In the final days of 2023, there was no more poignant symbol of Canada’s post-national malaise than the cultural darkness cloaking Parliament Hill.
Christmas lights—the ones that actually mean something—haven’t been seen there since 2021. The federal government replaced them the following year with something called “Winter Lights” which, no matter how hard you think about it, stand for nothing at all.
The reasoning behind this decision was never announced but it’s fair to assume it was rooted in the ever-present mantra of diversity and inclusion. The news release at the time indicated that the new display would ensure everyone “can participate and join in the spirit of the season.”
What particular spirit is inspired by “winter lights” is left to the imagination.
It took less than two generations (the Christmas lights were added on Parliament Hill in 1985) for Canada to transition from a nation that robustly celebrated the peace and goodwill spirit of the 2,000-year-old Christmas story to one that meekly accepted its replacement with a meaningless, state-manufactured display of nothingness.
When societies do this—when they abandon the cultural ground upon which they were built and fail to replace it with something of substance—someone or something else usually fills the void.
So while millions of Christians still persisted in celebrating the birth of Christ last month, roving bands of leftists and Islamists took to the streets to demand there be “No Christmas as usual.” And in many cases, by muscling their way into malls and frightening shoppers and Santas, they succeeded.
In Calgary, they intimidated the mayor, Jyoti Gondek, into boycotting the lighting of the Hanukkah menorah at city hall and then blaming her absence on the Jews.
They did all this, ostensibly, as a way to support residents of Gaza. People there have suffered horribly since Israel fought back following the atrocity-laden slaughter and hostage-takings of civilians on its soil.
Hamas, which rules Gaza, makes it clear in its founding charter that it “rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea.” It further calls on Muslims to “fight Jews and kill them.”
It was as if a rock was turned over and appalled cries of “this is not who we are” were overwhelmed by the truth that, while this is definitely not who we were at the turn of the century, this is absolutely who we have become 24 years later.
There was a time when this level of bigotry and hatred would have solicited vigorous rebukes from politicians of all persuasions. Those who failed to do so would have been hounded by the media—as many did with gusto during the truckers’ convoy protest—to explain their hesitance. Police would have been unforgiving and human rights organizations unrelenting in their condemnations.
A prime minister would have never—as Justin Trudeau did—hesitated for days before commenting on the murder of a Canadian at the hands of terrorists.
A foreign minister would have never—as did Melanie Joly—wait weeks before condemning the vicious rape and butchering of women at the hands of men proudly recording their own depravity.
Nor would so many within the media have passively offered “both sides” credibility to the criminal terrorist organization that gave the orders and sent those homicidal degenerates on their mission.
But this is 2024 and our world has changed. Our sense of self—of who we are as a people—is entirely different from the one that existed when Christmas lights first shone on the Parliament Buildings.
For the better part of a decade, our nation’s leadership has berated Canadians concerning their moral failings—from their privilege to their status as settlers, colonizers, and facilitators of systemic racism. Oblivious to the consequences of its words, our government has apologized relentlessly for the country’s history and defamed its institutions. With rare exceptions, this has improved the lot of no one. But it has effectively diminished the nation’s sense of pride, unity, and cultural cohesion.
We have been divided into two classes, the oppressed and the oppressors, which ensures the perpetuation of Marxism’s essential struggle.
Those seeking to infiltrate “Zionist-infested” zones see themselves in the former category and have handily replaced the officially discredited cultural influencers of the past. Having flexed their political muscle and found resistance lacking, they will be unafraid to continue their evil ways in the year ahead.
This year, they and those who enable them need to be stopped.
And then the next leader of this country must set Canadians free to again feel pride in themselves, their nation, and its most noble traditions.
Only then can we begin to chase away the darkness that is stealing our soul.
