Apologies to Peter Newman for borrowing the title of his excellent book on Canada in the 60s -- the Diefenbaker years. Click here to find out more about the book and where you can buy it. No, Walt doesn't get a commission, but commends it to you as a good commentary on the malaise of the hippy-dippy 60s. That decade was when the rot set it.
Fast forward to 1995, and the gentle, implacable warning of Father Gilbert Simard, a priest from St. Joachim, Ontario.
"To me, there is a longing in the heart of the people...to find what held our communities together thirty or forty years ago, and is not there now.
"There has been, in government, in the past ten, fifteen, even twenty years, a shift away from the Judaeo-Christian values that have always been the basis of our legislation, our conduct with each other, and our conduct with the community. We have lost the sense of that. We have lost the sense of values that our predecessors gave to us."
Father Simard said that to Globe and Mail columnist John Ibbitson 15 years ago. Today his words seem even more wise ... and sadly prescient.
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