The Quebec based Vandoos are now in the process of taking over the Canadian mission in Afghanistan. Good folks, like the CBC, have been licking their chops at this opportunity to forment discord in the dominion and show off their "peace-loving" credentials.
All day long, we have heard from our public broadcaster and others, that Quebeckers are the least supportive of the Afghanistan mission and the Vandoos presence on the field will inflame this anti-mission anger.
Let's consider something very ugly underlying the assumption. The english media would have you believe that Quebeckers couldn't give a rat's ass if a soldier from Alberta or Nova Scotia falls in combat - the only soldiers who matter are french-named soldiers. Its disgusting and completely false - even rabid separatists mourn the loss of a Canadian soldier - regardless of their home province or ability to speak french. While this implied accusation should insult every citizen of Canada's second largest province, the insult, once more, falls on the journalists themselves who perpetually reduce life to simple bits and bites that they themselves barely digest.
Furthermore, it's a terrible situation in which to place the Vandoos themselves. These soldiers have enlisted into the Canadian military in order to provide defense for their country, Canada. But for the convenience of a media artifice, they are constantly reminded that they aren't really Canadians and should be treated as the "special ed" department of the military because, well, they are from Quebec. Whereas the CBC or CTV would cheer and grieve along with the Princess Pats, they place the Vandoos in an aquarium to study their impact on poll results.
Now, I will contradict our media sages. The coming Vandoo leg of the mission will offer Quebeckers a better perspective of Afghanistan since so much of the media, french and english, will be broadcasting every last minutiae of the action. Some will be fingers-crossed and hoping for disaster so that they can knock the Tories down a few points in the polls (let's not pretend its any less crass than that). Others, mostly in the french media, do not have this Afghanistan-Harper-Bush relational triad in mind, and will be keen to show off Quebeckers making a difference in the world.
