operation of the video store Coun Hewitt said the operation is in a location in tran sition That means it is not clear what zoning the area should have he said Since the area is in transition and the video store services a significant number of people in the area the business should be permitted to continue explained Hewitt He said opposing the video store would benefit neither the owner nor the public since the operation would col lapse if the video store operation was forced to close Mr Hewitts position makes sense because there is no point closing down a viable business when there is no clear consensus on the future land use for the pro perty Since the location is in transition no one knows for cer tain whether in the future a video store operation would be perfect for that location From this perspective it makes sense to permit the operation to continue until council decides how it wants the area to develop Opposing the zoning and offical plan changes was Coun AI Cook He opposed the application on the basis approval would send a message to the general public that council supports members of the public breaking Town bylaws Leaders not always perfect Nowadays it is not very easy to remain a hero for long After years of wholesome praise President Kennedys per sonality has been the object of a revisionist flow of books and ar ticles which practically reduced one of the most loved presidents to the level of an hoodlum It is not the public persona of Jack Kennedy which is reduced it is the private life of the murdered president that pro vides material for the revisionist writers President Kennedy turns out to have been a compulsive womanizer always ready to go for a good pair of legs Also he seems to have lied about the authorship of his book profiles in courage and exaggerated his heroism during the war Ap parently he also lied about his health conditions And more now than ever Americans like their politicians to be Mr Cleans not only in public life but in private life as well It is a trend which is naturally spreading over to Canada and it is reaching or has reached a point where the scrutiny of ones private life has become a major factor for talented women and men to stay out of public life It is interesting to note that with very few exceptions a mud dy private life or even some not- verypleasant personal attitudes have seldom been a reason for poor performance in the political arena Behavior in ones private life does not seem to transfer on to the public functions of the in dividual as is rather well proven by the likes of Churchill Roosevelt Trudeau and other successful political figures This would be of just passing in terest if it were not for an in teresting counterexample in Canada Our Prime Minister is describ ed by those who know him well a humorous affectionate and open personality in his private life while we all know that he projects a stuffy unctuous shifty persona in his public appearance This has become a major em barrassment not- only for but even for jour nalists There is no avoiding reporting on the poor public per formances but how to report on the positive private hidden side of Even more intriguing is why we who by know have been told more than once that Mulroney has a nice private side still arc unwilling to forgive him his poor public persona Two weights and two measures Surely if we are will ing to forget the positive public performance of a president because of his poor private life we should be willing to give credit to a guy for a good private life even if his public persona is ap palling Naturally we dont And so be it but do we really need a public person to be perfect in private Another View by Carlo Testa Do we really have to care about hishers personal habits Are we trying to elect a Barbie doll or a competent even if rough woman We are in the process of acquir ing perfect dumbbells as political leaders because we want them perfect And nothing is more perfect than an blow dried nothing Some would not even be able to sin so mental ly underequipped they are In our looking for the perfect product we ignore real com petence and pursue a well packaged product the kind who will go to Ottawa or Queens Park to learn to and the hell with contributing Having the choice I still prefer an ugly specimen like Lincoln or a rough one like Johnson and why not a boozer like Churchill After all what the politician does in hisher bedroom or parlor is not the business of the Nation when they feel like it Coun Cook was referring to Mr Tarzwell having full knowledge he was breaking the Town area zoning bylaw when he established his business during the late 80s Mr Tarzwell only ap plied to the Town for the official plan and zoning changes a year after starting his business Coun Cook reminded his fellow coun cillors There is much validity for this position because support for the application is precedent setting Council has now left the door open to other businessmen to carry out similar actions Faced with putting a company into bankruptcy or setting a dangerous precedent council should have chosen an alter native course permitting the video store to continue without setting a disturbing precedent Council should have deferred deciding on the zoning and of ficial plan changes until it had completed its official plan review The review which will start early next year calls for Town planning staff to consider if any changes to the plan are required based on such projections as ex pected population growth predic tions in Hills During this review staff would presumably determine the type of develop ment suitable for the location of Country Lane By deferring any approval on the application until the official plan review the video store would be permitted to operate without a dangerous precedent being set Father knows best Georgetown father Charlie left treated daughters Rebec ca and Amanda 5 with tickets to the KellyMiller Circus Thursday evening Georgetowns Alcott Arena this Is one of North Americas oldest three ring circuses The circus has been on the road since midMarch and ends its travels October Herald photo