Volume XV, Numbers 1 & 2, January/February 1997
The Western Separatist
Papers are published monthly by W.S.P. Ltd.
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To the Editor:
Two letters in your Dec. WSP, "Talking Across the Border" and "WCC Critiques by Sikh" prompt me to write.
Both are provocative, the former by Josee Lavoie points out 95% of the non-francophone community voted "No" in the referendum. I wonder why! Is it worthwhile discussing the obvious differences of opinion which separate Anglophones and francophones in Quebec? One really can't be objective about the issues. The letter by Hardeep S. Malik claims the WCC is racist.
Lavoie claims mostly old francophone people with 5 or 10 years to live, afraid of losing their cheques from the federal government voted "No." Where did she get this information? From one of the crooked PQ election officials? To read her rationalization no one of importance voted against separation and the creation of a fascist-like pure race French Quebec state.
For the WCC to attract significant members to its cause, the mobilization of the economy must be included in its platform. People whether they are English, French, Sikh, Japanese or whatever tend to vote with their pocketbooks.
Reform, the PCs and NDP have not the guts to oppose the banks and offer a real alternative to the apostles of appeasement of Quebec, the Liberals.
A Western Canada Bank and Credit Union must be formed to free the people of the West from control by the central Canadian banking establishment. Only by throwing off the shackles of these financial parasites will true independence ever be achieved.
R.A. Whitney
Riviere-du-Loup, PQ
WSP welcomes your letters. Please address them to WSP, P.O. Box 40143, Victoria, B.C. V8W 1C4, by FAX to 250-479-3294, or to wcc@ftcnet.com, if by e-mail
[Editor's Note: Because of the growing number of national movements around the world, we will feature each month, a look at one of these countries under development.]
23rd November 1996
At a news conference in Glasgow this week, the Scottish National Party announced that Mr. Sean Connery had joined the Party's "Build on the Stone" campaign - which is marking the return of the Stone of Destiny to Scotland, and will culminate in a Torchlight Rally on Calton Hill in Edinburgh on the 29th November - by recording the commentary for the SNP's latest party political broadcast.
Highlander Internet Radio Feature: 30/11/96" BUILDING ON THE STONE" -
Sean Connery:
We fight not for glory nor for wealth nor honours but only and alone we fight for freedom which no man surrenders but with his life".
So says the "Declaration of Arbroath" - the declaration of those who protected and cherished an independent Scotland over 650 years ago.
Twenty four years before those words were written the Stone of Destiny had been stolen from Scotland. It was taken away to make us lose our desire for freedom.
But Scotland would not give up. Scotland's patriots declared: "For as long as a hundred of us remain alive we will yield in no way....."
That spirit kept Scotland independent for another four hundred years.
But we have not been free for almost three centuries. And as the years have past we have paid a higher and higher price for this bankrupt and out of date Union.
With control or our own resources Scotland would be the eighth richest nation in the industrial world - and yet we are not permitted to decide on anything for ourselves.
We have nearly 70% of Europe's crucial oil reserves, and yet we must stand outside the door when the decisions are taken in Brussels.
We produce more, save more and export more than those south of the border, and yet we are told that we live off London taxes.
We know that we have the skills, the wealth and the determination to be free. And more and more of us are saying so.
Now the growing pressure in Scotland for change has forced the government to do something. Not, of course, to do anything that gives us real power - the Tories will never do that, and nor will Labour - but to make a gesture.
That gesture is the return of the Stone.
In ten days time we will welcome it back. The SNP are holding a torchlight rally in Edinburgh the night before it comes home, and you can come and join us.
For the return of the Stone is the result of pressure from Scotland for change. London is worried about the mood of Scotland and the overwhelming desire for a parliament. London is beginning to hear us and pay attention.
But the return of the Stone is only a beginning. We need more than symbols in Scotland. We need real power and a real parliament.
We need a real Parliament to represent the real Scotland. We need independence. It is independence that will allow us to make our own decisions about our own future.
And it is independence that will give us the confidence to take responsibility for those decisions.
