The things people email me.

I get email, who doesn't. Occasionally I get an unspeakable horrors in my mailbox. I recently received an email from someone I know, the contents of which were a bit of a shock. I suspect it is a forward of an email that is making the rounds, so I will not name this individual, however the contents of the message is be here. I originally wasn't even going to dignify this with a response, but you can't keep a political scientist from expressing his opinion.

I will tackle this message piece by piece.

Will we still be the Country of choice and still be Canada if we continue to make the changes forced on us by the people from other countries that came to live in Canada because it is the Country of Choice??????

So far not so bad, basically a thesis question.

Think about it! All we have to say is, when will they do something about MY RIGHTS?

DANGER WILL ROBINSON! DANGER! This is starting to look like a “minorities have too many rights” rant. The type that crops up whenever those who have all the rights and privileges start being scared that they might have to share those rights with everyone.

I celebrate Christmas...........but because it isn't celebrated by everyone..............we can no longer say Merry Christmas. Now it has to be Season's Greetings.

Here it comes, the “poor Christians” argument. How after over a hundred years of forcing us non-Christians to be Christian, how dare we ask them to be tolerant of people who might not be Christian. MESSAGE TO CHRISTIANS:freedom of religion also means freedom from religion.

Now I generally don't take offense to someone who says “Merry Christmas” to me, as I respond with “Happy New Year”, the important Buddhist holiday at this time of year. I suspect, however that the Christian saying “Merry Christmas” too me would be offended if they new why my response is what it is. It has been my experience that Christians live in glass houses. They can dish out the proselytizing and forcing others to believe as they do, but can't even take being tolerant of other people's beliefs, let alone think about them or, heaven forbid, admit that they might not have the “Ultimate Truth”. I suspect much of this is because they are insecure in their own beliefs, but that is best left as an exercise in psychology.

That being said, no one is forcing the Christians to not celebrate Christmas. You can all celebrate whatever winter festival makes you happy, I couldn't care less. It's when you start to force me to celebrate it that it becomes a problem. It's even more of a problem if you use the state to do so, because now you are stating that in order to receive the services and representation from the state that are my right as a citizen, I must belong, or at least pay lip service to one particular religion. The state must represent all people, not just the majority.

It's not Christmas vacation, it's Winter Break. Isn't it amazing how this winter break ALWAYS occurs over the Christmas holiday?

Because of tradition. Back when forced Christianization was the norm in the public school system, it was referred to as the Christmas break. Since we now live in more enlightened times, the break is now the Winter Break for public schools. The fact that it happens to coincide with the Christian celebration of Christmas is now just an archaic relic. Given the prevelence of religious festivals at that time of year it could just as easily be called Hanukkah break, Id al-Adha break, Birthday of Guru Gobind Sing Ji Break, New Years break and a host of other breaks. Given the multicultural fabric of our society, calling it Winter Break makes more sense.

We've gone so far the other way, bent over backwards to not offend anyone, that I am now being offended. But it seems that no one has a problem with that.

It is interesting to see that this person is being offended by the fact that we're asking him/her to not offend others. If the shoe was on the other foot, the people who subscribe to this would be screaming blue murder about being repressed, however when it's them doing the repression and being intolerant, then that's OK. Forbid that we ask them to provide the same consideration to the rest of us that we give to them.

This says it all! This is an editorial written in an Toronto newspaper. He did quite a job; didn't he? Read on, please!

Of course since they didn't say which Toronto newspaper, it remains to be seen if this is actually true, or the makings of an urban legend.

IMMIGRANTS, NOT Canadians MUST ADAPT. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Canadians. However...... the dust from the attacks had barely settled when the "politically correct! " crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others.

Ahh yes, use September 11th to justify racism, jingoism and anything else the political right holds dear, but makes them unpalatable to Canadians. Here we go again.

Patriotism is fine until it becomes blinding. It is acceptable in a democracy to question the motives of government, especially in areas where civil rights are being eroded in favour of dubious increases in security. The reason people come to this country is the tolerance for different cultures within our society. By forcing immigrants to become good WASPs we do the country no favours. By brining in the September 11th attacks, this author is trying to say that any criticism of him/her is support for terrorism. What a load of bull crap. This person is trying to hide his/her racist ideals by wrapping themselves in the flag. Apparently they've mistaken Canada for the United States. People talking like this is another sure sign that the terrorists have won.

I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to Canada

First, the instant you start saying “I'm not against...” you're telling the world you actually are. This has been used time and time again by people trying not to look racist. For example “I'm not against [place ethnic minority here] but they should be more like us/live somewhere else/keep to their own kind... etc., etc.”.

Our population is almost entirely made up of descendants of immigrants.

This is about the only fact in the whole message the writer gets right.

