Remembering Vimy Ridge

How ironic it is that we recently witnessed our own Prime Minister over in Europe commemorating the 90th anniversary of the assault on Vimy Ridge - just one of the many battles over several wars where decent Canadian men paid the ultimate sacrifice to fight tyranny.

Yet here we are 90 years later, in many ways far less “free” than we were a century ago, living in a society where law-abiding citizens are still subject to the whims and petty antics of an unrestrained, self-serving bureaucracy. A bureaucracy so firmly convinced that without their protection, we would simply be incapable of making responsible decisions about our own lives, even down to deciding what kind of vehicle to drive.

Make no mistake - we’re not talking here about hordes of maniacs racing through the streets on grossly over-powered for the weight, inherently unstable vehicles without basic safety equipment such as seat belts, windshield wipers, bumpers, etc. No, the Hells Angels have no reason to fear loss of their favorite mounts – motorcycles – because the powers that be are fine with that.

What we honest, law-abiding citizens have done to incur the wrath of the regulators is chose to drive and own a range of fun, unique, enjoyable and well-built vehicles from that bastion of great manufacturing prowess – Japan. And we all know what Detroit would have us driving if it hadn’t been for the Japanese, right? “How many tailfins will that be with your Corvair, sir?”

In 1986, Transport Canada decided that it would not be a crime against humanity if hobbyists and enthusiasts were allowed import specialty vehicles for their automotive driving pleasure. After all, with so many people enamored by the variety of shapes and purposes for which vehicles are made, who would mind? Fast forward 21 years or so later, and again people are re-discovering the cool styling and features of cars from a previous generation. The only thing that has changed is that these cars are much better built, coming from Japan as it were, when compared to the early 70’s stuff from Detroit.

Now, most people would tell you that it’s better to have a well-built car than something of lesser construction. And yet, here we are being told by Transport Canada that we must arrest this trend of nostalgic admiration of bygone years for exactly that reason – the cars are too good! That’s right – as unbelievable as it may seem, our protectors have determined that there really can be too much of a good thing – that too many old cars are a threat to public safety. Right.

And if you find that bit of reasoning a bit hard to comprehend, fasten your seatbelt because the twists and turns of the Government’s argument get even more bizarre. As a remedy for “too many, too good old cars” they have proposed increasing the age of exemption for importing used vehicles from Japan and Germany from 15 to 25 years. You read that right – in Transport Canada’s pretzel logical way of thinking, its safer to have more 25 year-old vehicles on the road than “too good” 15-year old vehicles. Go figure.

Consequently, this being 2007, if the bureaucrats idea to amend the rule allowing individuals to import 15-year old vehicles were amended to only allowing 25-year old vehicles in, the newest vehicle you could import from Japan or Germany would be 1982. Or in other words, you would no longer be allowed to import a 1986 Mercedes as intended you should be able to 15 years hence when the law was originally written. And this, simply because the cars are too good?

When I think back to how those brave young men gave their lives so that we could be free of tyranny, how could they have know the biggest threat to our freedoms would come not from the Kaiser of Germany, but rather, one of a homegrown variety.

WHO’S AFRAID OF THE BIG, BAD GHOST?

Common wisdom holds that people fear things they don’t know or don’t understand. Take change, for example: When change is thrust upon us and the outcomes are uncertain, we tend to fear the worst.

Now, a lot of people I’ve been talking to have been wondering who, exactly, is so afraid of these cute, economical, reliable pre-loved imported vehicles that they want them banned? Many theories abound, from al Queda trying to undermine our economy to Jimmy wanting to limit competition. Only one thing certain here is that SOMETHING BIG is going on behind the scenes that nobody wants to come clean on.

Personally, I’ve kind of narrowed it down to a few likely of culprits:

1. Those poor, over-worked civil servants who just can’t stand the thought of someone else making a buck while it’s the superannuated bunch who have all the real work to do. (If you think that I’m kidding, just remember - they who can’t get laid off already have jobs for life and pensions that last even longer). This could well acccount for the pettiness of their efforts to barricade enthusiasts and those who bring these delightful, foreign vehicles in for them.

2. A more likely scenario, however, is the official effort to cut off the supply of imported vehicles is part of a much larger plot to integrate North America’s economic and security ties. In short, since the USA has a 25-year rule, we must have a 25-year rule. Yes, Virginia, this whole cluster could be something as simple as plain old hegemony. And I’m not even xenophobic!

There’s just one problem with this latter scenario: Even though Canada produces far more energy per capita than the US, thanks to the miracle of higher income and sales taxes, we pay approximately double the price per litre than our American cousins.

How’s that you say? Well, gas costs approx. 35% less per litre after converting from gallons to litresand converting from US Dollars to Canabucks. Add to that the fact that we pay on average 15% higher income taxes, and before you can say George’s Bushed, you’re paying twice as much pre-tax income for the same unit of motion lotion.

That’s right, folks: It’s our oil, but we get to pay more for it in our essential needs such as transportation. Kind of makes you proud, doesn’t it? After all, it’s the Canadian way.

The solution is quite simple: For gawd sakes, WRITE PHONE CALL your MP and tell him/her/it that since you have to pay world prices for energy, you want world choices for your vehicle needs. Please, don’t be afraid of the Big Bad Government Ghost! Let them know who’s actually paying the bills, and who’s really the employee!

Japanoids in the news

Kudo’s to David Jubb of The Japanoid Auto Store in New Westminster, BC. David managed to steal the airwaves with a feature on CTV highlighting these exciting, economical cars from Japan. If you didn’t have the opportunity to see him on the news, check it out on the link below. Apparently, response to the news item has been so impressive, CTV wants to follow the story as it evolves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpXqaPr7mnI&mode=related&search=

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 25th, 2007 at 12:28 am and is filed under Cavi Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.