Jordan O'Connor
May 22nd, 2006

There has been a lot of talk about Kyoto and the gun registry and the failings of both. The other night Rex Murphy on the CBC pointed out this parallel. It is true, both Kyoto and the gun registry have become “boondoggles” and as such political hot spots but why are we so ready to give up on these two things? Didn’t we think these things were important? What happened? I decided to write to “Your Turn” on the CBC. This is what I wrote:

Your Turn – Our commitment to giving up

I'm curious...

Is the fundamental idea behind both Kyoto and the gun registry really so bad? Is it really such a capricious act to be unrealistic when facing what for many people remain concepts that are completely abstract? I suppose the best thing to do, and the simplest way to appear in the know is to be offended. That said shouldn't we be careful when people tell us to be offended, proclaiming that it is "your tax dollars that are being wasted!" Whose interest is truly served? But I guess it is better to scrap the gun registry and walk away from Kyoto since there is no better way to show our commitment to gun safety and the environment than by giving up.

Clearly we haven't found the best balance between the interested parties in either the registry or Kyoto but instead of exploiting people for political gains perhaps we should remember that a gun registry can aid in an investigation (obviously it's not the silver bullet, a registry won't stop crime) or help police to better respond to a call, or, and, as regards Kyoto, let's remember that the Tar Sands play a big part in our not meeting Kyoto but more importantly that fundamentally we are concerned about the physical condition of the world we live - if our roof was leaking would we "get-out" of fixing the leak because it will take too long and we have a bigger leak then the USA so forget it. But who cares, I want my wasted tax dollars back - because if anyone knows how to waste anything it's me - and I'm mad as hell about it!  

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Well, come airtime I watched to see if my comments made it to the moment Peter says “…and here are some of your comments on last nights Your Turn.” Well, I didn’t make the cut. Just the same it was interesting.

Someone from the West completely agreed with Rex’s assessment while someone from Toronto didn’t. Now I haven’t done any polling but it seems to me that there is a distinctly Western connection (and rural) to the perceived problems with both the gun registry and Kyoto, although not universally so. I mean, from what I have heard, the Tar Sands is a major factor in our inability to achieve the Kyoto goals and I have heard a loud and clear frustration on the part of some Westerners in regards to the gun registry. You know, come to think of it, there is a political party in power right now that derives its political base from the West. Hum, I wonder is there’s a connection between pulling out of Kyoto and the gun registry, other than they are evil Liberal boondoggles and a massive waste of the tax payers money? There is a political game being played and right now the conservatives are playing it better then any other party.

But what if we step back for a moment and think back to the initial desire for a gun registry and Kyoto agreement, I think what we will find it is a reaction to events that took place – like the massacre in Montreal. Perhaps the saddest thing is, now the choice is political, it is about punishing the Liberals for wasting money – for the sponsorship scandal! And this scandal has removed from our memory the initial reasons for Kyoto and the initial reasons for the gun registry. Furthermore, the sponsorship scandal and the fall of government eliminated the possibility for an aboriginal agreement unprecedented in Canadian history and eliminated the possibility of a national day care system.  If we look at the root of the sponsorship scandal we find an extreme misuse of funds in what was – at least at the time – considered a potentially history-changing event. But wouldn’t it follow that if the federal government didn’t attempt to “buy” Quebec through ads and if the ads had in fact been the deciding factor in the vote, that the separatist votes could have won the day? And if Quebec had separated where would we be now?

When we get side tracked by the political strategies of any party and if we believe the egregious argument that the way – the only way – to excise our rights is by picking a party and taking down the enemy, we forget that all we have done is vented our personal rage, a rage that has more to do with who we are than who the government or any political party is, furthermore, we solve nothing. We forget by purposely clouding the truth. The truth that the environment is being irreversible damaged by our hubris. We dismiss the very idea behind the gun registry: that people come before guns, not the other way around, because we have stepped into the political fog, which states:“…it’s your tax dollars that are being wasted” (Get mad) , “Canadians want…”,(Be outraged) “Working people expect…”,(Demand) “Families…”, (Just flip out!) etc. Just once I would like to hear: “Out of work Artist’s want…”, “Alcoholics want…”, “Depressed people expect…” ahh what the hell… “Jordan deservers…”, seriously though “Immigrants want…”, “Aboriginal People deserver…”, “People who don’t believe in god and don’t say ‘God Bless Canada’ expect…”, “Gay couple’s demand…”, “People who aren’t white expect…” “Mother’s on welfare expect…”, “Children demand…”

But maybe we just need to vent, and maybe that’s what Rex’s editorial was really saying – I am mad as hell and I’m not going to take it any more. I’m made as hell and I’m not going to take it any more. I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it any more.

But how did we get so mad? From where does our distain flow? And who is telling us to be mad and why?

Perhaps this is all, in some crazy operatic way, the price we pay for the unification of Canada? You decide if it is worth it… and don’t tell any one your answer.

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