Well, thanks to my dear parents I was one of the four or five Americans that heard about the Canadian national elections yesterday. Wow. Those Canadians can sure sneak in an election, eh? Not a lot of backswing there.
Yes, I've come to terms with not being much of a Canadian any more. I still sing the national anthem with "all thy sons command" and "God keep our land" and all the other non-PC bits that I hear have been rooted out and thrown away. I haven't watched much hockey in the last couple decades, although I'm keeping a close eye on the Canucks this year.. But mainly I've just lived in the States for so darn long that I say "prah-cess" not "proh-cess" and nobody winces when I say "about". Turns out there's a lot of Canadian-types living in the US, so I'm in decent company, but I'm pretty much an American at this point.
I do like Canadian politics, though. Even though the elections are a bit furtive, they seem pretty well-mannered -- at least judging from the victory and concession speeches last night. My Ma did send me a funny article earlier in the week about the the guy who eventually won -- Stephen Harper, the incumbent PM -- that sort of mocked any attempt at professionalism in politics, and you can't help but think that whole country thinks of itself chuckling on the amateur moral highground in this regard. Even the comments by Elizabeth May -- the first Green Party MP ever in Canada -- had a decidedly anti-professional tone, especially when she pulled out the old "Remember that the Ark was built by amateurs, and the Titanic was built by professionals" comment, which could have been aimed as much at the American political proh-cess as it was aimed at Mr. Harper. Yeah, nice try at the "no-spin" thing, sweetheart.
Ma and Pa sent out the link to Elizabeth May because it turns out she made big news and she's from their district -- the Gulf Islands! -- and a Green Party victory makes sense there if you think about it for a minute. (BTW, I seriously doubt my parents voted for her when there was a boy from Calgary that needed supporting.. just putting that out there, heh heh). Of course, it probably would have been tactically more shrewd to call it the "BC Gold Party" instead of the "Green Party", but I think everyone got the point. For a little red-underlining check out the comments on Elizabeth's victory speech page, especially the one by "wild-rose":
Sorry to see Gary go, he was a good and honest man, he had family values and a strong working ethic but maybe not so suited to the area anymore. I am unsure how May will serve that area but to my friends and ex neighbors from the San Pen may you do what you do best, ligit [sic] up, look out at the pacific and enjoy having the first Green Party member of Parliment [sic]Sweet.. party on..
2 comments:
So, this is news to me, that you consider yourself more American than Canadian. (Good news, though.) And begs the question: when can we count on your dropping that unnecessary "u" from colour, favour, etc.? When THAT happens, I'll know you're American! ;)
Well son, so sad to see you are no longer a Canadian in practice, even though I do believe there must be a small spot in your heart for the land of the maple leaf, etc, etc.
Excellent blog...the most charming thing about the Canadians is their lack of pretension and the ability to smile at their foibles!!! Just look at the large number of comedians we have sent over the border trying to cheer up the Americans.
We do have a very scary situation with Mr. Jack Layton so strongly sitting with all his buddies as the official opposition. If you thought we were pink before...it is fortunate that Mr. Harper got himself a strong majority government to try to balance out that mighty wave of socialism that will be trying to beach him every day in parliament.
Sherilee, those u's are absolutely necessary to show the world that you care about your English heritage!!
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