Who should resign in Canada over the Waffen SS standing ovation?

[Libertas Vel Mors]

My takeaway here: invade Canada.

Given what's happening in Ukraine, these kinds of posts are not funny. Go f**k yourself.

Anyway, to add to the list of who should be fired, surely there was some staffer who's fault it was originally. I mean, Rota should have been smart enough to vet this, so glad to see he resigned as well. But I hope the staffer's gone too.

This is a tremendously embarrassing reply.

[Libertas Vel Mors]

Canadians should be wary of drawing comparisons to Russia, considering they are currently under intense international scrutiny for harboring separatist terrorist groups and celebrating fascism. One can only conclude that megalomaniacs Justin Trudeau and Charles III wish to restore their previous borders in India. Beware of sanctions!

Speaking of which, to tie together several recent news stories, why do diaspora communities in Canada in particular seem so prone to violent radical nationalism? The Ukrainian diaspora in Canada has long been notorious for having a lot of veterans of the Galician SS Division and OUN-B, the Kalistan movement is based in Canada, the Tamil and Armenian diasporas are known for being vocal and radical, and clashes often happen between pro-and anti-CCP Chinese whenever the Chinese government does something controversial. Of course none of this justifies Russian disinformation and slander or India assassinating Sikh activists, but why?

If I had to give an actual serious answer, I would say that a society with openness and cultural pluralism provides a good haven for dissidents from all over but in its extreme form creates ethnic enclaves where they can operate pretty much unmolested. But you may also be overstating the issue and there are plenty of examples of this, like Meir Kahane, elsewhere.

I would also suggest Canada's lack of a national identity for people to assimilate into as a big part of this. This has been an issue for like, all of Canada's history: arguably the Quebec problem is a result of this, but Canada was also notable for having really big enlistment gaps between European immigrants and British-ancestry and particularly British born Canadians during the World Wars. As a result, arrivals and even long standing ethnic groups in Canada are less likely to stop caring about group-specific issues.

[Libertas Vel Mors]

Canadians should be wary of drawing comparisons to Russia, considering they are currently under intense international scrutiny for harboring separatist terrorist groups and celebrating fascism. One can only conclude that megalomaniacs Justin Trudeau and Charles III wish to restore their previous borders in India. Beware of sanctions!

Speaking of which, to tie together several recent news stories, why do diaspora communities in Canada in particular seem so prone to violent radical nationalism? The Ukrainian diaspora in Canada has long been notorious for having a lot of veterans of the Galician SS Division and OUN-B, the Kalistan movement is based in Canada, the Tamil and Armenian diasporas are known for being vocal and radical, and clashes often happen between pro-and anti-CCP Chinese whenever the Chinese government does something controversial. Of course none of this justifies Russian disinformation and slander or India assassinating Sikh activists, but why?

If I had to give an actual serious answer, I would say that a society with openness and cultural pluralism provides a good haven for dissidents from all over but in its extreme form creates ethnic enclaves where they can operate pretty much unmolested. But you may also be overstating the issue and there are plenty of examples of this, like Meir Kahane, elsewhere.

I would also suggest Canada's lack of a national identity for people to assimilate into as a big part of this. This has been an issue for like, all of Canada's history: arguably the Quebec problem is a result of this, but Canada was also notable for having really big enlistment gaps between European immigrants and British-ancestry and particularly British born Canadians during the World Wars. As a result, arrivals and even long standing ethnic groups in Canada are less likely to stop caring about group-specific issues.

Great answer. Yes, you’re correct. Canada seems a pretty chill place to live but it lacks a strong or even minimal national identity. Which makes people even after generations still “feel” connected to their country of origin.

As a Canadian, I think I can say that is not at all accurate. Of course there are exceptions, but the far bigger factor is the size of Canada which is the reason for the lack of national identity and most Canadians feel most connected to their province or region, and that is absolutely true of diaspora Canadians as well.

It's not a surprise given it's size and proximity to Ottawa that the province where most people think they have a national identity or speak for Canada is Ontario. Part of the provincial identity of Ontario is believing that its identity is the national identity, which has bred some resentment in the rest of Canada.

Given how similar Canadian provinces are to their adjacent U.S states (except for Quebec), if you are going to argue that Canada doesn't have a national identity, then you'd also be arguing that Americans don't really have a national identity (although I certainly don't dispute that the American myths are shoved done every American's throats to try to force some national identity.)

Why isn't this true for the United States as well, which is also a big country?

It's funny how you contradict yourself in the space of so few lines. Very quickly you go from "Canada has no national identity because everyone defines with the provinces!" to "Canada has a national identity because the provinces having identities becomes Canada having a national identity!" Not only does that logic not make sense, but I don't think it's even true. Besides some examples of Irish immigrants and to a lesser extent French speaking immigrants more broadly integrating into Quebecois society, I see 0 evidence to suggest that Sikh immigrants in, say, Ontario now define strongly with a provincial identity rather than a Sikh identity. Canada really does not have (excluding Quebec, which isn't really a provincial but a national identity, and to a lesser extent "Western Canada" writ large, which is arguably the same thing or at least regional) strong provincial or national identity.

Nor does the comparison to the US make sense! Even if we accept that Canadian provinces are very similar to their US cross-border comparisons (which I don't: the comparison is more notable for how Canadian provinces have more in common with their cross border comparisons than each other than the reverse), American identity exists separately from provincial or state identity (although they are of course connected), so its existence would be totally compatible with the scenario you described. If anything, this scenario mainly goes to show how little you understand national identity: thinking national identity comes from states being distinct rather than the nation being distinct misses the whole point of what national identity is.

It's okay to admit Canada just isn't that distinct. It's an extremely anodyne observation, even if it sounds controversial: its the position the Liberal Party has adopted and been trying to "fix" since, like, Pearson, and trying to understand Canadian politics of the last 60 years without understanding it is extremely hard to reconcile.

[Libertas Vel Mors]

My takeaway here: invade Canada.

Given what's happening in Ukraine, these kinds of posts are not funny. Go f**k yourself.

Anyway, to add to the list of who should be fired, surely there was some staffer who's fault it was originally. I mean, Rota should have been smart enough to vet this, so glad to see he resigned as well. But I hope the staffer's gone too.

This is a tremendously embarrassing reply.

Why is it embarrassing for not wanting my country invaded? What an insane thought to have.

It is embarrassing to reply to a joke about invading Canada by throwing a hissy fit about how it isn't okay to make that joke because of the war in Ukraine. Not only does it demonstrate a lack of perspective (bad things have always happened, and always will: it's still okay to make jokes about invading Canada) but it is also hypersensitive and frivolous.