It is refreshing to see a prominent political figure stand up and push back against the howling cancel-mob as they target historical Canadian figures. I am happily surprised the political figure was Premier Jason Kenney, who has been trying to take a middle-of-the-road approach to many controversial issues while making few happy..Cancel-culture warriors have been trying to take advantage of the emotional climate in Canada following the horrific discovery of children’s bodies at the site of a Kamloops residential school. When the mob came for Sir John A. MacDonald, Kenney put his foot down firmly and effectively..Press conferences have become games of political “gotcha” as members of the mainstream — government subsidized media; the only ones Kenney allows to ask questions — try to toss figurative hand-grenades at political figures in hopes that they will slip-up and say something controversial. When a reporter asked Kenney to chime in in on proposals to rename a Calgary school bearing the name of Canada’s first prime minister, Kenney caught them by surprise when he gave a definitive ‘no’ to the idea..The premier explained why: “It’s an imperfect country, but it’s still a great country. Just as John Macdonald was an imperfect man, but was still a great leader.”.Kenney then pointed out a number of other political figures who could conceivably be canceled due to their actions and views in the past. NDP deity Tommy Douglas was an outspoken proponent of eugenics, a field that became anathema after the Second World War. Members of the “famous five” held some very intolerant views by today’s standards, and Liberal Prime Minister Sir Wilfred Laurier held unquestionably racist opinions. Where do we stop?.Abraham Lincoln would be considered a white supremacist by the standards of even the 1970s, let alone the Great Awakening of 2021..It is a fool’s game to try and hold our historical political figures to today’s standard of social views and tolerance. It’s not reasonable to expect people who lived centuries ago to think as we do today. The world has evolved into a better place and that is something to be celebrated. We still need to remember where we came from, and that means recognizing the historical figures who brought us to where we are, warts and all..We can walk and chew gum at the same time on this one. It is possible to celebrate the good things that some historical figures accomplished while condemning the actions that are no longer acceptable today..Cancel culture isn’t always loud when they perform their insidious destruction of history. Their actions aren’t always protests and attempts to tear down statues. Sometimes, quiet internal lobbying does the trick. The outcome is the same though..For example, The Royal Canadian Mint has deleted Nobel Laureate Sir Frederick Banting from a coin commemorating the discovery of insulin. While Banting’s work saved millions of lives over the decades and will continue to save millions more, his views were not progressive enough by today’s measure and he was dropped. It happened quietly, and if these sorts of actions continue, this great man may become forgotten in history..I am capable of looking at a statue of Sir John A. MacDonald and admiring what he accomplished as a great nation builder, while understanding that he was also one of the architects of residential schools. I can celebrate the good and condemn the bad. Tearing down statues won’t make the bad aspects go away, but it will obscure the good ones. That’s a form of lost history and that is a tragedy in itself we can’t abide..If our younger generations are incapable of distinguishing between the good and bad actions of historical figures, this is a symptom of a failing education system. We need to teach comprehensive history to our kids with all of the brightness and the darkness packed in together. It’s essential we know where we came from and how we got here if we want to continue to move forward as a society..The cancel-mob is unreasonable and there is little sense in trying to reason with them. As we concede on one front, they’re already targeting the next. Even cities aren’t immune as the names of Victoria and Halifax are even being questioned by some due to the actions of their namesakes. The same activists are even trying to discard the name British Columbia..We need to put our foot down with them, and Kenney was right to do so in no uncertain terms. He could have dodged or made a non-answer on this issue but, instead, he chose to face it directly on our behalf. The usual suspects are attacking Kenney today for his frank words and stance on this issue. We need to support him on this one. Let’s hope more political leaders begin taking stands like Kenney did so we can counter and reverse this odious trend of historical revisionism and erasure..Cory Morgan is the Alberta Political Columnist for the Western Standard and the Host of the Cory Morgan Show
It is refreshing to see a prominent political figure stand up and push back against the howling cancel-mob as they target historical Canadian figures. I am happily surprised the political figure was Premier Jason Kenney, who has been trying to take a middle-of-the-road approach to many controversial issues while making few happy..Cancel-culture warriors have been trying to take advantage of the emotional climate in Canada following the horrific discovery of children’s bodies at the site of a Kamloops residential school. When the mob came for Sir John A. MacDonald, Kenney put his foot down firmly and effectively..Press conferences have become games of political “gotcha” as members of the mainstream — government subsidized media; the only ones Kenney allows to ask questions — try to toss figurative hand-grenades at political figures in hopes that they will slip-up and say something controversial. When a reporter asked Kenney to chime in in on proposals to rename a Calgary school bearing the name of Canada’s first prime minister, Kenney caught them by surprise when he gave a definitive ‘no’ to the idea..The premier explained why: “It’s an imperfect country, but it’s still a great country. Just as John Macdonald was an imperfect man, but was still a great leader.”.Kenney then pointed out a number of other political figures who could conceivably be canceled due to their actions and views in the past. NDP deity Tommy Douglas was an outspoken proponent of eugenics, a field that became anathema after the Second World War. Members of the “famous five” held some very intolerant views by today’s standards, and Liberal Prime Minister Sir Wilfred Laurier held unquestionably racist opinions. Where do we stop?.Abraham Lincoln would be considered a white supremacist by the standards of even the 1970s, let alone the Great Awakening of 2021..It is a fool’s game to try and hold our historical political figures to today’s standard of social views and tolerance. It’s not reasonable to expect people who lived centuries ago to think as we do today. The world has evolved into a better place and that is something to be celebrated. We still need to remember where we came from, and that means recognizing the historical figures who brought us to where we are, warts and all..We can walk and chew gum at the same time on this one. It is possible to celebrate the good things that some historical figures accomplished while condemning the actions that are no longer acceptable today..Cancel culture isn’t always loud when they perform their insidious destruction of history. Their actions aren’t always protests and attempts to tear down statues. Sometimes, quiet internal lobbying does the trick. The outcome is the same though..For example, The Royal Canadian Mint has deleted Nobel Laureate Sir Frederick Banting from a coin commemorating the discovery of insulin. While Banting’s work saved millions of lives over the decades and will continue to save millions more, his views were not progressive enough by today’s measure and he was dropped. It happened quietly, and if these sorts of actions continue, this great man may become forgotten in history..I am capable of looking at a statue of Sir John A. MacDonald and admiring what he accomplished as a great nation builder, while understanding that he was also one of the architects of residential schools. I can celebrate the good and condemn the bad. Tearing down statues won’t make the bad aspects go away, but it will obscure the good ones. That’s a form of lost history and that is a tragedy in itself we can’t abide..If our younger generations are incapable of distinguishing between the good and bad actions of historical figures, this is a symptom of a failing education system. We need to teach comprehensive history to our kids with all of the brightness and the darkness packed in together. It’s essential we know where we came from and how we got here if we want to continue to move forward as a society..The cancel-mob is unreasonable and there is little sense in trying to reason with them. As we concede on one front, they’re already targeting the next. Even cities aren’t immune as the names of Victoria and Halifax are even being questioned by some due to the actions of their namesakes. The same activists are even trying to discard the name British Columbia..We need to put our foot down with them, and Kenney was right to do so in no uncertain terms. He could have dodged or made a non-answer on this issue but, instead, he chose to face it directly on our behalf. The usual suspects are attacking Kenney today for his frank words and stance on this issue. We need to support him on this one. Let’s hope more political leaders begin taking stands like Kenney did so we can counter and reverse this odious trend of historical revisionism and erasure..Cory Morgan is the Alberta Political Columnist for the Western Standard and the Host of the Cory Morgan Show
