4 - Sunday, September i, 1991 - North Shore News Hail, Canada: the last of the empires Bob Hunter STRICTLY PERSONAL HAS THE significance of the collapse of the Russian empire hit you yet? What it means is that in terms of raw land mass, Canada is now the world’s largest country. It is the political jurisdiction covering the largest uninterrupted area — put it that way. If you were scanning a globe for remaining empires still struggl- ing along in the dying years of the 2Gth century, your eye would in- evitably be drawn to Canada, astride an immense buffer zone between the world’s two super- powers, So long as the superpowers re- mained in what seemed like a rough military stand-off, the size of Canada worked to everyone’s advantage. It gave precious mo- ments’ wa, aing to mobilize the defences of both the Americans and the Soviets, Later, when submarine-launch- ed missiles rendered the great nor- thern buffer zone militarily irrele- vant, Canada still had the advan- tage of being the perfect kind of satellite, its economy firmly in American hands, and for the last * two elections, its federai govern- ment little more than a Wall Street/White House lapdog. So, Canadians, enjoy your rew-found stature. Hail, Canada, largest of all the empires feft in the world! OC course, having said that, | have to add that, historically, } suspect our role now is also to be the last of all empires. Nowadays, if anybody tries to conquer another nation (let alone more than a hundred of them, which is what the Europeans faced when they first arrived), they would be hit by a UN resolution and swarmed by an international gang of professional high-tech hit-persons, operating with a vir- tually limitless taxpayer-funded, Japanese, German and Arab- backed budget. It just can’t be done any more. In the way that we define im- perialism and aggression today, Quebec has no more business be- ing considered part of Canada than any of the First Nations From any objective legal perspec- tive, all non-native British Colu- mians are squatters. Modern Canada is of course a fragment broken off from the col- lision of two vastly-larger global empires, both of which were crumbling around the edges even as they fought over the last few territorial prizes up for grabs. And once that ancient struggle was decided, it still took until 1949 for Canada to assume its current massive configuration, and that involved not only the en- circlement and neutralizing of the Eastern woodland tribes, but the subjugation of the Plains Indians, “I finally realized that I just couldn’t take care of my home and huge lot in White Rock all by myself anymore. And my daughter and family live in North Vancouver, so it was a long way for them to come and visit as often as theyd like. One day when I was cutting the lawn it just came to me. I put up a ‘For Sale’ sign and the house sold just like that.” Mamie Walker (shown with granddaughter Lesliz) Another good reason to choose Cedar Village There’s a lot of reasons that people are choosing to live at Cedar Village. For some like Mamie Walker, it’s certainly the maintenance- free lifestyle and the fact that lawn mowing and repairs will be a thing of the past. For others, it’s the security of having neighbours right next door in times of emergency or to keep an eye out when away on vacation. And for everyone at Cedar Village, it’s the fact that ownership is restricted to seniors 60 and over, with lots of luxury amenities to the grabbing of the lands of the people of the Pacific Coast and interior, and finally tne whole of the entire remaining ‘‘territories.”’ The conquest of Western Canada was one of the most suc- cessful military operations of all time, if viewed purely in terms of deaths among the victors per acre of land gained. ft was a dirty war, mind you. Food was used as a weapon. Legal chicanery was involved. Brute mil- itary force. Kangaroo court:. Gunpoint claim-jumps. Rigged court decisions. Faked documents. Worst of all, drug addiction in the form of alcoho! (the cocaine of its tirne, you might say), was employed to break native resistance. All this, plus religious zealots being unleashed, in effect, with warrants. I reiterate this stuff because Canada's future is going to be determined by its history every bit as much as the fate of the Soviet empire is being determined now on the basis of its own torturous past. As in the Soviet Union, fun- damental territorial, racial, linguistic, cultural and political conflicts in Canada remained ut- terly unresolved, except by the old might-is-right dictum. My interpretation of the disintegration of the Czarist/ Communist imperial domain call- ed the U.S.S.R. is that it fits in with the tide of our time, namely toward smaller and smaller politi- cal units. The fact of the matter is that nearly every country in the world is a mini-empire of some kind, ong tribe or another having con- quered its neighbors, either slaughtering them or enslaving them. We all have bloody pasts. Canada’s past is probably par for the course. In the 400 years it took for Europeans to conquer the place, the native population dropped to less than one-tenth of its original numbers, with several entire peoples wiped out. Ever since the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, Canada has been in a state of constantly-ap- prehended insurrection, even if alf our ‘‘national’’ rhetoric was directed at pretending Upper and Lower Canada and the satellite provinces were one irdivisible dominioi. Lovely word. Literaly, an area of domination. How long does anyone really expect Canada to remain the **biggest country in the world?” Is there true advantage to physical size? The centrifugal forces pulling at political centres everywhere are being generated by the momentum of past events that can’t be changed or buried. Canada is no exception. Whatever the recon- figuration, reconfigured it will be. Probably sooner, the way things ae going, than later. Regional planning series to encourage new ideas VANCOUVER CITY is_ in- viting municipal planners from throughout the Greater Van- couver Regional District to a series of seminars designed to encourage new ideas and cre- ative U wnking in regional plan- ning. The seminars begin on Wed- nesday, Sept. 18, with speakers addressing the topic ‘‘What is a ‘good’ Jong-range plan, any- way?"’ Included on the panel will be former North Vancouver District mayor Marilyn Baker and Robert Stacy Jr., the director of planning for Portland, Qve., which has a ci- ty plan known for its thoughtfulness and effec- liveness, Speakers will present their views, then field questions from the invited guests. Other topics to be covered in the series are ‘“*What should Vancouver’s role be, globally, nationally, regionally?’’ (Oct. 16); ‘‘How can housing ever be ‘affordable’?’”” (Nov. 13); and “Transportation — getting there isn’t even half the fun any more”’ (Dec. LE). Later seminars will look at immigration and NIMBY (‘Not In My Backyard’’) issues and the changing nature of work and business in the global economy. Vancouver City Planning Commission staff organizing the seminars plan te have the seminars videotaped and edited so they can be retained as a resource for the future. For more information, call the planning commission at 873-7477, share. There’s a lounge, library, billiards & games room, large-screen television for movie nights, entertainment-sized kitchen for potluck suppers, croquet lawn, patio, and beautiful gardens. And, just a short walk away are the therapeutic pools and seniors’ activities of the Karen Magnussen Recreation Centre. Show suite now open If you’re interested in putting your lawn mowing days behind you, visit Cedar Village today. Priced below market starting at $142,000. Open Monday thru Thursday 2-4 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday 1-5 p.m. To find out move For more information call Pamela Bell at 980-4134. Cedar Village is located at 2020 Cedar Village Crescent, North Vancouver. Full co-operation with agents.