Oh, Canadians!
A Tribute to Canadians Who Make A Difference

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Incendies -its point about war criminals

It is morning now and I am still thinking about INCENDIES.
There are so many great elements and lessons from this movie that I will be thinking about it for weeks.

In this blog, however, I am moved to comment on a tangental thought about Canada that was not necessarily inherent or intentional in the work- but nevertheless something that is troubling me.

Canada has a reputation for being an asylum for the worst of the war criminals. It has been rumoured throughout my lifetime that Canada was a haven for Nazi war criminals. There have always been undercurrents that our refugee programs cannot filter out the good from the bad because of the record keeping in foreign and war torn countries and that we are home to many people who committed heinous acts in their former lives in other countries. Certainly, the United States has accused us of such things. I am not sure that this is true but I do believe that we should not be blind to our own weaknesses and mistakes.

In the movie, a war lord claims to have many connections in Canada and the plot supports his claim. What makes this more troubling is that it is such a minor part of the movie- so assumed and taken for granted.

Canada is a great country and its future is assured unless we destroy ourselves through being naive.

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