Truth in Toronto
Graeme Hunter on Papal Principles That Undermine Canadian Values
The pope’s words were geared to Canada as she has become: multicultural, wholly in favor of what we call “diversity,” and proud of having all her opinions sanctioned by political correctness. “Trendies are Us” could be our motto. Our then Prime Minister, Jean Chrétien, exemplified these values, that being the only word which would not be demeaned by association with them.
Had multiculturalism been Chrétien’s principle, instead of only his value, it is difficult to see how he could have welcomed or even greeted the Holy Father at all, when he came to Canada for World Youth Day, just three years ago. And indeed there was some question as to whether Chrétien would do so until just a few days before the pope’s arrival. In the end, however, he realized how liberating it can be to have values where other men have principles, and off he went to welcome a pope whose commitments he had spent his political career undermining.
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Graeme Hunter is a contributing editor to Touchstone and Research Professor of Philosophy at Dominican University College in Ottawa. He is the author of Radical Protestantism in Spinoza's Thought (Ashgate).
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