The Monarchist 1.0
Defending the British Crown Commonwealth and the English-Speaking Peoples
[+] HONOURING OUR PATRON, SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL, VICTOR OF THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING PEOPLES
[+] HONOURING OUR QUEEN, ELIZABETH THE SECOND, ON THE 80TH YEAR OF HER BIRTH (1926 - 2006)
[+] HONOURING OUR KING, SAINT EDWARD THE CONFESSOR, ON THE 1000TH YEAR OF HIS BIRTH (1005 - 2005)
[+] HONOURING OUR HERO, LORD NELSON, ON THE BICENTENNIAL OF THE BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR (1805 - 2005)
[+] HONOURING OUR SONS, THE QUEEN'S COMMONWEALTH SOLDIERS KILLED IN THE 'WAR ON TERROR'
Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard, 46, Royal Canadian Regiment, Nov 27, 2006 (Afstan)
Staff Sergeant Sharron Elliott, 34, Intelligence Corps, Nov 12, 2006 (Iraq)
Private Jacob B. Kovco, 25, Royal Australian Regiment, April 21, 2006
[+] HONOURING OUR VETS ON THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE VICTORIA CROSS (1856 - 2006)
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Return our British Lord his Canadian citizenship
The following unlinkable article by former newspaper baron Conrad Black, appeared in today's National Post in response to a swipe by Canadian comedian Rick Mercer. (A quite inferior swipe I might add, compared to the intelligence of the return broadside below). The issue raises a number of points: Can a Canadian also be British; can a Canadian receive a British titular honour from Her Majesty; can a Canadian even receive a Canadian honour from Her Majesty anymore; can a Canadian be honoured in another country without political interference; can a Canadian sit in the House of Lords without renouncing his citizenship; did former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien act the part of a sniveling, petulant tyrant, when he decided to retaliate without proper precedent against a private citizen who dared criticize him?
I suppose I should be grateful to Rick Mercer for his attempt at humour on my behalf. As a public service, I can set his mind at ease on several points.
I am not actually doing much about my citizenship right now, but confirmed to someone who asked me on television (TV Ontario’s Steve Paikin) that I would eventually do as I said I would when I renounced the citizenship: seek to take it back. I never uttered one word of disparagement of Canada, was proud to be a dual citizen of Canada and the U.K. and look forward to regaining that status again. I seek no treatment different to anyone else’s. When the time eventually comes, I believe I can clear the hurdle all candidates must meet as a law-abiding, economically productive person. I care and know about the country, and my wife and sons and daughter are Canadians, and will sponsor me.
I understand the temptation to portray me as a medieval poltroon in satin breeches, a powdered wig and an ermine collar. But the House of Lords is the most distinguished legislative chamber in the world in terms of the achievements of its members and quality of its debates. Jean Chrétien, who was approved by two thirds of Canadians at the time according to polls, created a second class of citizenship in a foreign country, consisting of one person, me, ineligible to receive an honour in that country, for services rendered in that country, because of being a dual citizen, although there are more than a dozen joint citizens in the House of Lords, and because he did not like what we wrote about him in this newspaper.
The Canadian courts, which had the right and duty to revoke him, claimed not to have jurisdiction. Chrétien, with whom I had had cordial relations for 25 years, made it clear that his motive in intervening as he did, contrary to the advice he received from his own officials, was that the National Post, of which I was then the publisher, was questioning the financial probity of his government. We seem not to have been mistaken.
He boasted to friends of mine that he would win in court because he appointed the judges. I made it clear that I found it painful to surrender my citizenship and intended to take it back when current Canadian conditions had evolved. They have evolved. Canada was made to appear petty in the eyes of other countries, especially the British, who did not suggest that I cease to be a member of the Privy Council of Canada or Officer of the Order of Canada because I was a U.K. citizen. Canada, one of the world’s great countries despite Chrétien, was made to appear a land of yokels, and not by me. Mr. Mercer’s antics don’t completely banish that impression, but events have.
My legal travails in the United States, abetted by some Canadians, have nothing to do with citizenship, but I appreciate Mr. Mercer’s support. The poverty of the case against the defendants will be exposed in the proper place and time. I agree that it must all seem to have its comical aspects, and I don’t think I can be accused of taking the recent fluctuations of my circumstances too seriously.
