From a political orphan

Philippe Couillard has just elected as the new provincial Liberal leader.  To me, he represents all that was wrong with our Liberals.  Under his guidance they will become another center right party sharing the vote with the C.A.Q. (Coalition Avenir Québec).
Then there will be the hodge podge of sovereignist parties more or less center left, well Québec Solidaire and Option Nationale, far left.  But, I am not a sovereignist, nor a center rightist.
So, from now on, where should  a center left voter go to?
In the next election, I guess I will have to cast a white bulletin.  First time in my life.

How did we get there?

Canadians and Canada have always been, save under very particular circumstances, pacifists and mediators; having a balanced approach to world crisis and rivalries.  We now have a saber rattling and very partisan government, more Israelite than the Israelis and putting us all in line with whatever the U.S. government deems good for it's citizens.
WE have virtually become the 51st star on the Star Spangled Banner.  Yet, although having a majority of seats in the House of Commons, Mr Harper got only 40%  of the popular vote.  That guy said; "Give me a majority and in 5 years you will not recognize this country!"  The way he is going about destroying all that we were, by golly, he is keeping his promise.
And no one can say that they were not told.

Some of the 97%

Who said that today’s youngsters are wild, unruly and mostly delinquents?  Granted, 3% of them are.  Today I wish to feature a few of the 97% that we never hear about.

Thursday last, the wife and I attended a spaghetti dinner held for the benefit of a Haitian school being rebuilt after that horrible earthquake.  That school, for the last 17 years has been supported by The Haiti-Laurentides Committee of l’École Secondaire Augustin-Norbert-Morin, in Ste-Adèle, about 60 kilometers North-West of Montreal in the Laurentian mountains.

Students helped by a dedicated teacher are the Committee members, volunteers and organizers.  That evening, about 80 of them were the ticket vendors, waiters, bus boys, etc.  They were without adult supervision since the school board has cut the job of the person supervising after school activities.  Everything went very smoothly and we enjoyed very good spaghetti and a splendid evening.

In Montreal where college and university students are on strike to protest a decreed tuition hike, they have been marching most days and evenings.  Their marches were infiltrated with that despicable group called the Blackbloc, vandals dressed in black and wearing masks who highjack any kind of street manifestation, save for religious processions, and wreak havoc.

At first, most student demonstrators walked away when violence began.  For the last three days they have been opposing the Blackblocers and even helping the police to catch and arrest them.

We may not agree with the student strike and its cause, but we have to acknowledge that, in an orderly way, our young ones are standing for their rights, or perceived rights, and are rejecting the scums that pretend to sympathise with them but are only doing a disservice to their cause.

Look around attentively and you will see that our young ones do not deserve the reputation that sensationalist media are foisting upon them.

True democrats.

So the Irakis despite bombs and death treaths voted at the 60%+ level.  We are lucky when we have 50% of registered voters exercizing their right, and all we have to do is go to a nearby voting booth.  What a lesson those guys are teaching us.  Maybe they deserve democracy more than we do.