Images in unused pages of passports less important than fires
By Lethbridge Herald on June 17, 2023.
Editor:
I’ve just received an important, taxpayer-funded, official communication from my Member of Parliament for Lethbridge. Rachel Thomas, our Conservative MP, distributed her newsletter to our community, and in it she wrote a passionate rant about one of the most important issues facing our country.
No, the topic was not the unprecedented wildfires currently devastating large areas of Canada, since Conservative MPs just finished voting en masse not to take any steps to prevent catastrophic wildfires, on a Bloc Quebecois motion where all other parties supported urgent action. The topic was the monotone background images in the unused back pages of Canadian passports.
In the latest version of the passport, there are less pictures relating to Canadian history. A scene of Vimy Ridge and of Terry Fox no longer emboss pages, while Ms. Thomas criticizes using images of a squirrel and a man raking leaves. She characterizes this as an attempt to erase history and argues that official documents must be a place where we tell the story of our nation.
It was puzzling then, to examine the images Ms. Thomas used in her newsletter. There was a picture of her handing out cotton candy. Surely this should have been replaced by a picture of Vimy Ridge? The other main image featured a pickup truck carrying a large flag, an image familiar to Canadians as a symbol of the convoy vehicles that attacked Ottawa and Coutts, in an attempt by some to overthrow the government. Choosing an image of insurrectionists for the federal newsletter says a great deal, I think, about where Ms. Thomas wants to take the history of Canada.
Tom Moffatt
Lethbridge
8-7
Oh wouldn’t you be fun to party with you bitter NDP apologist. Keep this up and even they won’t like you.
You can count on buckwheat for comic relief
Actually, talking about the devastating impact on wildlife and the environment generally, resulting from climate induced (in part) wildfires, is a hell of a lot more relevant than pretty passport pictures that our MP seems to care about!
Re: Thomas’s passport ‘images’ rant and her own newsletter ‘images?”……agreed, a real groaner with a complete lack of credibility.
I just looked at a selection of my expired passports. They were issued in 1988, 2003 and 2009, respectively. Interestingly, none contain images depicting galvanizing historical events or iconic national symbols. Using our MP’s logic, we must conclude that Canadian heritage and history didn’t matter to governments led by Brian Mulroney, Jean Chrétien or Stephen Harper either.
A correction for Moffatt- trucks carrying flags did not attack Ottawa or Coutts. Loser troops and police did attack Canadian citizens witnessing the visitors to Ottawa and Coutts though. Political puppets cow-wowing to despicable politicians who were too cowardly or disinterested to deal with concerns of Canadians
Moffat’s pettiness is mind boggling. Maybe he should sound off about Black Face and his sidekick and the damage in the debt department being wrought on the citizens of this great country, (Wait!! Can I say great country? Or do I have to espouse the diversity, equality and inclusive babble including division at every turn). How about we just all get along without shouting the message of the day. O Canada!!!!!!
There are several myths about the Ottawa Occupation and the border Blockades, including but not limited to the following.
1. The genesis of the so-called Freedom Convoy can be traced to concerns by a relatively small number of truckers over cross-border vaccination requirements, but very early on other interests and agendas took over. Witness the MOU posted to the Canada Unity website.
2. The protests, in the form they took, were illegal, and were fueled by a combination of vaccine misinformation, anti-vax Christian literalists, and general unrest.
3. Justin Trudeau was certainly sloppy in some of his comments, especially early on. That made him an easy target for anger and discontent. But he was a scapegoat in that he had nothing to do with the US cross-border requirements nor with the COVID-containment measures put in place by the provinces and territories.
4. While several polls confirmed that nearly half of Canadians were sympathetic to the concerns that the sparked the Convoy, namely that COVID-containment measures had gone too far, it is also the case that relatively few Canadians (proportionately speaking) supported the tactics used by the protesters. Any claim that the protesters, whether in Ottawa on at various border crossings, “represented Canadians” is quite simply untethered from the facts.