Thursday Tidbits
Posted on April 25, 2019 under Thursday Tidbits with no comments yet
The winds of change blew across the Island on Tuesday.
12:8:6
The remote control got a severe test of endurance on Tuesday night as I tried to watch three sporting events at the same time. I clicked every few minutes to check the progress of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Toronto Raptors and the P.E.I. provincial election. You’re probably humming “One of these things is not like the other” but truthfully, politics is sport for many of us and a serious blood sport for hard core partisans. Oh yes, the Toronto Blue Jays were playing too but trying to watch 4 events simultaneously is a stretch, even for me.
Let’s dispense with the hockey game first. While not a Leaf fan, I was certainly doing my patriotic duty cheering for Toronto as the only Canadian team left in the N.H.L. playoffs heading into Tuesday’s tilt. Sadly, today, there are no Canadian teams left. Toronto played well enough to win this series against their fierce rival, Boston Bruins but there is a very fine line between winning and losing in an era where parity rules.
The Raptors were expected to prevail over Orlando and even though they were giving the Magic a good old fashioned butt whipping, I still flicked back and forth. I’m sure this is a character flaw but I guess it’s no worse than going to a car race and praying for a crash.
It was a good week to be “green”. Monday was Earth Day and Canada’s own “Mother Earth”, Elizabeth May, chose this day to get married. I saw some of the wedding photos and I swear to god she looked like a tree! The Earth Day wedding was billed as a low carbon affair. Guests were asked to come on foot, by bike or some other carbon friendly mode of transport. My invitation arrived late otherwise I may have walked to Vancouver Island!
The Prince Edward Island election was fascinating. Democracy in the free world seems to be undergoing a massive stress test. Ordinary citizens around the world appear tired of “politics as usual” and are electing some people with rather extreme views. The recent Alberta election was a bruising affair. Backstabbing, internecine warfare, high sticking and elbowing were all in evidence. And this was just among the supporters of the winning party! I was particularly interested because I know Rachel Notley, the outgoing Premier. She was a young teenager when I first met her in Fairview, Alberta back in the late 70s where she grew up (and I taught school).
To be honest, I didn’t get engaged in the P.E.I election until 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday when CBC provided live Election Day coverage. I didn’t know much of the back story other than the fact that polls had the Green Party showing up strongly. Now, Islanders are a pretty conservative lot. That’s “small c conservative, by the way. The last time they had a minority government was in 1870. In a province where horse racing is huge, elections in P.E.I. have always been a two horse race. The Liberals and Conservatives have taken turns holding the reins of power. That is, until Tuesday when the landscape changed precipitously.
I watched a bit of the interview with the Premier elect. There had been some criticism of him and his party’s election strategy of NOT throwing red mud at the sitting, long in the tooth, Liberal party. His approach was civil and he appeared very modest moments after winning one of the most exciting horse races in Island history. Maybe Canada’s smallest province can lead the way in a revival of democracy that actually works and is not rife with acrimony and small mindedness which is too often the norm in modern democracies.
12:8:6.
These are not partial lottery winning numbers. They are not Kawhi Leonard’s stats from Tuesday’s basketball game. These are the final standings from the P.E.I. election 2019:
12- Conservatives; 8 Green Party; 6 Liberals.
The “Road to Avonlea” should be fun to watch.
Have a great weekend.
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