April 20, 2013
Dear Fellow Canadians,
Some of you (mostly in the conservative media) has made some
very divisive comments about my remarks from the tragedy in Boston. I intend to set the record straight.
Asked how I would have responded as leader to this tragedy,
I indicated we “need to look at root causes”.
I also said, “…there is no question this happened because someone feels
completely excluded.” We also have to be careful, “…not point fingers at each
other and lay blame for personal ills or societal ills on a specific group”.
The criticism against my comments is that I sought to absolve
people from personal responsibility by siding with the terrorists. This could not be further from the truth. I said, “we need to keep the borders safe”
and that includes apprehending those that break the law. Let me clarify.
I am a Liberal. My
dad was a Liberal and he said it best;
“A Liberal philosophy places the highest
value on freedom of the individual. The first consequence of freedom is change.
A Liberal can seldom be a partisan of the status quo. He tends to be a reformer
attempting to move society, to modify its institutions, to liberate its
citizens. The liberal is an optimist at heart who trusts people. He does not
see man as an essentially perverse creature, incapable of moral progress and
happiness. Nor does he see him as totally or automatically good. He prizes man’s
inclination to good but knows it must be cultivated and supported. While
understanding as well as any other man the limits of government and the law,
the liberal knows that both are powerful forces for good, and does not hesitate
to use them.”
The Right Honourable Pierre Elliott
Trudeau, April 1974
This may be a bit complex for the average Canadian outside of Quebec,
so please allow me to break this down in simpler notations;
-man is free and therefore must change
-we do this change through reforming society by modifying institutions
and then we have liberated citizens.
-we trust people, knowing man is not perverse, but capable of moral
progress, through support and cultivation from government and law as powerful
sources.
Government has a responsibility to help liberate people through
programs and laws. Liberals therefore
create programs and laws to help people.
The Boston individual(s) who planted the bombs are people, therefore we
must get involved in their rehabilitation thorough programs and laws.
In order to get involved in their rehabilitation, we must know “why?”. It is clear we need to look at root causes to
understand “why?”. A root cause with these
individuals is “exclusion from society”.
In order to understand how “exclusion from society” impacted these
individuals, we need to stop blaming and start discussing root causes of
exclusion.
Here is what is at issue:
Conservatives think adults are responsible for their own actions. Liberals believe society shares responsibility with individuals for their actions. How else can you connect a bomber blowing
people up and me (hours later) discussing root causes of the bombers hurts? The bombers struggling to be included is my struggle, or shall I say… our struggle. For when you realize that as a compassionate Canadian
you too must lay down your divisive tendencies that seek to lay blame on groups
or people for their actions and instead focus on inclusiveness, I say, real change…a better Canada…can truly
be realized. Join me in my analysis of ‘root
causes of exclusion’ starting with the Boston bombers and then the troubled individual in India.
Before you get divisive and angry with these men…think, “…excluded from society” and "...don't point fingers"…then you will see root causes and truly build a compassionate Canada.
Before you get divisive and angry with these men…think, “…excluded from society” and "...don't point fingers"…then you will see root causes and truly build a compassionate Canada.
Justin Trudeau
*Writen by Ryan Jantzi* (He won't be direct with his reasoning...so I did it for him...really apologize if any confusion...none intended...)
*Writen by Ryan Jantzi* (He won't be direct with his reasoning...so I did it for him...really apologize if any confusion...none intended...)
