Oh, Canada

I am a proud Canadian. I am proud that our nation was conceived and came into existence, not through war, but through diplomacy. I am proud that Canadians live in a quiet way that sets us apart from some of our American cousins to the south. I am proud that when called upon, Canadians will stand up and do what is required of them, either on the field of diplomacy or on a field of battle. I think that our history is one to be proud of and should be held up to all students and to the world as an example.

That being said there are some things that make me ashamed to be lumped into the same pile as other people who are supposedly Canadians. Recently, a school in New Brunswick has discontinued the playing of Oh, Canada in the morning. Why did they do this? Because some parents did not want their children to take part in the exercise. It boggles the mind. What possible reason could these people have for not wanting their children to take part in a daily demonstration of the love and pride they have (or should have) for their country? Do these people not like the fact that their children can go to school freely and without restrictions? Is it that they don't feel proud to be Canadian?

One thing I do know is that if this happened in my children's school, there would be one hell of a fight. When the American national anthem plays, people stop. They show respect. Why? Because of their pride in being from the United States of America. Perhaps we have some lessons to learn from our cousins to the south. The playing of Oh, Canada has been a part of the beginning of each school day for decades and should continue to be. What makes me mad is that by removing this daily activity from the school, they are disrespecting the men from my family who fought (and in some cases died) in two world wars for this country and all of the things I am proud of. They are disrespecting all proud Canadians. Bring back the anthem. Sing it proudly. Remember the reasons we can do so freely.

Although I do not agree with this decision or the people behind it, I do respect their right to their opinion—even if it is wrong. Truly Canadian, eh?

The Bloom Is Off The Rose

Did they think they could hide it forever? What were they thinking? In this era of instant communication and shrinking privacy how could you keep such a huge secret? Here we are, just about a month into the New Year and just barely a week into the presidency of Barrack Obama and scandal is in the air. Seems even the darling of the American political system is not immune to the smell of something fishy.

What is the scandal? Is it Afghanistan? The detention centre at Guantanamo Bay? Some kind of CIA torture scandal? Monetary impropriety on the part of a high ranking party member? All of these things? We've seen just about everything in the last 200 years of the great experiment in democracy, from infidelity in the White House to arms deals gone wrong. It seems, that even with the best of intentions, humans really are fallible. We make mistakes. No doubt about it. Most of the time the mistakes are small and no one sees them. Other times the mistakes are bigger and still no one sees them, but we learn and avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. Then there are those mistakes which find their way into the harsh light of public criticism and we can no longer hide them. Someone once said, that the only way for a secret between two people to remain a secret, is for one of the people to be dead. Well, here we are again—scandal in the White House.

I can almost hear you screaming—"WHAT WAS THE MISTAKE?" Well, patience young grasshopper. The answer is coming. The big mistake that the Obama presidency has made is maybe the most shocking to hit the news in almost a month. The secret that has finally leaked after one whole week-- the music played by the quartet at Barrack Obama's inauguration was taped! Can you imagine? What could they have been thinking! It seems that the cold temperatures on Inauguration Day caused the instruments to go out of tune. So naturally the musicians did not want to sound like a bag of drowning cats and recorded the music ahead of time. Great! Did I notice? No. Do I care if they played live or not? Nope. Did it take away from the occasion? Not at all. Could I have lived without knowing this information? Absolutely.

We live in a world where people die each day as a result of lunatic dictators and war, starvation and natural disasters. Where real governmental mismanagement costs taxpayers millions of dollars a day. Where real news is literally just a click of a button away. The fact that news outlets decide to spend time, money and effort tracking down a story with as much news value as the sun coming up in the morning, is astounding. Here's a news flash—the bloom really is off the rose, just not the one you might think.

Oh, The Weather Outside is… FREEZING!

I don't know about your family, but my family has a couple of people who are the unofficial family history compilers. You know, if you need (or want) to know about your ancestors they are the ones you go to. Usually they have the family history computer programs and have compiled the stories that get told at all of the family gatherings. I am one of the historians for my family.

Although we gather information and compile lists of family members and some stories, there are some things that we will perhaps never know. Questions that we have, that will not be answered, because the answers lie with someone who lived 100 or 200 years ago. Some of the most interesting questions, for me anyway, have to do with how they decided to settle where they did. Why Canada? Why Miramichi, New Brunswick? Why not somewhere else? What compelled them to move from where they were and start a new life somewhere else?

Some questions I have answers to. My family came to this area in 1822. I know that the original fellow who made the move to Canada was born about 1766. So you can see, I have a long stretch for those answers to why here. Not that I am wont to complain about where I and my family have lived for the last 187 years. There are no tornadoes, earthquakes or monsoons. There are no poisonous snakes or dangerous diseases like Ebola. We don't have to worry about yearly flooding. We only get the tail ends of the few hurricanes that happen to make it this far north. But still the question remains—why here?

Only once in a while do I really question the wisdom of my forefathers in settling where they did. Over the last few days the cold has begun to take its toll on me. When the daytime high does not get above -20° Celsius, and the wind makes it feel like -35° or colder, then I begin to question the decision to settle here. I can take the snow storms and I don't usually complain about the weather and such but… TURN UP THE HEAT ALREADY! Why couldn't they have settled someplace warmer—or at least left behind enough money for me to move there?