Jonathon Van Maren is a communications consultant with The Acacia Group, a legal consultancy providing services to churches, charities, non-profits and religious institutionsIn 2015, Justin Trudeau proudly declared that Canada was now a “post-national state” with “no core identity.” He did this, presumptuously, on behalf of all Canadians, as if our heritage meant nothing. In some ways, it was no surprise. Canada has changed much between the two Trudeaus, and thus Trudeau the Younger is not entirely wrong to claim that Canada’s identity — like so many identities these days — is a confusing thing. But what Trudeau does not seem to realize is that he does not represent a continuity with Canada’s past and the millions who have lived here over the centuries, but a profound rupture.Over his near-decade in office, Trudeau has frequently excoriated those who oppose his radical social agenda as fundamentally “un-Canadian.” Canadian pro-lifers who seek to protect the weakest and most vulnerable members of our society are regularly a target of his wrath and contempt.Politicians and activists who seek to restrain the unfettered reign of LGBT activists and restrict sex change surgeries for children are condemned as wicked American imports. Churches and religious institutions that hold to the same views they have held for 2,000 years are frequently portrayed as anti-Canadian fifth columnists. This is despite the fact that Christians share their beliefs with the vast majority of Canadians for the vast majority of our short history. It is not Christians who are an aberration; it is Trudeau and his progressive comrades. His views on gender, marriage, and life stand in stark contrast to those of nearly every eminent Canadian until very recently. It is for this reason, I suspect, that Trudeau fails so spectacularly to summon what Lincoln called “the mystic chords of memory” when speaking of Canada and her history. How can he? According to him, most Canadians were merely transphobic, bigoted misogynists deserving of nothing but contempt.Trudeau cannot summon the solemn ghosts of Canada’s past because he wants to exorcise them. This is why (to offer just one example) he greets the campaign of domestic terrorism being waged against Canada’s churches — many of them historical sites — with a shrug, tepid condemnation, and the comment that he understands the rage fueling the arsonists. Trudeau is, you’ll recall, the prime minister of a nation that he believes is currently perpetrating a genocide. Trudeau loves Canada the way an abusive husband claims to love his wife — he holds great affection for her, he insists, but he would like her to permanently change her character, which he cannot stand. Canada once had a national character. The Trudeaus, however, didn’t care for it.Of course, this is not to subscribe to the fiction that Canada has no skeletons in her closet. But it is it is worth pointing out (for a further example) that none have yet been found in Kamloops. To that point and for the record, I believe that the residential school system is indeed a 'skeleton.' However, while I offer no defence of the residential school system itself — for which Stephen Harper rightly apologized — the allegations of "mass graves" and "genocide" behind which the Trudeau Liberals stand are so unsubstantiated that they amount to blood libel.So yes, Canada has her share of villains and has committed her share of crimes.Yet, the truth is that when our prime minister condemns the beliefs of Canadian Christians, he is condemning the past of the country he claims to love. He is sawing vigorously at the branch he sits on. We’ve all heard that cracking noise grow louder over the past decade. It is why Pierre Poilievre’s message that “everything is broken” resonates with so many people.I fully understand that Canada is a post-Christian country. I have noticed that the crowds at the cenotaphs on Remembrance Day, even in small towns, have shrunk, and that many of the younger attendees mumble their way through the hymns, leaving the grey-headed to sing, in quavery voices, the increasingly unknown songs of their childhood..But I believe that most Canadians are far less iconoclastic than our revolutionary leaders. A prime minister who is more comfortable with photo-ops clutching scantily clad drag queens or scampering down the street with half-naked men and furries at Pride Parades than at town halls with prairie farmers is not, I would argue, a good representative of our once-great nation.On the Peace Tower of Canada’s Parliament, a verse of Scripture is inscribed: “Without a vision, the people perish.” That is as true now, and here, as it was 3,000 years ago. Jonathon Van Maren is a communications consultant with The Acacia Group, a legal consultancy providing services to churches, charities, non-profits and religious institutions.
