While we’re on the subject of vaguely foreboding warnings from our Prime Minister, Mr. Harper’s communications director, Dimitri Soudas, has recently added this bit to his email signature.
“In such a world, strength is not an option; It is a vital necessity. Moral ambiguity, moral equivalence are not options, they are dangerous illusions.”
In context, from the Prime Minister’s speech to the Conservative convention last month, this bit sets up Mr. Harper’s suggestion that Canada might not make it to see 2067.
We are living in a world in which, after decades of stable, sometimes stagnant international relationships, change is the new constant. Power is shifting. New forces are coming to the fore. Some we will be pleased to work with. Some we must resist.
Dans un tel monde, d’immenses possibilités et de grand danger pour le Canada, l’unité nationale, dans les faits comme dans le but, est notre plus grand atout. In such a world, strength is not an option; It is a vital necessity. Moral ambiguity, moral equivalence are not options, they are dangerous illusions. And national unity, in fact and in purpose, is our greatest asset.
Friends, in a few short years, we will celebrate our 150th anniversary as a united country. If, in 50 more years, we wish our descendants to celebrate Canada’s 200th anniversary, then we must be all we can be in the world today. Therefore, my friends, our party’s great purpose is nothing less than to prepare our nation to shoulder a bigger load, in a world that will require it of us.
