Of all the things that are under attack in Canada these days, Christmas is not even on the short list.
A lot of people still get excited at this time of year and moan about great Canadian traditions being taken away from us. It’s not happening. There is nothing to be afraid of. If you want to say Merry Christmas – or Happy Hanukah, Calm Kwanzaa, Serene Solstice, or whatever – to everyone you know, cut loose and do it. Have fun. Celebrate. No one is stopping you. No foreign culture is taking over the country and telling you what you can or can’t do.
Holiday observances are annual milestones on the winding road that takes us all from here and now to there and then. Enjoy them on your own terms and at your own pace. Let other people have their own fun at their time of the year. Stop pretending there is some sort of thought police killing your fun. They’re not out there.
Stores and institutions that deal with the public need to recognize all these cultural observances, many of which converge at this time of year. Listing them all would take too much ink and steal space from the important information, like what’s on sale this week. The flyers that come with the Trib every Thursday already weigh in at about two kilos a week. It’s easier for them to lump it all together into one Happy Holidays message. You don’t have to. Let’s not make it any more complicated than it needs to be.
If you want to worry about a precious Canadian tradition being under attack, worry about our Parliament. It is supposed to be a sanctuary for truth and honesty. It is supposed to be the place where the governing party  is held accountable for its actions. Or so the story goes. Recent episodes with Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development John Duncan show how severely this institution has been damaged.
Duncan says his department only became aware of problems in Attawapiskat on Oct. 28. Chuck Strahl, the former Minister of Indian Affairs, told CBC Radio the town “has been a slow-moving train wreck for a long time.” Peter MacKay says he used a rescue helicopter for important government business and to practise their search and rescue abilities. He was really trying to save himself about an hour and a half of travel time from a ritzy Newfoundland fishing camp.
Anyone who truly cares about the erosion of traditional Canadian values and institutions should join the demand for their resignations.
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Movember is over and done with and my lip is bare again. Today is the last day for making last-minute donations to your favorite MoBro.
There were lots of us trying to pick up money for prostate cancer research, and a lot was raised. As of last Sunday, 246,398 Canadians had brought in $36.3 million. Thanks to many generous friends, colleagues and family members, I took in a total of $1,054. Pretty respectable, I think. It put me in the top 5,000 nationwide. Internationally, over 850,000 people brought in $105.5 million.
Now that I’ve seen it up close and personal, I have an idea. We can declare the first month of the year to be Janubrary and use it to raise money for libraries across the country. If public institutions can’t rely on government funding from the tax base these days, they’ll have to go directly to the public. Hospitals have been doing it for a while.
The time has come for libraries to get in the queue.