Jonathon Van Maren is a communications consultant with The Acacia Group, a legal consultancy providing services to churches, charities, non-profits and religious institutionsIn 2015, Justin Trudeau proudly declared that Canada was now a “post-national state” with “no core identity.” He did this, presumptuously, on behalf of all Canadians, as if our heritage meant nothing. In some ways, it was no surprise. Canada has changed much between the two Trudeaus, and thus Trudeau the Younger is not entirely wrong to claim that Canada’s identity — like so many identities these days — is a confusing thing. But what Trudeau does not seem to realize is that he does not represent a continuity with Canada’s past and the millions who have lived here over the centuries, but a profound rupture.Over his near-decade in office, Trudeau has frequently excoriated those who oppose his radical social agenda as fundamentally “un-Canadian.” Canadian pro-lifers who seek to protect the weakest and most vulnerable members of our society are regularly a target of his wrath and contempt.Politicians and activists who seek to restrain the unfettered reign of LGBT activists and restrict sex change surgeries for children are condemned as wicked American imports. Churches and religious institutions that hold to the same views they have held for 2,000 years are frequently portrayed as anti-Canadian fifth columnists. This is despite the fact that Christians share their beliefs with the vast majority of Canadians for the vast majority of our short history. It is not Christians who are an aberration; it is Trudeau and his progressive comrades. His views on gender, marriage, and life stand in stark contrast to those of nearly every eminent Canadian until very recently. It is for this reason, I suspect, that Trudeau fails so spectacularly to summon what Lincoln called “the mystic chords of memory” when speaking of Canada and her history. How can he? According to him, most Canadians were merely transphobic, bigoted misogynists deserving of nothing but contempt.Trudeau cannot summon the solemn ghosts of Canada’s past because he wants to exorcise them. This is why (to offer just one example) he greets the campaign of domestic terrorism being waged against Canada’s churches — many of them historical sites — with a shrug, tepid condemnation, and the comment that he understands the rage fueling the arsonists. Trudeau is, you’ll recall, the prime minister of a nation that he believes is currently perpetrating a genocide. Trudeau loves Canada the way an abusive husband claims to love his wife — he holds great affection for her, he insists, but he would like her to permanently change her character, which he cannot stand. Canada once had a national character. The Trudeaus, however, didn’t care for it.Of course, this is not to subscribe to the fiction that Canada has no skeletons in her closet. But it is it is worth pointing out (for a further example) that none have yet been found in Kamloops. To that point and for the record, I believe that the residential school system is indeed a 'skeleton.' However, while I offer no defence of the residential school system itself — for which Stephen Harper rightly apologized — the allegations of "mass graves" and "genocide" behind which the Trudeau Liberals stand are so unsubstantiated that they amount to blood libel.So yes, Canada has her share of villains and has committed her share of crimes.Yet, the truth is that when our prime minister condemns the beliefs of Canadian Christians, he is condemning the past of the country he claims to love. He is sawing vigorously at the branch he sits on. We’ve all heard that cracking noise grow louder over the past decade. It is why Pierre Poilievre’s message that “everything is broken” resonates with so many people.I fully understand that Canada is a post-Christian country. I have noticed that the crowds at the cenotaphs on Remembrance Day, even in small towns, have shrunk, and that many of the younger attendees mumble their way through the hymns, leaving the grey-headed to sing, in quavery voices, the increasingly unknown songs of their childhood..But I believe that most Canadians are far less iconoclastic than our revolutionary leaders. A prime minister who is more comfortable with photo-ops clutching scantily clad drag queens or scampering down the street with half-naked men and furries at Pride Parades than at town halls with prairie farmers is not, I would argue, a good representative of our once-great nation.On the Peace Tower of Canada’s Parliament, a verse of Scripture is inscribed: “Without a vision, the people perish.” That is as true now, and here, as it was 3,000 years ago. Jonathon Van Maren is a communications consultant with The Acacia Group, a legal consultancy providing services to churches, charities, non-profits and religious institutions.