We already pay our way in the world - now we must speak for ourselves as well.
We need the substance, not just the symbols. We need more.
Things are changing in Scotland. After nearly seven centuries at Westminster the Stone is coming home. And after more than six hundred and fifty years, the words of the Declaration of Arbroath are coming true.
For freedom is the most important thing. Freedom from poverty, from unemployment, from homelessness, from the threat of nuclear weapons. And those modern freedoms can only come with our freedom - with freedom for the ancient nation of Scotland.
We can build on the stone. We can win our freedom.
We can - we must be - a nation again.
If you would like to make Scotland a nation again ring 0131 226 3661 NOW!
"Building on the Stone" campaign - courtesy Scottish National Party - for more details on the Scottish National Party visit Highlander Web Magazine's Exclusive Scottish Columns section. Highlander Web Magazine Electronically Published and designed in the Highlands of Scotland Copyright & Publishing 1995/96 Catalyst (Highlands) Ltd. Pages by Webspinner admin@catalyst-highlands.co.uk
Westminster knows how to hold on to stolen goods. They stole the Stone of Destiny from Scotland 700 years ago. Now the Stone is coming home, but the theft still goes on.
They steal our oil revenues. For over twenty years Westminster governments have stolen Scottish oil revenues. And since 1979 £100,000 million in oil revenue has been squandered by the anti-Scottish Tory Government. That's £20,000 for every man, woman and child in Scotland.
And if it's nor our oil, it's our water, our gas, our coal reserves. Scottish taxpayers are paying £10 more in tax each week than people south of the border. You name it, Westminster robs Scotland.
They've robbed Scotland of a democratic Parliament. Now we have the chance to win back our Parliament. Simple. By voting SNP at the next General Election. We can get the Best for Scotland.
(Editor's Note: Does this sound familiar?)
by Roseanna Cunningham MP
16th November 1996
Westminster certainly knows how to hold on to stolen goods. Today the Stone of Destiny was returned over Coldstream Bridge to Scotland, seven hundred years after Edward I reportedly stole it, however the theft of Scottish resources still goes on.
For over twenty years, successive Westminster governments have filched Scotland's oil and gas revenues, and given none back. Since 1979, £120,000 million of Scottish North sea revenues have been taken to London and squandered by an anti-Scottish Tory government. The Westminster system is bleeding Scotland dry and offering back an ill-gotten symbol in return.
But, the fact that the Stone is being returned at all shows that Westminster now understands that the Scottish people want change. But in trying to meet that demand with a stone, the Tories are simply highlighting their failure to understand that Scots want real change, not just the return of a stolen symbol.
If the Tories think that they can palm Scots off with a symbol, then they have another think coming. The Stone is not a Tory plaything - it is a symbol of Scottish freedom. The Stone of Destiny will be Scotland's `rolling stone', driving forward the demand of the Scottish people for real change with a real Parliament.
Like the Stone of Destiny, Scotland has outgrown Westminster. The Stone is of enormous symbolic significance to Scotland, representing both the freedom and the unity of our nation. And just as its theft marked the loss of Scottish sovereignty, so its return is part of the process of restoring freedom to Scotland.
But we need to move beyond symbols, and regain possession of decision-making powers with an independent Parliament. Only with the symbols and substance of power can we speak strongly for Scotland in Europe, use our own resources wisely, create new jobs and social justice, and develop the best future for all the people of Scotland.
Scots want the substance of nationhood, not just the symbolism. That is the positive message which the SNP will be campaigning on in the run-up to and beyond St. Andrew's Day on 30 November.
The SNP's special campaign on the return of the Stone will be positive and upbeat and our message to the Scottish people is `Build on the Stone', and restore both the substance and symbols of power to Scotland with an independent Parliament.
The SNP's campaign activities which will "Build on the Stone" include:
* On 21 November, an SNP Party Political Broadcast which will focus on the return of the Stone will be screened;
* On 29 November, the SNP will hold a Torchlight Rally on Calton Hill in Edinburgh, the site of the Scottish Parliament Building, commencing at 7.30 pm.
