News Views: Democracy needs constant vigilance
Protesters line up along Dewndey Trunk street.
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Updated: July 02, 2009 4:27 PM
Another Canada Day has come and gone with it, the usual celebrations and good times.
But anyone whose enthusiasm is waning for the day need only skim through Nader Razi’s story (The News, July 1) and those of thousands of his compatriots in his native, Iran to get a newfound appreciation of their own country.
Razi and others held a small demonstration outside his Maple Ridge store last week to salute the opportunity for freedom in Iran that’s been lost, temporarily.
It is a temporary loss because despite the brutal oppression now underway to restore the regime, Iranians will win their freedom.
The number of people in the streets who risked their lives attest to that. There are simply too many who’ve silently suffered. The tipping point will be reached. The regime will crumble, just like the former Soviet Union, and Iranians will begin to decide their own fate. Time is not on the side of the current rulers who need force to cling to power.
Despite the contrast between the two countries, Canadians have no reason to be complacent. Voter turnout for our elections is declining.
In B.C., five years after a raid on the B.C. legislature, the public still has no answers about what happened. Canadians need to hold the Liberal government accountable for that.
The structure of our most cherished national symbol, the RCMP, needs a complete overhaul and to be subjugated to proper civilian authority, given several, recent shameful events.
Canada Day is no time for complacency.
– The News
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