Timmy G of Voices in the Wilderness has returned after a long hiatus, and his first post reminds us why we missed him.
Welcome back, Timmy! The Non-Partisan Alliance wasn’t the same without you.
Speaking of the Alliance, it gives me great pleasure to announce that we are now thirty members strong, thanks to the addition of Andrew Spicer. I am delighted at how well this blogroll group has taken off, and the diversity of the blogs we’ve brought together. Traffic has been good and the reading very interesting. Everybody involved deserves a pat on the back for making this group an overnight success.
On Gurmant Grewal
Courtesy of Bound by Gravity, I have learned that Mr. Grewal, after finding himself under investigation by Air Canada for suspicious behaviour at an airport regarding a package, has talked with Conservative leader Stephen Harper and has agreed to take “indefinite stress leave”. Hmm…
For the Conservatives, and especially for Mr. Grewal, this is probably the best that they could have hoped for. As much as Harper would have had the moral high ground if he had booted Mr. Grewal from cabinet, it would have been a divisive action and harmful to the morale of the party. Still, despite being called “indefinite stress leave”, most Canadians know it still amounts to a reprimand. And it was a Conservative that got it, despite the fact that it was the Liberals who were initially implicated. For some, this act will still have the feel of sweeping some things under the rug.
But, as I said, I doubt that the Conservatives could have found a better ending. This whole incident has stained them — and in so doing knocked down their credibility on the one issue they were hammering the Liberals on.
Ready to talk policy now, guys?
Summer, Summer Days
You can’t ask for much better days than these. Sunday, summer struck with a vengeance, with high heat and humidity and, worse still, smog. It was almost unbearable in the house, which didn’t have air conditioning. Yesterday morning, however, big thunderstorms swept through, cleaning the air and cooling everything down. This evening, the sun set in a clear blue sky, there was a fresh breeze in the air and it was perfect walking weather. Erin and I ate Chinese after work and walked for a good hour and a half through Uptown Waterloo. We met other families enjoying their walks, and we came back with that good ache your feet get after they’ve been to interesting places.
It sort of puts things into perspective, doesn’t it? I think as a writer, I get too hung up on politics, and I think as readers, many of us get too hung up themselves. The rhetoric in Ottawa is heated, but that’s mostly just rhetoric. Day to day, families live and love, people go to work and get paid, the cars continue along the roads and the schools and hospitals continue to function.
The Liberals are overdue for replacement, but they are not the most corrupt government in Canadian history. South of the border, Americans face the worst deficits in history and allegations against the Bush Administration which are far worse, and which won’t be properly investigated for years, if ever, but even with this, most Americans live and thrive. We live and thrive. By and large, this country works; even our governments work. We work. And ten, twenty, thirty years down the line, we will continue to work.
Of course there will be challenges, there will be setbacks, and there will be things to fear, but we will muddle through as we have always done, with our unique mixture of human ingenuity and stupidity. We are stronger than we think, more beautiful and darn lucky. At heart, we are all the same, and at the back of our minds, we know this. And in the end, though hard work and tears, it will turn out all right.
Oh, and allergy medications work, hallelujah. Maybe a little too well… ;-)