Not everyone facing the onslaught I have would be rolling around on the floor laughing about it. Those who have endured such a thing may judge. I am fighting for my freedom, and will eventually, if I must, fight for my freedom to be a Canadian as well as a British citizen. I will send Mr. Mercer a “Free Conrad” T-shirt (now available in some stores) in the hope that it broadens his appreciation that the caprices of government, in one country and another, like the hackneyed parodies of a comedian, are not always hilarious.
POSTED BY: Beaverbrook AT 12:06 p.m. | LINKS |
The following unlinkable article by former newspaper baron Conrad Black, appeared in today's National Post in response to a swipe by Canadian comedian Rick Mercer. (A quite inferior swipe I might add, compared to the intelligence of the return broadside below). The issue raises a number of points: Can a Canadian also be British; can a Canadian receive a British titular honour from Her Majesty; can a Canadian even receive a Canadian honour from Her Majesty anymore; can a Canadian be honoured in another country without political interference; can a Canadian sit in the House of Lords without renouncing his citizenship; did former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien act the part of a sniveling, petulant tyrant, when he decided to retaliate without proper precedent against a private citizen who dared criticize him?
I suppose I should be grateful to Rick Mercer for his attempt at humour on my behalf. As a public service, I can set his mind at ease on several points.I am not actually doing much about my citizenship right now, but confirmed to someone who asked me on television (TV Ontario’s Steve Paikin) that I would eventually do as I said I would when I renounced the citizenship: seek to take it back. I never uttered one word of disparagement of Canada, was proud to be a dual citizen of Canada and the U.K. and look forward to regaining that status again. I seek no treatment different to anyone else’s. When the time eventually comes, I believe I can clear the hurdle all candidates must meet as a law-abiding, economically productive person. I care and know about the country, and my wife and sons and daughter are Canadians, and will sponsor me.
I understand the temptation to portray me as a medieval poltroon in satin breeches, a powdered wig and an ermine collar. But the House of Lords is the most distinguished legislative chamber in the world in terms of the achievements of its members and quality of its debates. Jean Chrétien, who was approved by two thirds of Canadians at the time according to polls, created a second class of citizenship in a foreign country, consisting of one person, me, ineligible to receive an honour in that country, for services rendered in that country, because of being a dual citizen, although there are more than a dozen joint citizens in the House of Lords, and because he did not like what we wrote about him in this newspaper.
The Canadian courts, which had the right and duty to revoke him, claimed not to have jurisdiction. Chrétien, with whom I had had cordial relations for 25 years, made it clear that his motive in intervening as he did, contrary to the advice he received from his own officials, was that the National Post, of which I was then the publisher, was questioning the financial probity of his government. We seem not to have been mistaken.
He boasted to friends of mine that he would win in court because he appointed the judges. I made it clear that I found it painful to surrender my citizenship and intended to take it back when current Canadian conditions had evolved. They have evolved. Canada was made to appear petty in the eyes of other countries, especially the British, who did not suggest that I cease to be a member of the Privy Council of Canada or Officer of the Order of Canada because I was a U.K. citizen. Canada, one of the world’s great countries despite Chrétien, was made to appear a land of yokels, and not by me. Mr. Mercer’s antics don’t completely banish that impression, but events have.
My legal travails in the United States, abetted by some Canadians, have nothing to do with citizenship, but I appreciate Mr. Mercer’s support. The poverty of the case against the defendants will be exposed in the proper place and time. I agree that it must all seem to have its comical aspects, and I don’t think I can be accused of taking the recent fluctuations of my circumstances too seriously.
Not everyone facing the onslaught I have would be rolling around on the floor laughing about it. Those who have endured such a thing may judge. I am fighting for my freedom, and will eventually, if I must, fight for my freedom to be a Canadian as well as a British citizen. I will send Mr. Mercer a “Free Conrad” T-shirt (now available in some stores) in the hope that it broadens his appreciation that the caprices of government, in one country and another, like the hackneyed parodies of a comedian, are not always hilarious.
POSTED BY: Beaverbrook AT 12:06 p.m. | LINKS |
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