This is a job for...
I've said nothing about the election results in this space, and I'm not going to say much now. I've made no secret of the fact I support the Green party, and I guess people might assume I'm dejected about the Conservative victory and about the Greens' just holding their ground from the last election.
Actually, that's not the case, although I do understand why people might think that. The truth is, I think the election went pretty well in all kinds of ways, and frankly, I'm interested in seeing how it all turns out. I'm not going to waste much of my breath knocking Harper and the Conservatives, at least until they've had a chance to put some effort in.
My biggest disappointment of the election had nothing to do with who won and who lost. In fact, they're all winners, in that the leaders are a smart bunch of democrats who all ran a decent and relatively honourable campaign. And yet they're all losers, to my mind, because none of them could stammer out a half-decent vision for Canada in the twenty-first century. In fact, I didn't feel like anyone even made more than a half-hearted stab at what it means to be Canadian today.
But I KNOW! I know from my own very personal experience what it's like to me, and therefore, to be Canadian. And you know what it's like to be you, and we know what it's like to be us. Maybe those four dudes on the TV know it too... but the stakes are too high for them to say so. Or maybe they're just challenged, putting it into memorable, accessible words. Whatever. The point is, none of them is Captain Canada. Not even close.
So this is my commitment to you. I am going to try to avoid seeking public office, although I'm often tempted to run for the Greens. In exchange, I am going to devote a really significant chunk of my personal and professional time to doing what the politicians won't do: listen, and speak about the Canadian experience in a meaningful way. I'll tie on the Captain Canada cape, not to fight crime or to leap tall buildings, but to express something that matters to me, in a way that no politician, and for that matter, no beer commercial, will ever do.
Why me? Because I can, because I will, because I do. No, I don't have any super-powers, (except my velcro soul), but I've lived and travelled all over the country and around the world. I paddle a canoe and play hockey. I put three hundred thousand trees in the ground with my own hands. I speak multiple languages. I've sung songs, written stories, taken photographs, hosted a radio show, produced items for television, run websites, hosted musical events, published articles. Somebody needs to do it, and it may as well be me. I can do this.
Just watch me.
Actually, that's not the case, although I do understand why people might think that. The truth is, I think the election went pretty well in all kinds of ways, and frankly, I'm interested in seeing how it all turns out. I'm not going to waste much of my breath knocking Harper and the Conservatives, at least until they've had a chance to put some effort in.
My biggest disappointment of the election had nothing to do with who won and who lost. In fact, they're all winners, in that the leaders are a smart bunch of democrats who all ran a decent and relatively honourable campaign. And yet they're all losers, to my mind, because none of them could stammer out a half-decent vision for Canada in the twenty-first century. In fact, I didn't feel like anyone even made more than a half-hearted stab at what it means to be Canadian today.
But I KNOW! I know from my own very personal experience what it's like to me, and therefore, to be Canadian. And you know what it's like to be you, and we know what it's like to be us. Maybe those four dudes on the TV know it too... but the stakes are too high for them to say so. Or maybe they're just challenged, putting it into memorable, accessible words. Whatever. The point is, none of them is Captain Canada. Not even close.
So this is my commitment to you. I am going to try to avoid seeking public office, although I'm often tempted to run for the Greens. In exchange, I am going to devote a really significant chunk of my personal and professional time to doing what the politicians won't do: listen, and speak about the Canadian experience in a meaningful way. I'll tie on the Captain Canada cape, not to fight crime or to leap tall buildings, but to express something that matters to me, in a way that no politician, and for that matter, no beer commercial, will ever do.
Why me? Because I can, because I will, because I do. No, I don't have any super-powers, (except my velcro soul), but I've lived and travelled all over the country and around the world. I paddle a canoe and play hockey. I put three hundred thousand trees in the ground with my own hands. I speak multiple languages. I've sung songs, written stories, taken photographs, hosted a radio show, produced items for television, run websites, hosted musical events, published articles. Somebody needs to do it, and it may as well be me. I can do this.
Just watch me.
Labels: Canada, democracy, election, leadership, vision
posted by David Newland at 27.1.06
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