The Election in Canada
Blog readers will know that I am not a big fan of Stephen Harper. I was in Atlantic Canada so I added a picture of his distant cousin Ricky.
lets start with Canada. My view is that these are the good old days that we all yearn for. Our major issues are how to spend the surplus and what to do about same sex marriage. They are not - how to recover a failing economy, real wages declining and how to extricate ourselves from the guerrilla war in Iraq. We have a great country and these are great times. Yes healthcare could be better but all of the people around me who are really sick are getting excellent treatment regardless of their income level. (yes I waited 7 months for my hernia to be repaired but this does not dampen my optimism)
The things for me that would really be potential threat to the good times are twofold. One we could see a dramatic political shift from the middle.. Hard Left or hard right, neither are palatable to me. Hard left hurts the economy and hard right is divisive. The second potential threat is the succession of Quebec. The Liberal fraud in that province had the makings of turning the nationalists to neutral seperatists.
I think a Harper majority would turn the country hard right and while part of me wants lower taxes my brain tells me that these same taxes make life good in Canada. While he might personally be a moderate, the yahoos in the party are omnipresent and would eventually wear him down until he started doing stupid things.. But he did not win a majority--he in fact won a thin minority and will have to govern for all. We are not going to the next Iraq without the united nations. Any major party can parry his moves. No not a lot will get done- but what do we really want to get done? Ok more money to the provinces for healthcare - at least this has a chance of happening.
On the Quebec issue the conservatives won seven seats in the francophone heartland. This is good/great. No party like the Liberals should be able to win regardless of their actions. But better news is that the Bloc only got 43% of the popular vote in Quebec. This should quell the referendum talk and we shall be safe from the distraction.
So I am happy- I think Paul Martin would have been the best choice for prime minister but the Guite inquiry skewered him. The liberal party needs renewal bring on Frank Mckenna. Jack Layton and his gal pal Olivia would have been horrid choices- their whole lives guzzling at the public trough and never building anything except dividing people.
I am happy with the election. I think the good ole days will continue.
I wish albertans would wake up and create a democracy but this is life's little trials and challenges.
Somedays the smallest things make you feel better
This was my rental vehicle in the maritimes this week. It snowed I spun...I stomped but all in all I loved that truck. There is nothing like a brand new (543Km) ford F150 loaded to make a boy feel good about driving.
The trip to the maritimes was like walking through memory lane. The guys were all happy to see me. They hadn't changed- the problems in 95 are still the problems today, and the good things are still the good things.
Its strange to go from Calgary where there are few political signs and little interest in the federal election and to drive around halifax and see signs from all three parties well represented. The Geoff Regan Liberal signs were out there big and red and bold as opposed to the liberal signs in Calgary which try to hide the party. The guys -who are a rugged bunch stayed up until at least 1 to see the results on Monday night. Politics is still alive and well there
I will post another on how I think the Canadian election went.
In the end, I drove a big truck and the people are the best. The food is always a little weak and too many smart people feed at the public trough and the drivers are too polite but the people are the best in Canada. 
Slacked off..midweek
I couldn't help it....I had to go to the mountains for a dinner meeting so I left work at noon and skied the afternoon.. Skiing alone is mostly reflective for me. whats the world doing...? how do I really feel? Soon enough the lift is closing my thighs are burning and the weight of the world seems lighter.
The skiing itself...well this dark cloud hung on my mountain and it snowed... I am sure there was the elusive deep powder out there but at times I could not see ten feet. On one run I got completely lost and had it hoof it to high ground to get some semblence of bearings.
somehow that coffee after an afternoon of skiing is the best thing in the world.
God--Really
I read a Blog recently where the Blogger was complaining about how people use God in thier lives. He pointed out quite rightly that when the world thought the 12 miners were saved it was "Praise the Lord, God has given us a miracle" It was big and bold and spontaneous. When the miners were found to have perished the Lord got off scot free and it was Kill the Company, Have better Safety rules, more Federal inspections etc etc.
