A Shift in Values?

I've been in Ottawa these last few days so my blog posts are a bit behind.

I walked a lot while I was there, re-connecting with a city  I really quite like.

Just along where the the Rideau River runs into the Ottawa we came across a bit of sculpture. The plaque says the  "Monument  honours Canadians' commitment to International Development and Humanitarian Assistance and pays tribute to all Canadians who gave their lives in pursuit of theses values."

I said when I read the inscription, "This is what I think of when I contemplate  our country and this is what I think we stand for as a people. I don't want us to be the new tough guy on the international scene. We are, or at least we were, a country that cares."

We walked on another hundred metres or so to what used to be the Canada and the World Pavilion. A sign outside said that the pavilion's purpose was "..to share Canadians' international contributions with" us. The pavilion  and the exhibit are now permanently closed.

For me, that sign pretty much summed up the values of our current government.

Another thing I noticed was the number of people around the city in uniform. It wasn't so long ago that military personnel were instructed to wear civilian clothes to work. The government didn't want people to be conscious of how many military people actually worked in in the city. When you did see someone they were in dress uniform.

There days all the members of the army walk around the city in full camouflage which makes no sense at all except that this government wants to send a much different image to Canadians who see military personnel in the street. Harper's people see these camo outfits projecting a tough, rough and ready image. It might be practical to wear camo if you were crawling around in the bush trying not to be seen but on a city street?

I know that Defense Minister Peter McKay like to dress up in army gear every chance he gets, kind of like George Bush,  but in truth, the only practical camouflage for most of these people would something that would let them blend into offices and filing cabinets.

I just don't like where we seem to be going.