Men Behaving Badly

The title of this post describes Canadian politics during the past couple of weeks. I exempt the Governor General from the title because she's a woman but also because she really had little choice but to award the "time out" the Prime Minister requested. Her job is to not insert herself (an unelected official) into the governing process--and granting the Prime Minister a "do-over" is perhaps the least intrusive thing she could have done. But I hope she yelled at him a little and told him this was his last chance.

In any case, I find myself in an unusual position: I now feel more proud of a U.S. politician than the politicians in Canada. I'm not sure I have ever felt this way before.

Before I moved here, I made no pretense of understanding or really following Canadian politics, other than trying to keep up with the name of the person in charge. I paid attention during the NAFTA negotiations, and during the leadup to the Iraq war, and other times when American allies were in the news in the U.S. However, parliamentary politics is all new to me in the past three to four years.

Nevertheless, I was like other liberals in the U.S. in holding a slight envy for some Canadian values that have translated into public policy. Like universal healthcare as a human right. Like limits on gun ownership. I figured Canadian politicians were probably more enlightened and competent, too.

And the venality of American politicians has increased. As you know or can imagine, actions of U.S. politicians--and I include the Senate and House, Democrats and Republicans--during the past eight years have been difficult for me to believe. I started to list examples and it turns the stomach.

But those thousands of days are already beginning to fade, though I won't forget their lessons. And now, I see a lot of pleasing news from the U.S. The President-Elect is surrounding himself with diverse opinions. He is clear about his role until the end of January--there's just one President at a time. However, he also understands how important it is for the electorate to see him doing something, anything, to show he will hit the ground running. And he's doing a lot of good things.

It's amazing for me to say this, but...politicians in Canada could learn from the example of their incoming neighbo(u)r to the south. There. I said it.

So folks who recently fled Ottawa, use this time wisely. Stop telling Canadians that you deserve to govern or that others are going to destroy the country--our sky is falling all around us. We don't have time to worry about your manufactured crises; there are plenty of real ones out there.

Instead, remember the arguments you should be making--that your ideas will help solve the impending economic difficulties while protecting the least able among us. We want, and need, to hear about those.