There has been much doubt cast on the story of Dana Chartwell and Dave Brown by supporters of the native protesters and the crown prosecutor, but to me their story is a familiar one. I’ve had family and friends move in and out of Caledonia over the past 25 years and the first hand reports I’ve received regarding the dispute are the same; residents told by the OPP they will not patrol their street, to call the native police if there are problems.
The story of Caledonia these last four years is of one set of laws applying to non-native residents and no law apparently applying to natives. It is a situation that doesn’t pass the smell test to most Canadians outside of the rarefied air of Queen’s Park. Justice is supposed to be blind, meaning it treats all people the same regardless of race or social status, in Caledonia the blindness appears selective.
Canada’s political and community leaders may read about Swiss voters banning minarets or British voters electing British National Party members to represent them and ask, “How could this happen?” The answer is found in the examples above occurring again and again, repeating themselves in new situations until Canada may one day have its very own Nick Griffin and near a quarter of the country is saying they would consider voting for his party.
Canadians believe in tolerance and equality but unless our political establishment begins to support these values as well, the support of the masses will erode and voters will begin to act in ways that our chattering classes find shocking.
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Of course, it wouldn’t take a BNP, and they wouldn’t fly very far up here. An Independence Party, on the other hand…
