It’s been a busy week/weekend here. This past weekend was Thanksgiving weekend so we had the Monday off work and so makes it a four day week. Shouldn’t it always be a four day week? We spent the weekend up near Peterborough with Kim’s family having some excellent food. Thanksgiving requires a Turkey dinner much in the mold of Christmas day so you certainly didn’t find me complaining about that. We went up on the Saturday morning and returned late Sunday evening with filled stomachs.

Of course it hasn’t all been goodnews. I have found out once and for all I cannot change my driving license and I will indeed have to sit the Canadian driving test, written test etc. etc. It could take the best part of 12-months before obtaining my full license. Had I been living in England I could have swapped it with a quick signature, but because I carry a DVLNI license yet follow the same highway code as the rest of the UK I have to sit the test from scratch.

I have spent the last week trying to understand how this makes sense but the truth is that it doesn’t make sense. It is like telling someone from the state of New York who comes to live in Canada that he can exchange his license but his cousin who is from Pennsylvania must sit the entire test.

I don’t know who writes the rules but whoever they buy their red tape from is likely the only company in the world not feeling the effects of the current ecenomic meltdown. I shouldn’t be suprised though at what I see, honestly is anyone suprised anymore by what they see from the people who are meant to be in charge?

Talking of which there was an opportunity to switch the balance of power here in Canada this week. It was the general elections. The current governing party — The Conservatives — were looking for a majority government and everyone else was simply trying to stop it. I don’t have the right to vote just yet so could only voice my opinion on the little I knew from watching the odd debate on the news. To be honest the outcome was inevitable — a status quo. No they didn’t get their majority government and only gained a handful of seats in all. It has left plenty of Canadians I have talked to wondering what the point was and what a waste of money it was in such financial hard-times.

Still, we have the American election to come and they know all about milking it financially. How long has the running being going on? From the Primaries to the current run-in they must have been at it long over a year. Canadian PM Steven Harper called an election a month ago and the event is over already. We’re still waiting for Obama to finally take his place in the White House. Seriously, get on with it.

Watching a different country do elections is interesting, you really notice the difference between it and what you are used to. Of course I am used to elections in good old Ulster. The differences are fast from the little things to the big.

There is the obvious differences. ‘Vote early, vote often, vote Sinn Fein’ vs. ‘Vote No, Never Never Never’ and all that. Political bigotry at it’s finest. If you are from Northern Ireland you are likely a political expert on that kind of thing you have seen it many times. Worry not though, even here the parties spend more time taking shots at each other than talking about the real issues.

They don’t have them five-minute party-political broadcasts that they have in Northern Ireland at the end of Newsline where the party leader sits well groomed witha big cheesy smile on his face like some car sales man trying to tell you that his party are the best thing to come into your life since the birthof your child. He won’t tell you how he plans to educate your child or treat him when he is sick, but he will tell you why the other party are a bunch of blood sucking leaches that who if they get within any reach of power will grab it and suck all the life out of it bringing our great country to its knees. Indeed, the image of Gerry Adams or Ian Paisley or whoever has replaced him in recent months sucking your blood is not healthy so I’ll move on. The only thing worth watching in them five minute broadcasts by the BBC are the ones by such parties as the Rainbow party.

Over here they have commercials thrown in from time to time of about 30 seconds in length telling you how horrible the opposition is. Literally, they give no clue as to what their policies are, just that the opposition is terrible for our economy and that if they get control will see too it that the rate of global warming is increased. These little commercials actually make you long for the five-minute party-political broadcasts.

Another little difference is the view as you drive down the road on the way to work. In Northern Ireland the lamp-posts at the sides of your street are littered with the faces of the men and woman who want your vote on cardboard posters. They have their slogans and come election time remain there for weeks and even months on end. I think they biodegrade in the end or are taken down in order to put up Union Jacks in time for July 12th. The funny thing about these signs are that post-election when the parties are in place you can drive by the signs, read their pre-election slogan promises and scream such words as ‘hyprocrite’, ‘liar’, ‘cheat’, ‘theaf’, ‘politician’.

Here in Canada we’re not graced with such a sideshow. There are no posters on the roads unless it is on private property and permission has been granted by the owner. Over here you have to ask the resident to put up the signs . . . There is no such thing as painting a mural on the side of someones house whether they like it or not! In fact, if you didn’t read the paper or watch the news you could drive to work each day without realising there is even an election going on.

One final signifagent difference is the lack of proportional representation in Canadian elections but I cannot be bothered to talk about something I don’t really know about.

In the end there is one huge similarity . . . A pile of bull-shit fed to us all for a month in the hopes we’ll all get off our lazy asses and place an ‘X’ beside the name of someone we want to place in control of our lives. The names may change, the faces may be different and the nationalities an ocean apart, but at the root of it all the bickering remains, the accusations continue and finger pointing is prevalent.

O.K. I seem to have gotten way side tracked from what was meant to be a quick update on what was new. Where was I? Yes, thanksgiving, then the driving license and of course elections. Other than that things are nice and quiet though there always seems to be something little that needs done but don’t worry I’m lazing around plenty too! I still cycle home from work each day though I fear the days of that are numbered. Temperatures which have continued to be as high as 20+ degrees of late are set to plummet this weekend. Soon there will be frost on the ground and the evenings way to dark to risk running the dangerous 12 mile gauntlet of cars to get home.

What then? Well we’re considering joining a curling club and I’ve noticed signs around town telling me about indoor soccer teams as well as men’s hockey clubs. I should have plenty to keep my heart rate up.

Category: My Journal » General Elections, Politics, Thanksgiving |

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