POLITICS: A teeny, TINY glimmer of hope
OK, so it's slightly possible that Stephen Harper may not be the devil incarnate as I first thought, though I'm still sure he is at least one of the devil's minions. Today the Ottawa Citizen reported that the Harper family fosters kittens from the Ottawa Humane Society, just like us...! :-)
When the results came in on Monday night, I was devastated. (I was comfortedthat it was a minority however.) Then I thought about it a lot. And listened. And though I still fear many of the things that have been talked about in the last 3 days (eg. "re-evaluating" Vancouver's highly successful safe injection sight, harsher sentences for youth crime , increased militarizing of Canada's north, his plan to scrap the national childcare idea, etc, etc) I have come to the conclusion that if nothing else, it will be extremely interesting - fun even (in the way that watching your hockey team lose the finals is fun). This is the first time in my adult life that we have not had a Liberal gov't. The first election I voted in was the one in which Kim Campbell and her Tories were reduced to mush. So at least it will be novel, and we all know my affinity for novelty.
I'm not quite as afraid as I was, as it seems like the numbers should help (though not perfect) check his evil social policies - though we'll see how wily he is. We likely won't move too far forward in any of that, if at all, but hopefully we won't lose a whole lot of ground. As well, this will force the Liberals to clean house and reprioritise. There are a few things that the Conservatives may be able to clean up, especially under the close watch of the other 3 parties in a more diverse house of commons. We can all come back smarter and tougher and move forward in t
wo years for the next election. The longest term for a minority gov't in Canadian history was something like 1392 days, but the average is 18 months. I will likely remain unemployed for that duration, as I doubt Stevo will be handing out any lucrative anti-racism and pro-immigration contracts any time soon. (I'm kidding Dad!)
One thing I need to say. Um, Mr. Harper? Please stop waxing on about the so-called "growing plague of guns and crime in our cities". The national crime rate has been steadily declining over the past decade, especially in cities. You are taking advantage of recent tragedies to fear-monger. Please don't throw 12 year olds in the clink and start gassing the 14 yr olds because that doesn't reduce crime. Thanks.
Update: Today's tough talk from SH about how he's going to run the house ('the other parties can give as much input as they like, but ultimately the final decision is mine' ...something like that...) does not endear him to me, but I suspect if he decides to run the house that way he'll bring down his govt, so hopefully he'll lighten up.
Anyways, I'm still nervous but no longer quite as depressed. I know that people like me will need to be even more vigilant and active over the next few years, and I suspect I'll be busy writing letters and attending protests (and far more) but that's democracy. ( - as I write this I'm getting depressed by the thought of that, but anyways......)
The beauty of it all is that we have just watched the votes be counted and changed governments, and not a drop of blood was shed. That's pretty special.
(cartoon by John Fewings, here)
When the results came in on Monday night, I was devastated. (I was comfortedthat it was a minority however.) Then I thought about it a lot. And listened. And though I still fear many of the things that have been talked about in the last 3 days (eg. "re-evaluating" Vancouver's highly successful safe injection sight, harsher sentences for youth crime , increased militarizing of Canada's north, his plan to scrap the national childcare idea, etc, etc) I have come to the conclusion that if nothing else, it will be extremely interesting - fun even (in the way that watching your hockey team lose the finals is fun). This is the first time in my adult life that we have not had a Liberal gov't. The first election I voted in was the one in which Kim Campbell and her Tories were reduced to mush. So at least it will be novel, and we all know my affinity for novelty.
I'm not quite as afraid as I was, as it seems like the numbers should help (though not perfect) check his evil social policies - though we'll see how wily he is. We likely won't move too far forward in any of that, if at all, but hopefully we won't lose a whole lot of ground. As well, this will force the Liberals to clean house and reprioritise. There are a few things that the Conservatives may be able to clean up, especially under the close watch of the other 3 parties in a more diverse house of commons. We can all come back smarter and tougher and move forward in t
wo years for the next election. The longest term for a minority gov't in Canadian history was something like 1392 days, but the average is 18 months. I will likely remain unemployed for that duration, as I doubt Stevo will be handing out any lucrative anti-racism and pro-immigration contracts any time soon. (I'm kidding Dad!)One thing I need to say. Um, Mr. Harper? Please stop waxing on about the so-called "growing plague of guns and crime in our cities". The national crime rate has been steadily declining over the past decade, especially in cities. You are taking advantage of recent tragedies to fear-monger. Please don't throw 12 year olds in the clink and start gassing the 14 yr olds because that doesn't reduce crime. Thanks.
Update: Today's tough talk from SH about how he's going to run the house ('the other parties can give as much input as they like, but ultimately the final decision is mine' ...something like that...) does not endear him to me, but I suspect if he decides to run the house that way he'll bring down his govt, so hopefully he'll lighten up.
Anyways, I'm still nervous but no longer quite as depressed. I know that people like me will need to be even more vigilant and active over the next few years, and I suspect I'll be busy writing letters and attending protests (and far more) but that's democracy. ( - as I write this I'm getting depressed by the thought of that, but anyways......)
The beauty of it all is that we have just watched the votes be counted and changed governments, and not a drop of blood was shed. That's pretty special.
(cartoon by John Fewings, here)
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