Canada's worst...

(This was originally posted as a comment to number 19 of the blog 101people.)

If you think same sex marriage was the worst thing Paul Martin did to Canada, you have your head in the sand. He did far more damage than that.

I am only up to here (19) in the list, and there are some that should have come long before this twit.

Worst PM - John George Diefenbaker. His solid sucker punch the national solar plexus knocked the wind out of an enthusiastic post-war Canada, convinced Canadians from Ontario east that 'the west' was made up of needy whiners, convinced English Canada it was nothing but a poor version of the US and gave French Canada pause to remember.

Second Worst PM - Brian Mulroney. A total American wannabe (a sycophantic trait he seems to have passed on to his son) he ensured that any national pride we might have built up over non-involvement in American misadventures was replaced with a demoralizing inferiority complex, and any thoughts of cooperation with our fellow citizens should be replaced by the greed necessary to compete with each other until we can all become losers. He began the 'deep integration' that is so swiftly eroding Canada's government by the people.

Third Worst - Pierre Trudeau. Invited us to watch him as he transformed the country. Trudeau seemed to resent both Anglophone and Francophone traditions, contributions and constituencies. He was likely the last kid chosen for any team or group so he grew up resenting us all. Taking advantage of the ennui and angst created by Diefenbaker, his drive for anarchy and chaos radicalized Canadian political debate, and set us one against the other.

Tied for Fourth - Paul Martin and Stephen Harper. (Though Harper has time in hand to prove his 'worseness'.) Both should be hanged for Treason. (Normally I don't believe in capital punishment , but...) Martin, a cowardly traitor, did most of his work behind closed doors. Harper, a pompous traitor does quite a bit openly. It is not that the United States is our enemy - Americans, too, are losing their country, rights and identity to the same imperialist tyrants as are we. But NAFTA the WTO treaties, the SPP and all similar agreements yield up sovereignty to a moneyed few who are not necessarily citizens or even people. Citizens' rights to redress wrongs have been moved out of the national court systems; citizens' rights to control their environment have been moved out of the national political arenas; citizens' rights to set standards such as product, working and wage standards, to unionize or not, to know what is in your food, to be treated fairly by an employer, to compensation for expropriation are now in the hands of arbitrators operating under and enforcing trade regulations rather than legislation.

Summary Diefenbaker made it emotionally possible, Trudeau set the political stage, Mulroney put the wheels in motion, Martin and Harper continue the process.

"A mari usque ad mare" will fade with the nation and be replaced with "Je me souviens" by those aging few who remember Canada as a proud, capable, caring and sovereign nation.