Underhanded attack twists motives of hardworking Medicine Hat MP
Medicine Hat’s Monte Solberg is surely one of the calmest, most thoughtful and nicest MPs in the House of Commons.
The 48-year-old politician, first elected to Parliament in 1993 under the Reform banner, later under the Canadian Alliance flag, and now under the Conservative label, has proven his staying power.
He’s been Opposition spokesman on finance, foreign affairs, and human resources development.
Now he’s minister for citizenship and immigration—a hot portfolio with a minefield of problems. This range of chores demonstrates the confidence Reform party leader Preston Manning, Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day and Prime Minister Stephen Harper have in the former radio station manager.
He’s articulate and elegant, and a fine family man, married to wife Debra, with two children, Matthew and Michael.
Yet, a week or so ago, in a despicable, devious and underhanded attack, Solberg was painted as a racist.
The assault came in the main from former Liberal immigration minister Denis Coderre, and also Bloc Quebecois MP Meili Faille.
Paradoxically, it came because Solberg wanted to spend more money on language training for immigrants from nations not using the Latin alphabet.
Solberg was actually trying to give special help to immigrants from Asia, the Orient, the Middle East, parts of Africa, and former the Soviet Union.
It’s quite obviously immigrants from Europe or South America who use the same A-Z alphabet we do have an easier time learning English than those from nations with different alphabets.
Just ask any Canadian—or American—who has tried to learn Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Greek or nations using an Arabic, Cyrillic, or Indo-Iranian alphabet.
Testifying before a Commons committee studying his department’s spending estimates, Solberg explained he wanted to spend more money on language courses.
He noted: “The source countries in then past have tended to be countries with Latin alphabets where it was easier for people to learn new language skills.
Today, we have a lot of people coming from from Asia who may not have the benefit of a Latin-based alphabet, so it is more difficult for them to pick up language skills.”
Basically, Solberg wanted to bend over backwards to give more assistance to these immigrants.
This brought a hypocritical tongue-lashing from Coderre—a Liberal one hopes we will never hear from again after the next federal election.
Stormed Coderre: “To make this kind of statement and to label people is clearly bad. This is the ministry of Canada, for God’s sake. You’re supposed to be inclusive. You’re not supposed to make those kinds of statements.”
What a phony slur from Coderre.
Solberg was in reality being more inclusive than was Coderre when he was immigration minister.
Coderre then talked about a “slippery slope” Solberg was on when he seemingly suggested because of their ethnicity some immigrants learn English or French quicker than others.
Well, we know the “slippery slope” Coderre was hinting at.
Yet, the fraudulent nature of Coderre’s attack can surely be seen in his seeming assertion that all immigrants, whether they are used to the Latin alphabet or not, learn English or French just as easily as each other.
Obviously, if you already know your A-Z—with many French, Spanish or other European languages having similar roots and words, it’s going to be far easier to learn English or French.
Faille, who comes from a party trying to break up Canada, described Solberg’s point as “absurd.”
The separatist MP declared it made “no sense.”
What is absurd and makes no sense is for Faille and colleagues to want to tear apart our country and—think about this—establish a basically French-only state.
I found the assaults against Solberg, a thoroughly decent individual, to be absolutely reprehensible, even sickening.
Yet now we know just how low the likes of Coderre and his ilk will sink to try and tarnish the reputations of Harper’s cabinet ministers.
Right into the gutter.
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