* After the Rally, SNP members will participate in a meeting hosted by the Scottish Centre for Economic and Social Research "think tank", in Edinburgh's New Parliament Building - where a real Scottish Parliament should be.
Roseanna Cunningham MP SNP Justice and Equality Spokesperson. Scottish National Party Roseanna Cunningham is the Member of Parliament for Perth and Kinross, she is also the Home Affairs Spokesperson for the Scottish National Party. If you would like to know more about the SNP and HELP SCOTLAND contact snp.hq@snp.org.uk or visit the official the Scottish National Party web site. Copyright 1995/96 Catalyst (Highlands) Ltd. admin@catalyst-highlands.co.uk
Be isolated, be ignored, be attacked, be in doubt, be frightened...but do not be silenced.
Bertrand Russell
Servant of God, well done! Well hast thou fought
The better fight, who singled hast maintained
Against revolted multitudes the cause
Of truth, in word mightier than they in arms,
And for the testimony of truth hast borne
Universal reproach, far worse to bear
Than violence; for this was all thy care —
To stand approved in sight of God, though worlds
Judged thee perverse. The easier conquest now
Remains thee, aided by this host of friends....
John Milton, Paradise Lost
by Douglas Christie
Racial Politics: The Legacy of Multiculturalism
Anyone who addresses the issue of race in Canada is immediately rejected as a racist. One is only allowed to speak or write about the subject if they can claim to be a victim of racism. The only perpetrators of racism are European Christians, according to the socialist/liberal belief system. I realize that if I write about this obvious topic, I will have my words twisted, edited and misquoted forever and ever by those who hate both me, and the truth I might tell. But still the urge remains to tell the truth, come what may.
The first realization is that "multiculturalism" was really a liberal euphemism. It was designed as cover language for the reality they could not sell at the time.
They slid it to us gently. Multiculturalism was really multiracialism. It wasn't culture which had to be accepted but whole new races of people who would import their culture with them. I am reminded of the long-forgotten supporter who once quipped, "The Indians know the problems of an open door immigration policy."
But it wasn't just "open-door." The policy of the federal government in Ottawa since 1968 was discriminatory. It systematically discriminated against Europeans and in favour of Asians, Africans, and South Americans, anyone but a European. The multiculturalists were then self-hating Europeans who desired "variety", "change", and "diversity" in place of harmony.
Since 1968 we have seen what Trudeau promised. The ship has docked in a much different harbour than the destination which was announced at departure and no one has noticed.
Recently I had occasion to observe how the new ghetto mentality of racially discrete groups functions in Canada. Moe Sihota has been found to have engaged in a number of questionable practices and has had to resign from the cabinet. To name a few, he has taken trust money from his clients to lend to his father who lost it for them, received loan guarantees from his friend Mr. Dhaliwal and then appointed him to a directorship of B.C. Hydro, telephoned the Taxi Commission to demand action of Mr. Dhaliwal's license application while he was a cabinet minister, sent his child to a private school while he was minister of education and then said she got a scholarship or bursary while actually she was paid for by his in-laws.
These, to name a few things demonstrate the mindset of this Sikh politician. This was the subject discussed in a local steam room at a public pool around the central question, "will he ever return to the cabinet?" The discussion was heated and lively when in came an East Indian man. The discussion stopped. The tacit fear was that we should not criticize an East Indian in the presence of an East Indian. This was to me an admission of racism as loud as it was silent. I considered it really unfair to think because the new arrival was East Indian he should automatically agree with Moe Sihota.
Being the basically objective and non-racist person I am, I told the newcomer about the recent discussion and asked him what he thought. You could have heard a pin drop. It turned out they were right and I was wrong. The newcomer said, "If they don't put him back in the cabinet they will not get a single Indo-Canadian vote."
I was perplexed. Did this mean that regardless of ethical considerations, a Sikh will always vote for a Sikh no matter what? I thought. To give the newcomer the benefit of the doubt, I asked him in turn whether if each of the (shall we call them accusations?) were true, would his answer be the same. He said, in effect, after some criticism of Mr. Dosanjh (the Sikh Attorney General), yes, it will always be "5-star Moe Sihota" (his words).
