I address this to any and all who presume to love this land of Canada, more specifically those residents of Revelstoke.
As most are aware, in 2015, Canadians will again participate in the process of a federal election. Many of us will postpone any thoughts of this duty until sometime closer to the actual day we go to the polls. Some may vote along party lines, some will spend greater or lesser amounts of time in considering the ballot they will cast. Sadly, many will not vote at all…
As one who has been mesmerized by the political process since the Kennedy/Nixon election when I was nine years old, I’ve always been puzzled by the seeming lack of genuine enthusiasm regarding the election of representatives we send to Parliament. Being somewhat cynical, I’ve always thought how that played right into the hands of the powers that be. How easy, it is, to manipulate an uninformed public, a populace solely concerned about the comfortable lifestyle we have come to take for granted in Canada. A roof over our head, a full stomach, a pick up truck in the driveway, a cool dozen in the fridge & HNIC, ah! The good life… but in the lifetime of the newest generation of Canadians, ever so slowly, almost undetectable, a change has come over the land… Somehow, we looked the other way or were just too satisfied to pay any attention.
For me, it started with NAFTA, someone made free trade sound like a good thing. Good for Canadian business, that’s got to be good for Canadians, good for jobs, good for the economy. No one seemed to notice jobs slipping away to places where labor was cheaper, where the standard of living paled, in contrast to what we had come to expect, to take for granted, here in Canada. Very few ever realized what we gave up in that agreement, how another country could have first rights to OUR water, to OUR energy resources… Ever so slowly, fewer & fewer of the products we paid for had the Made in Canada stamp on them. No matter that the Canadian dollar started to slide way down, from where it stood, 42 years ago, when I immigrated to Canada. It was $1.05 US back then. No matter, as long as we can buy cheap goods, from those countries, where the jobs went. And who really noticed if more of the stuff we bought in Canadian Tire was cheap crap made in some Third World country, where our jobs went…
Ever so slowly, very few noticed.
Hey, it’s Saturday night, put your feet up, crack a cold one, let’s all laugh at Cherry rip a strip off Ron Maclean!.. So it goes from one generation to the next. I’m beginning to think Don Cherry will never die, let alone, retire… And now we have a government, with a majority. No matter they had to prorogue parliament to stay in power. No matter, they did it twice. No matter legislation is made into law though giant omnibus bills. No matter the economy is based on a total environmental rape…
Science goes unfunded, The CBC chipped away at. Canada Post? We can all walk to a group box. Dialogue, discussion in Parliament? No, thank you. The TPP? Does anyone even know what that is? The best health system in the world is eroding away… ever so slowly. It’s Socialism! The free market will do a much better job… We, Canadians, are the proverbial frogs in the pot of water. The heat is on and ever so slowly the water is coming to a boil. And no one seems to notice… So, in 2015, again, we will go to the polls. Many of us will postpone any thoughts of this duty until sometime closer to the Election day. Some will vote along party lines, some will spend greater or lesser amounts of time in considering the ballot they will cast. Sadly, many will not vote at all… O Canada, we stand on guard for thee?
Bob Gardali,
Revelstoke, BC