However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand. This idea of Canada being a multicultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity.

An interesting hypothesis. I would counter argue that cow towing to the United States and decimating our armed forces, not to mention the increase in globalization have way more to do with the dilution of our sovereignty than multiculturalism would. In fact, multiculturalism puts us in a unique position to capitalize on the new global economy as we have the talents and understanding of many cultures within our own. This helps us in our dealings with other countries, easing transactions. The only people who would find this a problem are those who think that the US is the end all and be all of our foreign trade.

As Canadians....... we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle. This culture has been developed over centuries of struggles, trials, and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom.

Oh where to begin...

Yes at first glance this is true, but the author comes to the wrong conclusions. The key word here is developed. Where we are now is based on where we've been. The thing the author fails to realize is that societies continue to develop and grow and change, even those without immigration. It's what keeps societies strong. What we have here is a small minded individual scared of change and the loss of power and prestige that may come with it.

We speak ENGLISH/FRENCH, not Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language.

Hmmm... This argument sounds familiar....

I know! It's the same argument that came up when official bilingualism was introduced, except move French to the “don't speak” list. I hate to break it to the author, but half my family speaks Japanese, I myself speak Russian as well as a smattering of French. What is it with native English speakers that makes them fear other languages?

Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn the language!

Je me demande comment bon le Francais de l'auteur est? Peut etre il devrait apprendre la langue.

"We Stand On Guard For Thee" is our national motto.

BZZZZT! WRONG! Though that is in our national anthem, Canada's actual motto is “A mari usque ad mare” or for the Latin challenged “From sea to sea”. I'm beginning to wonder if the author is even Canadian since he/she can't even get their facts right. I also apologize for forcing them to not speak English with our motto.

his is not some Christian, right wing, political slogan.. We adopted this motto because Christian men and women.......on Christian principles............. founded this nation..... and this is clearly documented.

OK, this person is definitely not a Canadian. Yes there is documentation of what they are saying, for the United States. Canada was founded on the fur trade, plain and simple. Economics, not religion drove the formation of this country. First the fur trade, then inter colonial tariff reduction, then the inter colonial railway finally fear of invasion from the United States. In fact there was no reference to God in either the constitution (BNA Act) or O'Canada until they were both changed in the 1980's.

It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools.

Our Catholic and private Christian schools perhaps, but not the public schools that have to serve EVERYONE. How quickly this person would complain if Allah were plastered all over the public schools and his/her children were forced to participate in the worship of Allah.

If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home.........because God is part of our culture.

Now the author apparently believes we're now in Iran. History has shown time and time again that the purpose of a state sanctioned religion is to maintain the power base of those in power. This is inconsistent with the fundamentals of democracy where every voice is important.

We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from. This is OUR COUNTRY, our land, and our lifestyle.

Spoken like someone at the top of the dung heap worried they may have to share. My Canada includes a variety of cultures working together to improve the whole of society, not to serve one religious group's apparent belief that they're right and everyone else is wrong. The sole purpose of this statement is to prevent the author from having to deal with the fact he or she may have to live with people who don't think the same way as they do. If the author has problems with this, perhaps he/she should move to a country with a religious theocracy in place, such as Iran, rather than trying to implement one here.

But once you are done complaining....... whining...... and griping....... about our flag....... our pledge...... our national motto........or our way of life....

Only one person is griping and complaining here. Here's some info for you, our flag is the red and white one with the maple leaf in the centre, not red, white and blue with 50 stars at the upper hoist and 13 horizontal stripes from the hoist to the fly, the national motto you've already been corrected on and I'd love to hear what you think the national pledge is. This is sounding more and more like an American with every word. The lack of knowledge of Canadian history or even basic facts about the country speaks volumes.

As to our way of life, I hate to break it to you, but we've just entered the 21st century, not the 19th. Society rejected your values of homogeneity back when the horse and buggy went out of fashion.

I highly encourage you to take advantage of one other Great Canadian Freedom........ THE RIGHT TO LEAVE.

You said it pal, the US you love so much is just south of us, don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.

It is Time for Canada to Speak up If you agree -- pass this along; if you don't agree -- delete it! AMEN I figure if we all keep passing this to our friends (and enemies) it will also, sooner or later get back to the complainers, lets all try, please

Remember kids, if you are also a racist bigot, repeat this waste of bandwidth as much as you can!

What amazes me is that people still think like this. Now of course I realize that they do, after all someone has to be voting Conservative, but this kind of thinking should have died with the dinosaurs. It's the kind of thinking that says blacks are inferior to white, that one religion is better than another and so on. My hope is that most people will see it for what it really is, the rantings of a small minded individual who's scared that his/her position in the pecking order of society might have to fall a bit so that everyone can have a piece of the pie.