The writer was definitey anti religion which I am not (being a good Catholic boy) but he defintely gives us the windshield view of human hypocrisy.
Then today I read this from AP
New Orleans Mayor Says God Mad at U.S.
Jan 16, 10:57 PM (ET)
By BRETT MARTEL
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Mayor Ray Nagin suggested Monday that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and other storms were a sign that "God is mad at America" and at black communities, too, for tearing themselves apart with violence and political infighting.
"Surely God is mad at America. He sent us hurricane after hurricane after hurricane, and it's destroyed and put stress on this country," Nagin, who is black, said as he and other city leaders marked Martin Luther King Day.
"Surely he doesn't approve of us being in Iraq under false pretenses. But surely he is upset at black America also. We're not taking care of ourselves."
Nagin also promised that New Orleans will be a "chocolate" city again. Many of the city's black neighborhoods were heavily damaged by Katrina.
"It's time for us to come together. It's time for us to rebuild New Orleans - the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans," the mayor said. "This city will be a majority African American city. It's the way God wants it to be. You can't have New Orleans no other way. It wouldn't be New Orleans."
A day earlier, gunfire erupted at a parade to commemorate King's birthday. Three people were wounded in the daylight shooting amid a throng of mostly black spectators, but police said there were no immediate suspects or witnesses.
It makes you shake your head. I don't really know how God works (in spite of being a good Catholic boy) but I hope God Helps New Orleans one way or the other.
Snow at last
I know people hate snow. But we got two inches today and it was just perfect.. Its fun to drive in without being a disaster. The car slides and give you the little wiggle and its fun. Then the shovelling. Its just 2 inches so when you are done your driveway you are hardly cold, you felt like you have been working out and the fresh air is fabulous. You look across the expanse of the just done driveway and you give yourself a gold star for a job well done. I know those of you who are cooped up in your temperate climates are considering whether I am serious or not-- but no..I love it.. I agree that there is a watershed at 6 inches when it becomes real work but for those of us who have sedate desk jobs this is healthy and wanted. I think a lot of us love a couple inches of snow to shovel. If I could just understand all the nuances of why I feel this way I think I could write a book on what motivates employees. Sure its a stretch- one twisted mind believing that he can use that logic on others. but still I felt so good....
Its taken two weeks
Its taken the first two weeks of January but I am back... For some reason my optimism in the world returned. Maybe its four days straight of being in the office with no travel, or maybe its a natural biorythmic cycle or maybe its quasi dieting. Who knows why we are naturally high or low. I just can't itelligently follow as to when exactly we entered funkdom or what exactly we do to draw ourselves out... I was out at the plant the other day and I was yukking it up with the drivers, it seems innocuous but there is little else in the way of smiles that would drag me along. But I am back.. I am back being opinionated, back skating, back smiling and back believing that these are the good old days and we should smile every minute.
I was worried that Stephen Harper would win the Canadian Election. I am still voting Liberal but I am not worried anymore. Faith that in Canada we will work it out.
Work as well. It was a rough end of the year but I have my smile back. I am back poking people trying to make things better and I have faith that it will all work out.
Kindness will prevail. Optimism rules. I am much happier in my skin... I have no idea why
January sets the world off right...
How did january start out so full of hope and excitement and now a week later the blahs of life have set in? I wonder if others are like this or is it just me? maybe its a delayed reaction from the fat in turkey that 6 days builds optimism and and 12 days knocks the rose coloured glasses off. Today I just moped around... thats it..just moped... sure watched hockey...but never went to skate, sure watched football but never went outside to breathe real air. A passenger.
Its hockeyday in Canada. You would expect that this would envigorate the hockeyman but since its minor hockey week in canada and there are tournaments underway at all rinks I will not be able to play tomorrow morning at the regular time...
Why would I wait months to write such a depressing post? Tonight its just depressing... I need a pick me up.
