Love Affair with a Sweater

After Steve H. broke his own law in order to propel our nation into yet another election (and for some of us it has been an election a year), he started his (ahem) campaign with a new look. He donned fuzzy sweaters. This was supposed to create a warmer image of the man. This was supposed to display a softer side of the man who is known as king control freak.

For the life of me, I still don't get what people are in love with. The man has zero charisma. All he can announce to the public is yet another doom and gloom bully promise....fighting crime...fighting criminals....imprisoning 14 year olds.

It is known that this party cuts funding to the Arts....a big no-no. They claim that ordinary people are not interested in the Arts. But I find it interesting that while they made the Arts cuts, often the Arts are only available to the wealthy. That is the one demographic that this party caters to and is hitting at the same time. Interesting thought.

They don't give a hoot about anyone except the wealthy. They don't give a hoot about the poor and the homeless, about women, about gays. They will go to great lengths to pump buckeroos into big business....probably the same big business that pollutes our air with toxins. Oh, forgot, they don't have a plan for taking care of the environment, so it's okay to freely pollute the atmosphere. No charge!

Be careful of the bullies that you might elect into power. Don't let that fuzzy sweater distract you. And above all, beware of politicians who never look you in the eye.

Just like that box of chocolates....ya never know what yer gonna git!

Conservative = Negative

My vote in October will be for peace. This peace will, hopefully, end the constant fighting and bickering that comes from the Conservative government. Hence, my vote will not be for them.

*Caution - political rant*

Everything that I read about and hear from them is negative, and to be quite frank, I am sick of it.

Their new crime and punishment plan will put 14 year olds in prison for life (btw - I read somewhere that this affects about 1000 individuals). Crime specialists say that this will not fix the problem, nor does it address the root cause. We can only hope that one of the Cons flunkies kids shows up on this list one day.

They're cutting funding to the Arts (this affects Quebec directly). How stupid. Everybody knows that the Arts attracts tourists AND guess what, it also allows people to become exposed to culture. The keyword here is allows, since under a Cons government, there is not much allowance for anything, but there is lots of room for doom and gloom.

The Environment. The Cons have no plan, but they have lots of criticism. They will criticize anyone and everyone, in order to get THEIR point across ad nauseum.

This government is no longer moderate. Far from it. It works only for the rich and wealthy.

Let Them Eat Meat

Since I am currently immersed in the political realm, this gives me ample subject matter to write about. Today's fodder comes to us through the insensitivity of Gerry Ritz (no affiliation to the cracker, but who knows.....).

Gerry, Gerry, Gerry....what have you done?

Let's try to compress all of this into a nutshell. This shouldn't be too difficult to do. Listeria. We've been hearing a lot about the Listeria problem, and the 19 confirmed deaths that have resulted from the bad lunch meat that was consumed. Without getting into the details of listeria (since you can check it out on the Web), this has a political link.

The listeria crisis was still simmering even as the election was called on September 7th, yet the party in power ignored it. They didn't provide any safety measures and did very little to address the issue. Add to the fire Gerry Ritz...Agricultural Minister (for the Feds). He managed to contradict himself during a TV interview. That was his first problem. Then, last night, it was revealed that he managed to say some callous comments during a conference call...."This is like a death by a thousand cuts. Or should I say cold cuts," Ritz said."...........And when told about a new death from listeriosis on Prince Edward Island, the Minister said: "Please tell me it's (Liberal MP) Wayne Easter."

This is only one example of the stellar candidates that are part of Steve H's closest MPs...hand picked and guarded by the chief himself. No class, no brains, no tact.

How does this affect the election? Well, 2 things. One, it provides a distraction for Steve H and his clonies, since now they have to manage general media damage control. Two, they also have to get the Cons candidate in Malpeque back on track...the one who was running against poor Wayne Easter who was called out in that statement.

Sit back and watch for more tidbits to unravel.

Quotes courtesy of Canoe.

Addendum - What is particularly interesting here is that the other day, Steve H. fired Senior Conservative Spokesman Ryan Sparrow for reprehensible comments that he made for "for the reprehensible comments he has made regarding the father of a Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan". Steve H. has yet to take any action regarding Gerry Fitz.

