Prime Time Crime
(Published in the Similkameen Spotlight week of July 11, 2005)
By
John Martin
It looks like frosty relations between America and the once great white north will continue for quite some time. Canada’s new ambassador to the United States has just played the buffoon card and identified Fox News as public enemy #1. Frank Mckenna is peeved at what he calls the “Fox factor.”
The ambassador claims Fox spreads lies and disinformation about his homeland and his plan is to mail out anti-Fox news letters to the more than one million Canadians living in Florida, Arizona and other warm weather states and urge them to counter the “Fox falsehoods.”
If he thinks a glossy mail-out is the answer to the deteriorating relationship between the two neighbors, it’s likely the ambassador has been getting into some of that soon-to-be-decriminalized B.C. Bud that has become Canada’s number one export.
He’s particularly steamed at the fair and balanced Fox broadcaster, Bill O’Reilly for noting that Canada is not doing its part in the war on terror (it isn’t) and continues to be a haven for terrorists (there are fifty such cells in operation according to the RCMP). This, coming from a member of the government that turned its back on its long time ally regarding Iraq and then cried and stomped its feet like a four year old when informed that only those supporting the liberation of Iraq could get in on the rebuilding contracts.
The relationship has actually been in the toilet since the 1960’s when Trudeau sought to sever ties with Britain and the U.S. and move the country closer to the Soviet Union. Trudeau, an unabashed communist at heart, was best friends with Fidel Castro and made anti-Americanism an official Canadian value.
When Ronald Reagan addressed the Canadian parliament he was booed and heckled by socialist blowhard, Svend Robinson, who has since been convicted of shoplifting a $50,000 diamond engagement ring for his boyfriend. The parliamentarian was cheered across the land for his “principled stand.”
The day after 911, Jean Chrétien went on television and made it clear that a “greedy and arrogant” America got what she deserved. The public relations branch of the Liberal government, the CBC, held a town hall meeting within days of the attack and filled the room with Bush haters for a sickening orgy of excuse-making and rationalizing for the terrorist acts.
When pressed for what type of evidence would justify an invasion of Iraq, Chrétien mumbled, “Da proof is da proof and when you have da proof dat’s good – cause den it’s proved.” Such eloquence and statesmanship.
There was no reprimand when one of his aides called President Bush a moron. Nor were there any consequences when a member of the government was caught on camera exclaiming, “Damn Americans – I hate those bastards.”
But according to the new ambassador, it’s all Fox’s doing.
This isn’t the first time Canadian officials have singled out Fox. Until earlier this year, Fox was banned in Canada and anyone convicted of receiving the signal on an unauthorized satellite faced a maximum penalty of one year in prison. Which is about twelve months more time than you get for selling drugs in Canada.
That Fox is now available is only on account of government bumbling. Their official reason for banning Fox was that there were only so many signals (we’re talking cable here, dummies) and there were already too many news stations, including CNN, of course.
But the government, always eager to spread more anti-Israeli and anti-American propaganda, jumped at the opportunity to give Al-Jazeera a license. Unable to sustain the “too many news stations” lie any longer, they finally relented and Fox became available as a specialty, pay for view option for a limited number of cable subscribers six month ago.
It appears that the irony of encouraging those Canadians who have obviously found greener pastures south of the border, to defend Canada’s deteriorating reputation, is lost on the ambassador.
John Martin is a Criminologist at the University College of the Fraser Valley and can be contacted at John.Martin@ucfv.ca