Waiting for another Flight

Hello again from Ottawa Gentle Reader,

Having just completed a two day whirlwind trip to "HQ" of the Canada Council, I am once again killing some time in the Ottawa Airport. At this point I am in the new Maple Leaf Lounge here and it is very pleasant.

YOW is in the midst of significant renovations. Once upon a time I heard a comedian describe this place as "the Ottawa International Airport and drive in Lube Shop". Having come through here a few times in the last year while they were still using some of the old facility, one can kind of see where that description came from. It was a smallish, darkish, modest sort of place. The new facility is quite nice - the only strange bit is that it appears to have in excess of 25 gates, all in one long straight line. Seems like not the most efficient way to design something, but I suppose they did not ask my opinion.

Really, once you have been in a modern airport you have pretty much seen what there is to see. The same shops here as in Calgary, or Vancouver, or Edmonton or Regina. When I was traveling last summer I actually found myself in the Vancouver airport and had a strange sense of Deja Vu, convinced I was in Toronto.

Otherwise all is well, and the minor illnesses to which the family has been subject recently seem to be quietly disintegrating in the light of spring...

Best

Stephen

President Obama?

Greetings Gentle Reader,

I would highly recommend that you take half an hour or so to listen to Barak Obama's speech that can be found below, or at this link.

Now I am not American, but lets face the fact that the leadership choices of the USA have ripple effects across the globe, and particularly here in Canada since our nations are so interconnected. If you at all know me or follow this blog you know that I would probably fall into the Democrat party if I were a US resident.

The thing that I find so fascinating about this speech, is that by all reports Mr Obama wrote the thing himself. Given the past 7.5 years of bumbling, semi-literate speech-reading by Mr Bush Jr, it is a breath of fresh air that there might be someone in the wings who not only can deliver a speech, but can write one that is as thoughtful, levelheaded and frankly moving as this one.

I hope our neighbours to the south recognize this.

Edit: A few days later I saw the Daily Show response to this speech.  Also worth watching... the last line is cut off: "...spoke to americans about race as though they were adults".

Best

Steve

Post Election Blues

Greetings Gentle Reader,

It is now the night after the night before, and if you had not heard the Conservative party swept to another landslide election victory in Alberta yesterday. Check out this map to get a feel for just how much of a sweep it was.

Now, for a slightly leftist guy like myself, this is a bit of a drag, but I think it is fair to say that even if the Alberta Liberal party had swept to power there would be no appreciable change in my life for several years. My feeling is that the momentum of 36+ years of conservative government has permeated Alberta such that a new government would have a heck of a time making any significant or impactful changes in one term in office.

Having said all that - I am a bit surprised at the pundits on the radio today who were going on about how this is an endorsement of Ed Stelmach's leadership. I can't say that I agree. Mr Stelmach seems like a good guy - likeable, smart, hard working, honest - all the things we might want in a leader. Regardless of Ed's good features, I can't say that his leadership (as in Public Face) is that great. He can take a great story and turn it into a sleeper news conference. Not much charisma or inspiration one might say. The exact opposite of say, Churchill.

Now the opposition parties are much the same in my view. The NDP were running around doing what they do best - fighting the good fight for social justice and all, but Brian Mason was just invisible for the most part. Kevin Taft of the Liberals was a bit more visible in Edmonton, but my few conversations with Calgarians leads me to believe that they could not pick him out of a lineup. Keep in mind here that I rather like Taft in general and think that he might have made a good premier, but my point is that none of the leaders in general did a decent job of showing any visible, inspiring leadership during the campaign.

Which brings me to the real point. Why do the pundits and call in shows call this an endorsement of leadership?? What I saw yesterday was Alberta voters 'running home' to the PC party because that is all they have known for 36 years. With no reason to vote for a party leader, the electorate that bothered to show up voted for their local candidate, or for the party they have known for the majority of their adult life in power. Hardly a surprise that the PC party is in - but hardly an endorsement of Stelmach in my view.

In the absence of visible, inspirational, motivational leadership, only 2 out of 5 voters showed up to the polls in the first place, and only 1 of them voted PC. 50% of the popular vote won 70+ of 83 seats. Welcome to politics in Alberta.

Best,

Steve