Relevance... Who Needs That?

I wake up everyday and I try to convince myself that Canada is a serious country, that we have some semblance of a role in the world, that in some minute way, we actually matter someway, somehow in the tapestry of existence. Then of course, a movie is made by an American producer detailing the lives of Canada’s most notorious serial killers, Paul Bernardo and Karla Holmolka, and the true reality of our languishing sense of self as a country re-assumes its intimidating gaze upon me again.

It’s not so much that this movie is getting media attention in Canada. Of course, a movie being made about such a thing is going to get attention here in Canada. It’s the fact that our politicians get distracted and passionately involved with such inane topics on such a constant basis that leaves me feeling like there is little hope for the maple leaf.

Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario in a press conference today, informed us that his government has looked at its legal options regarding the possibility of blocking the exhibition of the film in Ontario, only to find that the government has little to no legal options. This is of course, only the latest in a series of legal stumbling blocks McGuinty’s crack legal team has run into (others include: the inability to reverse contracts for building houses in the Oakridges Morraine, the rolling back of tolls on Highway 407, and interpreting the text of the Taxpayers Protection Act).

Now, I mean no disrespect to the Mahaffey and French families in any way. I have no idea whether or not this film violates some law of some kind or should or shouldn’t be released. That’s something for lawyers and individual persons to fight about. But when things like this take away valuable political time that could be devoted to things which actually matter such as healthcare, taxes, education, and Liberals accepting kickbacks from Quebec ad agencies, we reveal ourselves to be just as irrelevant as the rest of the world seemingly thinks we are.

I don’t have any material at this point to support it, but I’m almost sure that members of both the Ontario parliament and the Federal parliament will be rising in the legislatures to address this issue if they haven’t already. And my question is: why? Is this the role of lawmakers? To pontificate about the latest movie or TV show they feel is in bad taste?

You’ll remember how our entire country’s political system ground to halt over a satirical American television program, the Conan O’Brien Show. A funny little skit making fun of some well-known and well-joked-about French stereotypes actually managed to hijack political debate in this country. Some members of the NDP even mused about having charges of hate crimes brought against people behind the act. And no, I’m not going to let my Conservative pals off easy either. Some Conservatives also jumped in to condemn the television program. Needless to say, it took me months to regain my self-respect as a Canadian and a member of the Conservative Party.

Most of you probably don’t spend hours watching CPAC, and likely cannot maintain interest long enough to allow the finishing of a sentence. But if you ever do get a chance to listen to the crap that some of our MP and MPP’s manage to pull out of their ass, in what often seems like an effort just to listen to the sound of their own voice, you’ll fast find yourself wondering about the priorities and sensibilities of so many of our elected representatives. It’s almost enough to make a grown man break down and cry.