Re: Chaos in Canada
Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2022 3:51 am
Slightly tongue in cheek...
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/columnists/ ... -go-wrong/
Comment
Canada used to be the friendliest place in the world. Where did it all go wrong?
Under Justin Trudeau, a country that seemed pleasantly uneventful has turned into a bin-fire of raging hostility
Michael Deacon
Columnist
19 February 2022 • 7:00am
Michael Deacon
The news from Canada seems to grow more startling by the day. The government invoking emergency powers to crack down on mass protests against Covid restrictions. Police arresting leaders of the “freedom convoy” of truckers. Justin Trudeau dismissing protesters as “people who wave swastikas”.
Of course, we’ve seen Covid-related protests turn ugly in plenty of other countries, too. What seems remarkable in this particular case is simply that it’s happening in Canada. Because, at least to outsiders, Canada normally seems like the friendliest, calmest, and most uneventful place on Earth. It’s the last country we’d expect to collapse into a raging bin-fire of anger and hostility.
A decade ago now, I was sent to Canada to write an article for the Telegraph’s travel section. And, like countless other visitors both before and since, I found the locals to be almost comically pleasant and polite. No people on the planet are more considerate, obliging, or anxious to please. When the waitresses and shop assistants tell you to have a nice day, they sound as if they have no more heartfelt wish in the world. In Vancouver, meanwhile, I passed a beggar who was repeating the phrase, “Small change, anybody?” in a tone so gentle and courteous it sounded as if he was offering coins rather than requesting them.
To this day I remain convinced that if a Canadian woke up in the middle of the night to find you burgling his house, he would offer to help.
“Take care lifting that 65-inch TV down from the wall, sir – can’t have you putting your back out! Here, let me hold the other end for you. Easy does it. By the way, did you get my iPhone 13? Don’t forget the charger, it’s upstairs. No, no, you put your feet up – I’ll run and fetch it. Say, looks like you didn’t manage to crack the code on the little safe where we keep my wife’s jewellery. Help yourself to a coffee, while I pop it all into a bag for you. We can load everything into my brand new Porsche. You’ll find the key on the kitchen table.”
To my jaded and cynical British eyes, Canada seemed so wholesome, earnest and sincere. I remember looking at magazines on a newsstand. Leading publications included Best Log Homes (sample headline: “Best Floor Plans: Our Annual Contest Winners”), Woodsmith (“Discover How to Get More From Your Table Saw”) – and a magazine entirely dedicated to truck driving.
The main article in that particular issue was about bolt-on truck accessories. Given how things are going, I daren’t imagine what the next issue will include. “Top 50 Ways to Blockade a City Centre”, plus free anti-Trudeau placard for every reader.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/columnists/ ... -go-wrong/
Comment
Canada used to be the friendliest place in the world. Where did it all go wrong?
Under Justin Trudeau, a country that seemed pleasantly uneventful has turned into a bin-fire of raging hostility
Michael Deacon
Columnist
19 February 2022 • 7:00am
Michael Deacon
The news from Canada seems to grow more startling by the day. The government invoking emergency powers to crack down on mass protests against Covid restrictions. Police arresting leaders of the “freedom convoy” of truckers. Justin Trudeau dismissing protesters as “people who wave swastikas”.
Of course, we’ve seen Covid-related protests turn ugly in plenty of other countries, too. What seems remarkable in this particular case is simply that it’s happening in Canada. Because, at least to outsiders, Canada normally seems like the friendliest, calmest, and most uneventful place on Earth. It’s the last country we’d expect to collapse into a raging bin-fire of anger and hostility.
A decade ago now, I was sent to Canada to write an article for the Telegraph’s travel section. And, like countless other visitors both before and since, I found the locals to be almost comically pleasant and polite. No people on the planet are more considerate, obliging, or anxious to please. When the waitresses and shop assistants tell you to have a nice day, they sound as if they have no more heartfelt wish in the world. In Vancouver, meanwhile, I passed a beggar who was repeating the phrase, “Small change, anybody?” in a tone so gentle and courteous it sounded as if he was offering coins rather than requesting them.
To this day I remain convinced that if a Canadian woke up in the middle of the night to find you burgling his house, he would offer to help.
“Take care lifting that 65-inch TV down from the wall, sir – can’t have you putting your back out! Here, let me hold the other end for you. Easy does it. By the way, did you get my iPhone 13? Don’t forget the charger, it’s upstairs. No, no, you put your feet up – I’ll run and fetch it. Say, looks like you didn’t manage to crack the code on the little safe where we keep my wife’s jewellery. Help yourself to a coffee, while I pop it all into a bag for you. We can load everything into my brand new Porsche. You’ll find the key on the kitchen table.”
To my jaded and cynical British eyes, Canada seemed so wholesome, earnest and sincere. I remember looking at magazines on a newsstand. Leading publications included Best Log Homes (sample headline: “Best Floor Plans: Our Annual Contest Winners”), Woodsmith (“Discover How to Get More From Your Table Saw”) – and a magazine entirely dedicated to truck driving.
The main article in that particular issue was about bolt-on truck accessories. Given how things are going, I daren’t imagine what the next issue will include. “Top 50 Ways to Blockade a City Centre”, plus free anti-Trudeau placard for every reader.