I was curious about the antipathy to Mr. Dosanjh. It turned out the he was something of an "anti-Sikh", being for modernity and in effect, assimilation. In fact, Mr. Dosanjh has been attacked it seems, even physically for speaking out against Sikh fundamentalism in Vancouver. So I was perplexed: is the Sikh block vote not really a block vote, just a personal loyalty to Sihota and a rejection of Dosanjh personally. I think after listening to this man in the steam and then the hot tub for half an hour or so, my impression was it was a block vote that Dosanjh wouldn't get because he was seen as somewhat of an out-group member. This conversation may be a reflection of one cab driver's view but I think not.
This phenomenon of Sikh militance and insularity was driven home by the recent events at a Sikh Temple, Nanak Guru in Vancouver. Hundreds of police were required to quell the bloodshed after one group fought with another. Media call them the moderates and fundamentalists, but even this is not value-neutral reportage. The public cost of this incident was made more painful to bear by the knowledge this temple has received about $900,000 in provincial money.
We are after all victims of our experience. I, like all others, have to confront my beliefs with a knowledge of the narrow perspective of experience in which we are destined to live. It is only by sharing our experience we can learn what others think and perhaps stand corrected, and so I write of one more example.
I recently had to work until about 10:30 p.m. at the library in the Victoria Court House, on a submission to the Federal Court about the jurisdiction of the Wheat Board over seed grain. Lately I have noticed that all the janitors are Sikh. That some would be is to be expected, but I found it strange that all are. I became more suspicious as I came down in the elevator with Keltie's cousin Tom to go to the security desk and leave the locked building. The old commissionaire wasn't there and all the young Sikh janitors were standing there laughing and talking in Punjabi. They were giving furtive glances at me and laughing about something. I felt as if I was wearing pajamas or something strange. I pressed the buzzer for security to unlock the door and let us out. Five minutes, then ten minutes elapsed which as they laughed and talked and looked, turned to fifteen minutes.
Finally, one of them walked over as if he was about to strike me. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a key and unlocked the door. I walked out angry, while they laughed behind us. They had the key all along and enjoyed watching us wait. I feel like my country is stolen and I am an alien in my own land. I feel betrayed by my country and unable to even express my anger because I will be branded a "racist".
Do I hate all Sikhs? No I do not. Do I hate these Sikhs? No, not now, although I felt like I did at the time. Do I feel hatred at all? No, but I do feel angry at the government who have inflicted upon me a society where large groups of people don't speak the same language, don't share the same concept of honesty and don't have the same religious values.
In the name of liberalism, they have created a tower of Babel. In the name of equality, they have created a cultural and moral wasteland and called it peace. Anyone who dares question their creation, its origin or purpose will find him or herself before the new inquisition to this state-religion of multiculturalism, the dreaded thought police, the Human Rights Commission. They, in the name of "human rights", legislate ignorance, stupidity, and in the end sullen and repressed hatred of the moral wasteland of what was a Christian European country. I am an angry rebel as one of the silent steam room audience said late, quietly to me, alone. I am angry it is true, and a rebel who can tell you why. Can my silent, carefully, politically correct friends tell you why they are to be not angry. Chances are Moe Sihota is doing what his in-group expects of him That is why to them he will always be "five star Moe Sihota."
Conclusion
We want to have a common culture which supersedes race or existing cultural differences. Unless we have common values, understanding of which is part of citizenship, then we create racial and religious and cultural differences. Multiculturalism legislates, entrenches, rewards and reinforces racial and cultural differences much like Canada's Indian and language policies. Multiculturalism contrary to its veneer, creates differences and conflict rather than tolerance. Tolerance can only be really measured when there is a standard by which we measure. The Canadian policy creates double standards, racial politics, greed and envy which one nation, one language and one culture of Western Canada would overcome.
