Well I must say my Canada 150 long weekend was about 150% better than I had hoped it would be.
The music and the fireworks were amazing. Some friends from Montreal were staying with me, so I was able to party in both official languages.
And for the first time I felt that our other founding nations were being recognized at last.
In some ways it was a stirring sight. Tom Mulcair returning to the House of Commons after his humiliating defeat at the NDP leadership convention.
Standing tall and getting a standing ovation.
Two days after his fellow New Democrats made a dramatic show of backing over him, Mulcair appeared in the House of Commons, apparently determined to carry on.
And when the Speaker called on the member for Outremont to ask the sixth question of the afternoon, Mulcair was acknowledged with a standing ovation, not merely from his typically peppy caucus, but from Conservatives and Liberals as well, a seemingly unanimous expression of appreciation.
But in other ways, the sight couldn't have been sadder or more depressing...
Justin Trudeau has been underestimated from the moment he decided to run for office.
And even after boldly moving the Liberal Party to the left of the NDP, breaking the deficit taboo, and winning a strong majority, I still hear a lot of people saying this:
Justin is a nice guy, but he is the willing captive of the Liberal establishment, and you know what they're like. So he could never stand for real change, and it's just more of the same.
But actually they couldn't be more wrong.
I suppose I could have asked for one more thing to make yesterday an even more perfect day.
I could have asked the Great Polar Bear God of the Great White North to make it stop raining, and make spring feel like spring not winter.
But that would have been greedy, because for me at least, yesterday was a great day to be living in the New Canada.
He has only been in power for eighty days, but already Justin Trudeau is being caught between the right and the left.
Between the Cons who are enraged at the way he is tearing down their beloved Harperland.
And progressives like Michael Harris, who want him to de-Harperize Canada faster.
This is how the Cons and their supporters in the MSM like to portray Justin Trudeau.
As a hopelessly idealistic Don Quijote tilting at windmills, with promises that are made to be broken.
And dreams that are too big for Canada.
But what I would say to them is this: why would you make the people of a big country dream so small?
As I try to remember all the things that happened in this wild and crazy year that was both our nightmare and our salvation, two things keep jumping out at me.
One, how low Stephen Harper and his ghastly Cons did drag us and our democracy, and shame us in the eyes of the world.
And two, how quickly Justin Trudeau has been able to improve our image abroad.
By letting the world know that the Canada they once knew and admired is back, and just as good as they always imagined...
It's Christmas Day, and although it's a bit gloomy out there because it won't be a white Christmas in the place where I live.
It seems to me that the lights have never shone brighter, after Harperland's long night.
And never has there been so much hope in the air than there is now in our new Canada.
So here is the latest version of the same post I have been writing for years to explain what Christmas means to me...
It hasn't yet snowed in the place where I live, and I'm having a hard time believing it's almost Christmas.
Although goodness knows Justin Trudeau is doing his best to get us into the spirit of the holiday season, with this performance at a Montreal food bank...
And we do have so much to be thankful for, after having crushed Stephen Harper and his foul Con regime.
But even as the light returns to Canada, there is also a threat growing out there in the shadows, and it couldn't be more monstrous.
It was an amazing sight, and yet another sign that we are living in a very different Canada.
For there in the massive Eaton Centre mall, a place so full of frenzied shoppers these days I dare not enter it, was Justin Trudeau.
Mingling with real Canadians.
And joining in a toy drive.
It's a strange feeling. I want to celebrate the end of Stephen Harper's ghastly Con regime. I want to think that the monster has disappeared into his own darkness.
But I still can't quite believe it.
And what with the state of the world, and the sound of the Cons grinding their teeth like cicadas, and violence and insanity everywhere.
I'm having a hard time getting into the spirit of the season...
But luckily a lot of good things really are happening in the New Canada, and this has got to be one of the best.
Isn't it great that after all the challenges he has had to face since he came to power, and the way the corporate media has gone after him, that Justin Trudeau is still incredibly popular.
In Canada and all over the world.
Have you seen the news from Canada lately? It’s all good.
Canadians are currently basking in the glow of the world’s handsomest prime minister, Justin Trudeau, who has just appointed a cabinet we can only dream of.
Imagine, the folks in charge of protecting the land and its people are the original owners. Can you handle it? There’s more. The minister for sport and disabilities is a visually impaired Paralympian. Logic and experience? Please make the acquaintance of politics.
Isn't this a great sign that our Canada is back?
