It has been said that opinions are like noses - everyone's got one.
Therefore, say these people, since we are in a free country of a democratic government, everyone and anyone with an opinion should be allowed to express it, and you're not allowed to say that it's wrong.
(It might be wrong-headed, but not wrong )
Oops - was I wrong to say that?
Maybe it is true that everyone's entitled to their own opinion; certainly that's how one determines what music they like, and what movies or TV shows they enjoy, or food. It's all a matter of taste, of one's opinion.
But on some matters, it seems to me that opinions are expressed with a wrong or bad attitude, and I am then left wondering how valid is such an opinion.
How about this opinion? A Quebecois politician (which may explain things right there) called our new Royal Couple, Will and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, as "parasites".
I assume he's also going to be one of the people pushing for the abandonment of the monarchy as an antiquated and anachronistic institution - thus he uses insulting verbiage like "parasites" when referring to a young just-married couple who want to come and see some of the beauty and experience the hospitality of Canada. (Unfortunately they are missing the best and most hospitable province in Canada by bypassing us, but maybe they heard about all our rain and wanted to see something else )
Even if one is not exactly enamoured of the monarchy as an institution, what kind of heartless person would be so harshly critical of a genuinely nice young couple just starting out? If anyone can breathe new life again into royalty and make them human again, it's William and Kate.
Parasites, to use the term about someone like the Royal Couple, is to accuse them of being like leeches, sucking the lifeblood out of their host in order to live. The couple do not need the lifeblood of Canadians or the British (or anyone else in the Commonwealth); Will is in the British Air Force, and in fact will be stationed at a base in Wales, serving his country faithfully and well.
I really don't think it's so bad having a remnant of historic times, even if they are only a figurehead and are not in fact rulers of our realm. I do much prefer our democratic system as we have it, and the monarchy provide us a connection to our past. Hosting them for a trip, to me, is a small price to pay - and it does not make them parasites.
