Musing

-1C/30F, strong Chinook breeze is bringing warmth . . . so it will be a week of freeze/thaw & slush; Gusta looks magnificent romping through snow banks, I lumber along trying to keep up

AW & I saw ‘The Matador’ last night – not award material, but good yucks

Conservatives, the BIG-c conservative party in Canada [not to be confused with 3 other middle of the road parties each more middle than they are truly left or right], are a party in which I feel at home

I was never fond of the Reform party, really luke warm to the Canadian Alliance – initially very apprehensive about the merger of the Canadian Alliance & Progressive Conservative parties . .

yes, this small-L conservative feels very comfortable

I really do

local & provincial governments give passionate committed elected officials a chance to advocate for ideas, policies & initiatives with some tangible chance of actually changing things - while on the federal stage it is virtually impossible for an elected individual, however right they might be, to on their own bring a good grand new idea/initiative to fruition

it takes a collective policy driven party approach

I praise gutsy candidates to be our Members of Parliament for running & working hard; those who win go to Ottawa not with a mandate to advocate for pet projects or personal agenda, but as a collective momentum endorsed by voters – the system of our representation & parliamentary structure is old, messy, outdated in many ways & cumbersome, but still the envy of much of the world

whether our country stays together or breaks apart at some point, most of what determines that future being inevitable influences of self determination & economics which can be influenced precious little by even the most inspiring leaders

let it not be forgotten we DO elect governments to change the philosophical direction of the country, not just the marching orders du jour for the civil service

policy drives everything that is good in the world

policy or, in some cases the absence of policy, enables everything that is bad in the world

it is ALL about policy

policy requires policy makers

let them be inspired to reach for the good grand new idea

it is time for change, not radical change, but change for change sake as much as any other reason, yet this feels more like generational change in which the course of our federal government will be better on the world stage, better at home & better in its role in confederation, better for a long time; a change involving far less influence by the ‘blue-rinse set’ generation of conservatives whose days are done [DA, you should love that trend] but fueled by a younger smarter involved crowd putting their votes & mouths forward to speak up for that change

my country WILL change tomorrow

we will see an election result that will make most Canadians happy, just as it will make many uneasy, but which should make every one of us proud of our messy democratic process of choosing how we wish to be governed

my angst is reserved for those who don’t vote, don’t care or don’t think the process worthy; I like the notion of citizens being required to vote . . . hmm . . . maybe that’s too harsh, but no one should have a right to complain if they don’t cast a ballot

who cares ?

I care

‘not voting’ is an insult to everyone who struggled to leave oppression, struggled to fight a war or who worked hard to come here for opportunity – if you don’t have a reason of your own to vote, at least vote to show respect to those who’ve made it all possible, vote to honour those who fought battles in Parliament or on battlefields so we might enjoy our great freedom

it’s election day tomorrow

vote

let me say that a little louder

VOTE

Mark

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