Tales from the Campaign Trail

You just never know what to expect on the campaign trail. Last night was one of those nights.

We were in an elite part of the city. Beautiful waterfront homes nestled among old trees. Sailboats were out on the water for a dinnertime race (not much wind though). Quite spectacular.

Of course, as in any area these days, renovations were visible at various homes.

We came upon one house that was in the middle of renovations, when something caught our eye. Just below the eaves there were three baby raccoons, hanging on and remaining very still and quiet. They could see us on the ground and wanted to 'blend'. Well, they didn't blend that well, because we could see them, and hear their scratching as they tried to ramble their way to their 'home' in the roof.

Later, as we were ending our visits, we could see one of the babies huddled high atop a tree.

Who knows what will be out there tonight?

A Family of Sorts

Since the political world is on the radar for me and my blog, I will continue with a few stories.

In my last post I talked about when we got involved with politics. It wasn't just a fleeting thought. It was the last Federal election. January 2006. I was growing increasingly angry at what I was hearing from the 'then' Progressive Conservatives. I despised the leader, even before he became the party leader. I had to do something to vent this anger. The gym wasn't able to provide a suitable outlet. I was still angry. I needed something more.

I decided to call up the local Liberal campaign office to see if there was something that I could do. They welcomed me with open arms. There were so many things to get involved with. Door to door canvassing, phoning, office work, receptionist, signs, articles....you name it, and it had to be done.

We canvassed people's homes. A lot. Mostly, people were polite, whether or not they held the same political beliefs as we did. I probably only had one door slammed in my face. Not bad.

Of course we lost that year. The wake was not fun. People were crying, though I did not understand what at that time. The Progressive Conservatives became the Conservatives. No ,more Progressive (that says a lot).

What we didn't know then was that the future would hold a Provincial election. Again we got involved with similar activities. This time our hard work paid off with a victory. Let me tell you that victory is certainly a lot easier to take than defeat, especially with so much that goes into this very short timeframe. I felt exuberant at the win. I saw those more closely involved absolutely over the moon. Again I did not quite understand.

Now we are in another election, an election that was not supposed to happen until NEXT year. The PM even had to break the law to get it...that's how badly he wanted to thrust the country into another expensive election, during hard economic times.

Anyway, the bottom line, for me, is that I now understand the emotions of others. You can make some really good friends. There is always open-minded discussion available. There is always something sweet in the candy bowl. Sometimes there's a free BBQ. And there are hugs...they go a long way.

I want our party to win. I want our local candidate to win. I will feel over the moon if we win, and I will cry if we lose.

I finally understand.

On the Wall

We're on the wall, baby! We're on the wall!

That probably doesn't mean a whole lot to anyone, but I shall explain. During the past week, and throughout the campaign, My Sweetie and I will be volunteering time to the campaign. We will put signs on lawns. We will participate in the door-to-door canvas. We will do drop-offs. We will, again, be a Host House. I maintain the website. We put out fires. We contribute ideas. We do lots of things. There's always something to do. All of this with the same goal of getting our candidate elected.

We got involved when we moved here. I should correct that statement...I got us involved when we moved here. Through this, we met many really fine people. Each year, through Federal and provincial elections, we continued to get involved, and met more people.

This year, we each have a personalized envelope at the campaign office (for mail, drop-offs, etc).

Okay, so it's not a corner office at a ritzy office in the big city, but this is special for me.

Around and About

Things are pretty hectic around here, and will be that way until the election is over. I am busy volunteering on the local campaign. Knocking on doors. Discussing issues. Updating websites. Going crazy.

All of this in addition to my real job, which has just been busy upon busy.

So if you don't see me around here too much, that is why.

Now, I don't discuss politics on my site but rest assured that this is a big election this year. Our Prime Minister felt that it was time for a change, and we do too! Perhaps it's time that he moves on. So if you have a habit of not voting, you might want to read up on what is going on, and have your voice heard by placing an 'X' on a ballot on October 14th. it's our right.