Inconvenient truths in political circles

Joe Volpe October 13, 2026

TORONTO – And so we go about our merry way, confident in the self-serving definitions we think define all of us…until we are given the proverbial wake-up call. You may not know who you are, but everyone knows who/what you are not.

On the national identity issue, Canada presents various challenges for those who aspire to its citizenship. One size does not fit all, hence the magical creativity of a confederation, a “country” so vast that it dwarfs the Continent of Europe, a territory with – so far – 27 different countries and virtually innumerable ethnicities among its 450 million inhabitants who dwarf Canada’s 42 million.

When, as parliamentarians, we were trying to make sense of the unravelling of the Canada we knew in the face of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and subsequent North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the discussions were all about how to find the defining moment that made it easier to explain to ourselves and others what we are/were about.

A colleague from Coburg Ontario, a wonderful lady, the Hon. Christine Stewart (may she R.I.P.), said, and I paraphrase, I am Canadian because I am not American. She represented an area east of Toronto known as the settlement area for those Loyalists who did not join the States in the War of Revolution against the British Empire (1774-1783). Many German and Italian mercenaries shored up the backbone of the British forces.

I and several other Members of Parliament in our caucus, were neither English nor French, as the discussion moved on to determining the character of Canada in a national debate on sovereignty and separation.

Then, as now, our perceptions of our loyalty to “God and Country” were different from those held by those who held more restrictive views. Most of us valued the “unifier” of Catholicism [Christianity] that permeated our school systems.

Pardon the distraction, it is comparable to the counterculture advocacy to strike the denominational, constitutional, rights of Catholic Schools from the Canadian identity.

Sadly, those who are entrusted with protecting and promoting it appear intimidated from exercising their privilege and their duty. Not so the leaders of the Parti or Bloc Quebecois. Their history is one of constantly honing and re-enforcing their vision and process.

There is an ever-present, evangelical-like mission statement to their political agenda and purpose that goes beyond the accommodations others might make to please them: nous sommes maitres chez nous, irrespective of how well you speak our language.

But we are Canadian; and because, as Catholics, we helped build this country, we earned a place in the Constitution of the country, secure from individuals and groups who would violate our rights and make decisions to diminish their significance.

With due deference to the Governor General Louise Arbour, formerly Justice of the Supreme Court, she acknowledged as much when she responded to Press inquiries by the Canadian Press and reported in the Epoch Times, to the Parti Quebecois’ (PQ) plan to eliminate the role of the Monarchy in Quebec. They cannot.

Her Honour added that “we are framed by a constitutional environment, a written constitution, a constitutional convention, laws…”

Can any elected body function without its members swearing allegiance to the governing authority – the King and the Magisterium? The Magisterium is constitutional authority overseeing Catholic schools.

A lawsuit filed by constitutional lawyer and University of Ottawa law professor, Lawrence David, alongside the Public Interest Litigation Institute may be instructive for “local boards” in respect of their legitimacy if their trustees do not swear allegiance to both the Magisterium and Country, as per their obligation on taking o«ce. They would not have any.

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