Why Do We Do This?

So I am lying in bed late last night watching the local news, and they have a report from Paul Martin's visit to Edmonton Centre to shore up support for Anne McLellan.

At the conclusion of the report, they interview a constituent who says "I am so scared of Stephen Harper and if he is elected we will be part of the United States within 10 years!"

I almost threw the remote at the tv! Good thing I didn't because I would have awaken my spouse and she has already displayed an extreme tolerance for my "monitoring" of this election.

So here is why I am upset with that statement.

I am completely disgusted with the Liberals continuing attempts to paint Americans as bad guys in an attempt to win votes. We have seen it in negative ads, statements from the Prime Minister and policy approaches that make no sense, unless you look at it as "good politics."

Yes we have had our disputes in softwood lumber and BSE. Yes, it was inappropriate for the U.S. ambassador to Canada to provide his two cents on the election. But why do we have to stoop to such a low level of trying to make "us" look good, by making "them" so bad? We can do better than that. Don't we have enough confidence as Canadians to focus on ourselves instead of repeatedly knocking down our best friend?

I was on the campaign tour in 1988 when the issue of the day was the Free Trade Agreement. I remember being on the media bus (it was like herding cats!) and we would drive into a community for the next campaign event, and some clowns would pull in front of Mulroney's bus with a bunch of American flags flying out their windows. I also remember "experts" in the trade union movement saying that we would have U.S. flags flying on our legislature and that we would soon be singing the Star Spangled Banner in schools as we would quickly become the 51st state!

Of course they were trying to leave the impression that Canada was going to lose our sovereignty and that we would become part of the U.S. I guess they were wrong then like they are wrong today.

But would the U.S. even want us? Think about it. We have social programs that we can't afford, at times a divisive French-English issue and alienation from region to region. The U.S. has enough of their own problems without wanting to inherit ours.

I have the privilege of working with a group of Americans and they are nothing but first class individuals. Yes there are some similarities between us and yes there are some differences. But bottom line, they all want to be good citizens, provide for their family, be leaders in their communities and treat others with respect.

We know more about them, than they know about us. This is solely because we have easy access to their media and entertainment, where they have little or no access to ours. And for the most part, they see no reason to vigorously follow what is going on here, where we feel we must follow what's happening in the U.S. My guess is the vast majority of Americans have no idea that there is an election in Canada.

So back to the best friends part. Prime Minister Martin now cannot come out and publicly thank the U.S. in the aftermath of the suicide bomber incident in Afghanistan; the one that left a Canadian dead and injured three of our soldiers. Remember that it was a U.S. Blackhawk helicopter that first arrived on the scene; who then transported our injured soldiers to a U.S. hospital in Germany on a U.S. cargo plane.

Paul Martin can't thank the U.S. because he has to save face.

So I will. To our U.S. friends..."Thank You."

Satellite Radio

I've had this on my mind since September and since we are in the middle of the election campaign, what a great time to comment on this.

I bought an XM Satellite Radio in Phoenix in October. As Canada was not set up for satellite radio as of yet, I used my U.S. address to set up my account. I haven't looked back since.

Let me say that this is the neatest thing! I now have two radios in my account because after I shared it with my spouse, she likes it as well and it was too tough to share one radio. The radio is on our house almost all the time when we are home. It is on all the time in my vehicle. The sound quality is great, the selection and variety is awesome, and the U.S. service is a better value than the Canadian system.

So what's on my mind? The CRTC. Here we have a government agency that is once again dictating entertainment choices that we Canadians can have. It is any surprise that the Canadian Sirius network has all these CBC channels? Well, if I want to listen to CBC, I'll tune in with a standard radio.

For me the intent of satellite radio is to provide more options, more variety, different program than the mainstream. We get that to some extent with satellite radio, but I get the sense that the CRTC justifies their existence by sticking their nose into dictating what is good or bad entertainment for us.

Good quality Canadian programming will do well. The success of Corner Gas is a great example of this. However, to me it would be more important that Canadian programming succeed on its own as opposed to some unelected, unaccountable body implementing and creating artificial rules and standards.

I would like to see the CRTC's perceived role of "telling us what's best for us" reduced and a more common sense argument to the regulating of entertainment in this country. The people will decide; either through legal or grey market options, of what entertainment or programming they desire.

Canada Wins Gold

After a couple of hectic days of meetings and travels, I was looking forward to watching the gold medal game of the World Junior Hockey Championship. I was in Niagara Falls, all by myself at the hotel bar....and that was just fine.

I had a big screen tv and comfortable couch to kick back, relax and enjoy the game.

Of course, relaxing didn't come into play until the third goal. I was nervous and excited and wanted to see the Russians blown out. It did happen in the end with a 5-0 final score, but I only needed the edge of my seat for the first ten minutes.

The Russians dominated play early on. I think the shots were something like 15-3 at one point. But Canadian goaltender Justin Pogge was outstanding and kept Canada in the game. When Downie scored the first goal, it was a relief and a sign of more good things to come. Best of all, it was good to see the CDN players crash and bang the Russians...that set the tone early and it put the Russians on the defensive.

The non-goal by the Russians was a non-factor as far as I am concerned. I don't think it really would have made much difference. It made for good television though!

I will anxiously await the Turin olympics now. I am predicting a repeat gold medal for both the Canadian men and women's hockey teams.

Go Canada Go

What would Christmas and New Year's be without the World Junior Hockey tournament. I had to race home from the office today so I could catch Canada vs Finland. After a slow start, Canada pulled away for a 4-0 victory.

I am off to Ontario for meetings tomorrow so I am not sure if I will be able to catch the final on Thursday.

At the start of the tournament all of the experts were predicting that it would be tough for Canada to repeat as Gold Medal winners. It would be great to see them prove these pundits wrong.

If anything, no matter what happens in the final on Thursday, Brent Sutter will be hailed as Canada's most successful Jr. coach ever. Good for him. Nothing better than seeing the legacy of the Sutter family continue.