A New Brunswick Tory MP is challenging Ottawa to put the
"Christ" back into Christmas.
Greg Thompson, the veteran MP for New Brunswick Southwest, has launched a
one-man campaign aimed at stemming what he fears is the federal government's
increasing efforts to separate state and religion.
The final straw is a new Royal Canadian Mint television advertising campaign
that substitutes "giving" in place of "Christmas" in the
song The Twelve Days of Christmas.
"There's been a move by government here to sanitize everything that
happens in Ottawa," Mr. Thompson charged in an interview Thursday.
"It's as if they don't want to risk offending anyone, and in the process
they are forgetting the fact that Christmas Day is a recognized holiday. I
mean, what's next?' "
Mr. Thompson is so concerned by what he terms "an erosion of Christian
values" that he's submitted a series of eight questions on the Order Paper
in the House of Commons to find out who is responsible for the Grinch-like
behaviour.
The questions have, in turn, sparked a minor controversy after a clerk ruled
three of his questions were hypothetical and inflammatory. Mr. Thompson
successfully appealed to House Speaker Peter Milliken to get two of the
questions reinstated, but Mr. Milliken declared it was
"argumentative" to ask "whose decision was it to take the 'Christ'
out of 'Christmas.' "
Mr. Thompson said two out of three isn't bad, but he's refusing to give up as
he claims to have unprecedented support from MPs of all political stripes.
"Of all the things I've ever done up here I've never seen Members of
Parliament rally around one issue more than they have on this one,
personally," Mr. Thompson said.
"I think it's something we're all concerned about, but sometimes we don't
like to speak out," he added. "We're reluctant to say anything until
we decide 'enough is enough.' "
A mint spokesman acknowledged Thursday there has been a backlash to the
Christmas campaign, but Phil Taylor added the television ad has also been
"extremely effective" in selling coins.
He said the mint's four-year-old strategy is to promote December as a time of
gift giving for many groups and the ad was designed to appeal to a wide
audience.
"A lot of people think it was done out of political correctness, but it is
based purely on marketing principles," Mr. Taylor said.
"It promotes coins as an ideal gift and it targets gift givers regardless
of their creed," he added.
Mr. Thompson said that isn't good enough as he submitted a new question
Thursday asking what the federal government is doing to promote Dec. 25 as the
birth date of Jesus Christ.
"We're trying to put the Christ back into Christmas," he said.
Mr. Thompson's first list of questions also asked who approved the mint's
campaign, and whether Canada Post might next be dropping its Christmas postage
stamps.
He's also asking if Ottawa is going to amend its Holidays Act and certain
Standing Orders to remove the word "Christmas," and he is demanding
to know what other steps the government has taken to eliminate references to
Christmas.
Mr. Thompson said "this antiseptic approach to government" has been
going on for more than a year. He noted that a vigil on Parliament Hill last
year following the 9-11 terrorist attacks was void of any reference to God, as
was a recent Swissair memorial.
The city of Toronto, meanwhile, has recently dubbed its giant evergreen the
"holiday tree," and The Gap clothing store has instructed its sales
staff to wish customers a "happy holiday" instead of "merry
Christmas."
"When do you nip this sort of political correctness in the bud," Mr.
Thompson said.
"I really think the government has gone overboard, or appears to be on
that track," he added.
He argued that Christmas is the one time of the year when the generosity of
humankind is expressed on the streets with peoples of all faiths being greeted
with a "merry Christmas."
"There's something wrong when the federal government is trying to minimize
that," Mr. Thompson said.