Published in the Victoria Times Colonist 24 March 2009
In a turn of events that any reader of George Orwell would appreciate, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney confirmed that British MP George Galloway was banned from entering Canada, allegedly under Immigration and Refugee Protection Act provisions banning supporters of terror.
The timing could not be more revealing of our media and government’s contempt for justice and free speech. Only days earlier, former U.S. president George W. Bush spoke at a $400-per-head, invitation-only event in Calgary.
A comparison of the two mens’ records is in order.
For his vociferous support of the democratically elected — at least if we are to give any credit to the European Union and Carter Centre monitors — government of Palestine and for his relentless objections to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine, Galloway has been barred entry into Canada.
For heading an administration that ushered in new levels of contempt for international law against aggression by invading two nations, killing approximately one million civilians and displacing four million more, Bush was welcomed with open arms into Canada.
Paying attention to the factual record is of grave importance when one’s access to information is often mediated by corporate media representing the same interests as unrepresentative government. It might be time for each of us to reflect on the words of a protagonist from the recent past — “if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.”
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