As the leaves pile up and the first snowflake of the season lands on my nose, in the Canada I know.
And in the United States Americans prepare for an election that could bring down the failed neocons, by carving messages of HOPE.
On pumpkins...
I wonder about the Canada I don't know ...or RECOGNIZE.
Where forty percent of Canadians didn't bother to vote in the recent election. And a failed neocon was re-elected with 36 percent of the vote, because the centre-left is divided. Even as a brutal recession closes in , and the gap between the rich and the poor continues to grow.
The report said both Canada's poverty and income inequality rates spiked between 1995 and 2005 until they both exceeded the 30-member organization's average.
A country where when the pompous right-wing owl Jeffrey Simpson writes a jackass column blasting Quebecers for voting for the Bloc Quebecois...the party that saved Canada from a Harper majority... the comment section is full of ugly shite like this:
The rest of Canada will never ever be able to satisfy this self-centred spoiled child. Kick it out of the home with out a penny, cut it lose, let them find out how it is in the real world - it's called ' Tough Love '
Enough of this Quebec culture nonsense, what is culture when everyone else has to pay for it.
Talk of separation should be considered an act of high treason punishable by lengthy prison stays or a trip to the firing squad
Or when another Globe columnist writes a story about Dion's painful struggle to come to terms with his defeat, another hoser weighs in with this priceless bit of Canadiana:
The Bull from Canada writes: boo fricken hoo.who cares?
i have no sympathy for geeks like this.
i don't trust anybody that can't skate to be PM.
next?
And after all of that I wonder what should we carve on OUR pumpkins?
Hope. Eh?
What happened?
Or just HELP?
DION backwards - NO ID!
ReplyDeleteAs a french-canadian, I'm really tired of this depiction of Quebec as crybabies that other canadians supposedly pay for... This is simply untrue and as you mentioned, some english media (including the CBC) give space to commentators and columnists who spread around such stereotypes. This does not help to reconcile the "two solitudes".
ReplyDeleteAw, it's Kerouac! Woof!
ReplyDeleteThe BQ rocks! They're the only reason Harper couldn't get a majority. Good for la belle province! I (heart) Quebec.
There's some real history happening in the US right now, I am constantly amazed by what I'm seeing. I can't help being excited for them -- imagine, after all these years of religious right and neocon hell, there's finally light at the end of the tunnel!
And as the states go, so goes Canada... I'm sure our next election will bring in a new progressive government.
Hi anonymous...probably not...and not a political bone either. But a decent idealistic man who did try to do his best...
ReplyDeleteHi JJ!! Yup it's Kerouac...getting old but still with the heart of a pup.
ReplyDeleteAnd Quebec does ROCK. I wish Duceppe was head of the Bloc Canadien so I could vote for him.
As for the States it's so exciting AND depressing. I'm excited the Neo-Con Empire there is about to come tumbling down. I'm depressed that in Canada we're going to get stuck with the last of the neocons. Ugh. So when Obama wins I'm going to be so happy and so JEALOUS grrrrrr.... :)
Hi enkidu's palace...or salut !!!
ReplyDeleteI'm tired too. As you know I LOVE Quebec and the Québécois. I love their history and their culture and what they contribute to making Canada more interesting and more FUN.When I get on a plane in a foreign country and I hear the announcements in French then I know I'm home...or chez moi.And you're right about the media being full of nonsense.But as for those bigots I would do what I do and tell them to fuck off. I've got one foot in each solitude and I love them BOTH...hostie..
P.S. J'aime ton avatar...est-ce c'est ca une vraie BABOUNE? :)
Hi Simon, this is kinda of a pick-me-up. Here in Canada, we sometimes run a bit late on things, but I'm confident that the "apathy" you sensed in the electorate this time around is temporary. Check this also. There's much to be hopeful for, I think ... if the Libs are willing to learn.
ReplyDeleteAs for Quebec, there are not so nice things being dished out from the other side as well. Only since it is mostly in French, albeit in this case somewhat funny, we do not get to hear about them. Perhaps, as the Dems are doing down south, one should concentrate on what unites us & leave the extremists to their games and not allow us to be distracted by them. There's much work to be done.
Cheers!
Having been in Montreal ( and also Toronto ) for six weeks before, I have taken interest in the plight of Quebecois, learned their culture and even your country's politics.
ReplyDeleteIt's certainly a major let down in terms of the sad low numbers of voters who came out to vote in any general election, period. And to witness what's unfolding in the USA, envious and admirable no less but inspiring as well and maybe there's something there for Canadians to learn and hope for?
On another note, I wonder whether there's any new updates on the Immigration laws now that the new government has been formed? Thanks!
Hi Gene...thanks for your comment and the neat links. I do get a bit gloomy sometimes but only because I have such high hopes....and yeah because I'm impatient. It never lasts though and these days watching the way the right is collapsing in the U.S. is making me VERY cheery :)
ReplyDeleteHi Nase !! I'm sorry I took so long to get back to you. I was so excited about spending a long weekend in Montreal I forgot about answering my readers.
ReplyDeleteI must say I quite impressed by your knowledge of Canada.I'm always giving some of my dumb friends shit for not knowing more about the other countries...and sometimes not even their own.
I don't know what the status of the immigration laws is, because Parliament won't be back for a while.
But I do know we do need lots more immigrants and you sound like an excellent candidate !!!! :)