All We Need is Love

It took less than 24 hours for the press to seize upon what it thought to be a defining moment in this campaign, and for the Liberal spin-meisters to wear out their thumbs text messaging the world that Stephen Harper doesn’t love Canada.

Of course they know Paul Martin loves Canada because he tells you so on every occasion he can. And he wraps himself in the flag of Canada which Liberals conveniently adopted as their symbol, the better to convince everyone that to be Canadian is to be Liberal and vice versa. The world of journalism is a world of words and images and there is too little discernment amongst journalists and their readers. Discernment would quickly show that the Liberal Party’s love for Canada is narcissistic. It is a love for power and privilege that the reins of government give to the Liberals.

I admit Mr. Harper could have avoided all the hoopla by responding more directly to the question than he did. That he chooses his words carefully, is to many a fine quality and one much preferable to the glib rhetoric we get from most politicians in the unreal world of the 2 second sound bite.

It would have been wonderful to hear Mr. Harper respond to the question like this:

"It is interesting that you should ask me that question. I hope you are willing to listen carefully to my answer. I was brought up to believe that it is much more important to be judged by what you do than by what you say. It is easy to say you love someone or something; it is much more difficult to prove that your love is genuine. So I do not use the word love frivolously.

I believe love that does not include a sacrificial attitude, a servant attitude, toward the object of love, is not real love. True love is marked by an acceptance of responsibility and accountability toward the object of affection. True love is marked by a commitment to tell the truth and not to deceive the object of affection.

It is in that sense I love Canada. I have chosen to commit myself to the public service because I believe I have ideas and skills that can be used to the benefit of all Canadians. I want to serve Canadians and to help them make Canada an even greater nation than it already is. I want that greatness to be expressed in tangible actions, not in empty rhetoric.

I do not want to take from Canada; I want to give to Canada. But no volume of words spoken by me or any other politician professing love for country should be accepted by any Canadian as proof of that love. Proof is in the actions and attitudes we display, not in our words.

In the next two months, I will ask Canadians to listen carefully to the policies my party will be advocating during this campaign. Are those policies consistent with a desire to make Canada a better place? Do the policies contain strong measures to hold me and my government accountable to Canadians for our actions? Do the policies provide mechanisms to eliminate the culture of entitlement which has so obviously been shown to exist in Canada in these times? I believe they do, and I am asking the people of Canada to give me and the other Conservative members of parliament they elect to the House of Commons, the chance to prove our love by our actions.

One can only hope!