Farmers in Canada are sentenced to jail for selling wheat. The media says he was actually jailed for refusing to turn over a tractor seized by Canada customs. That's like saying William Wallace wasn't executed for fighting for Scotland's independence but for failing to make an oath of allegiance to Edward I of England. In Canada the media makes sure that no one sees the heroism of the rebels against the corrupt system which gives the newspapers a monopoly on power.
Indian land claims and aboriginal title are actually being thrust upon us by the Parliamentarians when even the courts wouldn't do it as they found in Dilgamuuk and the Sparrow case aboriginal title is really only hunting and fishing rights over unoccupied land for sustenance and ritual purposes. But soon we will see the political leadership do what people voted no to in the Meech Lake Accord namely special status and native self-government. When the courts won't do it and the majority don't want it, if its going to destroy society, the elite will make sure it happens. We are institutionalizing racism and collective rights based on tribal identity. Can there be anything more hypocritical for a society dedicated to stamping out white racism?
Only three provinces sell more products to the world than they purchase outside their borders. They are Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C. These three provinces have a combined total of about 6 million people. Those people or 94% of them speak English and can read and write it. Those people are obliged to pay for bilingualism all over Canada. Those people are being subjected to more and more immigration to keep the federal tax revenues flowing. Vancouver now has fewer than 50% of the people speaking English in the home. Those people produce with Manitobans 52% of the gross national product of Canada with 27% of Canada's population. But with 75% of Western Canada's seats held by Reform, still the Bloc Quebecois from Quebec alone is the official opposition.
For the past 28 years from 1968 to 1996 there has been a Quebec Prime Minister trying to satisfy the desires of Quebec (with the exception of 6 months with a Joe Somebody). The result has been a speedy rise in Quebec's desire for Independence. Every effort was made in that 28 years to see that Quebec received as much federal spending as possible to keep separatism down in that period. Finally we are told we must give Quebec its special status as "as distinct society" so they won't separate. Like give the little lady her own house and car so she won't leave you. Are we that stupid?
Paul Martin, who says he wants to feed the poor children of Canada is the finance minister of the government whose party has raised taxes time and again to create the poverty. The GST which the liberals promised to scrap and constitutes 7% on all you buy or sell, still can't pay down the debt, but we are supposed to be consoled by the fact that the debt is not increasing at as rapid a rate as it formerly was.
The Prime Minister goes on long Oriental trips at good times for a vacation to sign billions of dollars of deals while the unemployment rate remains about 10% and the taxes remain the highest in the G7 nations. Have we any hope of restoring sanity?
"Canadians" in the West protest everything from gun control to the Mifflin plan and always they know their protests don't count. But when we showed up at a fisheries survival coalition meeting with a simple banner that said "Free the West", the blocked our signs so we would not be seen on television. They still don't want to offend Ottawa!
The Supreme Court of Canada in Keegstra in 1990 held 4 to 3 that the law under which James Keegstra was prosecuted was a valid limit on free speech. One of the lawyers who argued in that or other cases in the Supreme Court arranged to take the judges on a trip to Israel to study Israeli law. The next time Keegstra came before them, the ruling was 9 to 0 against Keegstra. But there is no reason to apprehend bias, we are assured. Should we invite the court to the Vatican for lectures on the Morgentaler case? This is Canada's highest court which is about to rule on Quebec's right to separate, just after the Chief Justice will get the benefit of amendments to the Judges Act, which will affect his pension and his wife's. She is a Federal Court Judge.
The picture of Andy McMechan, jailed for selling wheat makes me realize how far we have allowed Big Sister to dominate our lives. In the interests of security we have accepted slavery. Canada is a slave state where the slaves value slavery, not freedom. What about you, Western Canadians?
WCC Notes
You may have noticed that there has been a delay answering your mail to the party. Due to the recent influx of mail, we are making better arrangements for the WCC Head Office, and establishing better procedures, with help from local volunteers. We soon will have a phone line for the exclusive use of the Party. We should soon have a few announcements about changes to increase our communication, both with our own members and potential new members.
Meanwhile, for further information about the Western Canada Concept, write to: P.O. Box 40143, Victoria, B.C. V8W 1C4. Membership is $15.00 per year.