STANNUS: The right way to say goodbye to Canada's Liberals

Jane Stannus is a writer and translator from eastern CanadaWant rid of the Liberals ruining Canada? Understandable, but there's a wrong way and a right way.Once upon a time, in a great but troubled country, there was a bad ruler, whose name (coincidentally) started with a J.Heavy taxation crippled the people of this land. Their government obstructed their attempts to develop their resources. When, in spite of everything, they were able to turn a profit, J. was quick to seize the lion’s share.J. passed strange and arbitrary laws, and when people broke them (because they didn’t make sense), he collected more money through exorbitant fines. The money went to his preferred projects in favoured regions, leaving the majority of the country in financial distress.J. had no problem using force against his own people. He would send his mounted security to ride down a crowd of peaceful protestors without a second thought.But he was neither a good negotiator nor a military strategist. When the neighbouring country cast envious eyes upon their lands and resources, J. was unable to hold them off.The people became poorer and poorer. Angry landowners and business leaders felt that the situation could not continue, yet they disagreed amongst themselves as to what should be done. Civil war, and with it even greater misery, threatened.Up until that last bit, it sounds pretty familiar, doesn’t it? But this isn’t the story of the great but troubled country that is Canada. It’s medieval England under bad King John, though the parallels with our own situation are striking. And that’s excellent news for us, because England escaped from the miserable state John had brought about. So can we.How did they do it?Cometh the hour, cometh the man, and 812 years ago, Stephen Langton was the man.He was a cardinal of the Catholic Church, and had endured a lot from John before he was allowed into England to take up his post as Archbishop of Canterbury. (John’s father had murdered a previous archbishop, Thomas Becket, only forty years before.)Stephen was a man of principle, and an excellent negotiator. He saw that to prevent civil war, the injustices must stop. But, at the same time, what order remained in the kingdom had to be preserved. If the existing hierarchy was overthrown, chaos and even greater suffering would ensue.Langton rounded up the barons, the abbots, and everyone influential with a grievance. He sat them down and made them spell out all the things they were angry about.What would we put on such a list, if we were to ask Canadians today? Maybe things like equalization payments and blocking pipelines. Some might add government overreach, digital ID, and censorship. Still others would point to injustices like the government-sanctioned killing of the elderly, sick, and unborn. There would be more, of course.The English too had many concerns, and Langton listened to them all. Then, together, they codified the principles that had governed such situations in the past. There was no radical change; they were simply reaffirming what had, for time immemorial in England, been considered just, fair and equitable.It was a very practical list. It standardized the measurement of a pint of ale. It said that if sheriffs requisitioned horses or vehicles, they had to pay for them. It affirmed the duty to provide swift and impartial justice. It protected regional customs and ancient practices.This Magna Carta, or great charter, was the beginning of formalized common law.And on a fateful June day in the meadow of Runnymede, John, looking around at the determined eyes of his landowners and clergy, realized he was out of options and signed.It wasn’t quite a miracle fix, as John did go back on his word. But he soon died, and the next king formally adopted the Magna Carta as the law of land.Many aggrieved Canadians today are looking to the ideology of the American Founding Fathers in their quest to right injustice. But there is a better way.With the Declaration of Independence, America deliberately cut itself off from its historical roots, with the intent to found an entirely new kind of nation, unfettered by European tradition. So they rewrote the history books, and even the spelling books (just check out the history of Webster's Dictionary).Now, America has its own story, and many of the things we like about it today exist only thanks to European tradition.But interestingly, the Trudeau dynasty — and Mark Carney, if he gets the chance — would also like an entirely new kind of Canada — a socialist Canada unfettered by European and Christian tradition. This is why we must believe in the black legend of the residential schools, and tolerate the burning of churches. This is why depravity must be not just tolerated but praised.Under King John, Stephen Langton and his fellows could have resorted to violence and revolution, but the kingdom would have paid a heavy price. Instead, they united around the higher authority of tradition, and cemented it in what would become common law. And so they imparted a strength and stability to the British nation that has lasted for nearly a thousand years — a strength that is ours, by inheritance, in Canada.Leaders who want to take away our history, to make us ignorant of it, or ashamed of it, are afraid of it. Afraid of it why? Because it's powerful. So let's use that. Let's lean into our European and Christian heritage — which is there for newcomers from other parts of the world, as much as for indigenous Canadians and the descendants of the first settlers. There's a reason people want to be in Canada, and it's not eating bugs.And let's admire real statesmen like Cardinal Stephen Langton, who had his priorities right and turned a crisis into a nation-building moment. If we admire, we can hope to emulate!Jane Stannus is a writer and translator from eastern Canada.

STANNUS: The right way to say goodbye to Canada's Liberals

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