No more Barack, Joe, John and Sarah for me…

We just had our own federal election called up here today. So now it will be Stephen , Stephane, Jack and Elizabeth not Barack, Joe, John and Sarah.

Stephen , Stephane, Jack and Elizabeth are the leaders of the Conservative, Liberal, New Democratic and Green parties respectively in Canada.

What a difference in the two systems.

Our election was called today and will be held October 14th. That’s it over, quick, done. The deputy prime minister is picked from among those members of the party who were actually elected to parliament.

No months of campaigning, just a few weeks. An election must be held every 5 years but the prime minister can call one before that time is up. Usually because he feels the time is right politically.

What are the big issues ?

Our involvement in Afghanistan, the economy, health care (as in don’t you dare touch it), massive reductions in arts funding.

Will it be as interesting as the U.S. election is shaping up to be. Probably not.

Will the party leaders give you the opportunity to put a blog on their website. I doubt it.

Stay tuned … Election 2008 – Yours and mine.

Nosy Neighbours…

Sometimes neighbours take it upon themselves to stick their noses into your business when perhaps they should keep their opinions to themselves. Mea culpa, mea culpa. I beg your foregiveness in advance.

Last night I was watching Barack Obama give his speech at the Democratic Party Convention – carried live on the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). I liked the things he was saying about his vision for America. And although I have a healthy skepticism where politicians are concerned, I particularly liked what he said about health care in the United States. If he is elected, I hope he can pull it off.

I am sure many of you have seen Sicko, Michael Moore’s film about health care and how he talked about our system in Canada and in other places like France and Britain. I also have a healthy skepticism where Michael Moore is concerned but I didn’t find his portrait of our system an exaggeration. (Unlike Fahrenheit 911 where he suggested nobody locks their doors up here. Not true.)

After Sicko came out, it seemed to me that a number of pieces were broadcast on American television trying to convince people that Michael Moore hadn’t painted a true picture of how health care works in Canada. That doctor on CNN and John Stoessel on 20/20 are two that come to mind. They either implied or outright stated that ours is a broken system with long wait times for care.

While it is not a perfect system, I disagree, I think it works very well.

My father who is in his 80’s and on dialysis recently had a heart attack. I was amazed at the excellent and focused care he was given and continues to receive. I don’t see anyone writing him off because he is old or has a pre-existing condition, I see them continuing to fight to give him a quality of life. After he had the heart attack, he spent a month in hospital.

There was no bill when he left.

To me health care is a very important issue and I hope it gets resolved in the U.S. after this election in a way that sees everyone covered.

I cannot imagine living in a country that didn’t provide health care to its citizens. I guess I would go even further and say that I cannot imagine living in a country that didn’t have government-run health care. Life is hard enough these days for all the other reasons Barack Obama talked about last night with out worrying that you are going to go bankrupt if you get sick.

This has been a very interesting election year in the U.S. People seem very engaged. I was suffering for a while from election coverage burnout but now I’m back.

I hope the election goes well. I hope you get a health care system that works. We’ll be up here watching, commenting on what our neighbours are up to.

After your election is over, I think it may be our turn next.

Peace

UM