Hello and welcome to the Canadian Pulpit. Don't let the title throw you, there is nothing religious about this blog, though I may from time to time comment on various religions as the mood strikes me. So rest assured, all denominations are welcome here while at the same time none are welcome here. By this I only mean that, while I respect your right to believe as you will and to practice your faith freely, this forum is designed to promote intelligent debate. If you can do this while bringing religion into the conversation, feel free! But if the main thrust of your arguments will be "It must be God's will" then I am afraid I will likely treat you with the level of respect normally reserved for kittens with learning disabilities. You have been warned.
So let's dive in. First topic: Public Service
I have had this conversation a number of times over the past few months and really want to get my thoughts down on this. I have been growing more frustrated with how we as Canadians seem to feel that we are entitled to our fortunate position in the world. There seems to be a sense that we are superior to other people around the planet when our residence in this country came about, almost without exception, by a stroke of pure dumb luck at having been born here. As babies we were born in a country where our basic human rights are enshrined in our laws and protected by an independent judiciary and where things like the overtime pay and the right to refuse unsafe work are the norms. We have assumed that this is our birth right and perhaps even that some higher power has deemed us more worth than others.
My frustration grows out of the fact that that worthiness is something which is earned and should not be considered as an inheritance. True, our rights and freedoms are ours by law, but laws are only as strong as the societies which write them and I believe that the strength of a society is measured not only by its GDP, life expectancy or child mortality rates but also by more intangible things like its leadership in advancing the cause of freedom and human rights around the world, whether it honours its commitments through agreements such as Kyoto or pledges of humanitarian aid after natural disasters.
We have forgotten is that generations of people had to fight for us to gradually get to where we are today. These battles took place not only on distant battlefields but also in the halls of Parliament and across the country in our courtrooms, on our streets and in our union halls. These generations earned the rights on our behalf.
As a result, I believe that each subsequent generation of Canadians has a responsibility to act to be able to legitimately claim that they are a moral people who deserve the protection of these rights and freedoms. What we enjoy is an advanced form of citizenship and we need to incorporate a desire to earn its benefits into our culture. We need to embrace the spirit of public service and to work towards the betterment of the world both for our fellow citizens and for our global neighbours. This includes exercising our franchise and letting our elected leaders know what our priorities are so that they act not only in our best interests but also at our direction so that we know that we are having a positive impact on the world.
