Time Immortal

You almost wouldn’t think they’re a minority government. Oh, don’t get me wrong: I’m upset at for refusing to boycott the 2008 Olympics (or even to not attend personally, as Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, and the Czech Republic’s president, Válclav Klaus, have done). But when it comes to domestic policy, the guy knows how to play hardball, and his chutzpah is admirable. The Conservatives have brought forth a lot of good legislation since taking office over two years ago, and one can’t help but notice that the fact that they don’t hold a majority in Parliament doesn’t seem to slow them down any.

One thing I don’t get, though, is why Health Canada was not empowered to issue product recalls by any of the previous Liberal governments — that sort of interventionist policy seems a bit more their style, doesn’t it? Not that I’m complaining in this regard; even a hard-nosed conservative like me can see the need for the government to step in every once in a while. Consumer protection is an important aspect of a modern market-driven economy, especially in an age where almost everything is made in places like China (which has been caught in several high-profile acts of dangerous cost-cutting recently, such as using antifreeze as an alternative and cheaper ingredient in toothpaste).

As part of a reform of the Czech Republic’s foreigners law, those who apply for Czech citizenship or permanent residence will from next year first have to overcome the hurdle of an examination in the Czech language based on a Europe-wide testing system. Speaking at its launch on Thursday morning, Minister for Human Rights and Minorities Džamila Stehlíková explained the thinking behind the new system:

“Without language integration a migrant or foreigner cannot integrate into Czech social, cultural and working life. In the UK for instance they combine multiculturalism with a demand for a basic standard of English. By contrast, Germany for a long time underestimated the importance of the German language in integration — and the result is the segregation of some social groups, because of a lack of language communication.”

If there’s going to be any end to the immigrant ghettos of Europe, in which radical Islamism can spread like wildfire, it will be in measures like this. One is tempted to view it as a pity that the times require such drastic measures, until one reflects that the actual requirements of the aforementioned examination are a reasonable familiarity with the official language of the country, which is not an unreasonable thing at all to demand from any immigrant.