Canadian self loathing

Reading the Globe and Mail on Afghanistan I ran across the following:

"Even acknowledging the brutality of domestic life in Afghanistan, the comparison is apt, for as Ms. Armstrong pointed out, in Canada a man was legally allowed to beat his wife until 1968 and to rape her until 1983. "

No no no.

Spousal assault was assault from at least 1066 and forced sexual contact was a crime from the same time (if you doubt it read Blackstone -- I suspect I am almost the last lawyer to do so but it's all there).

Yes, wife abuse was often overlooked in the past but the fact a law is enforced in a lax way doesn't change that fact it is a law. And even in the 1960's Canadians had a name for a man who beat his wife -- he was called a criminal. I remember the contempt honorable men had for someone who hit a woman -- maybe there was an element of paternalism there but there was also a recognition that mistreatment of women was just wrong.

It seems that the need to say Canada and the West is awful is so great that some give justification to the genuinely wicked actions of the Taliban.

Put otherwise, ask where is it better to live as a woman:

Winnipeg in 1966, or,

Mazari Sharif in 2009?

Not much of a decision.

And guess what, Winnipeg in 1966 wins for a man too. Canada today is a more progressive and open place than it was 32 years ago but Canada is 1966 was a free country -- Afghanistan is not.
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4

416 225 2777