Americans have invaded my City!

But they were nice Americans. Really nice actually. This weekend, Toronto hosted the North American AA conference. All of them said nice things about Canadians and Toronto and all the ones I heard said they were going to come back. And they wanted to know if I was a Native.

What really struck me about them was how supportive they were of each other. I was sitting on the streetcar listening to 4 or 5 of them, all from different parts of the U.S. telling their stories and offering an ear and a kind word for others in the group. It was almost like a revival meeting. I have to say that I was pretty impressed. There, but for the Grace of God, go I, I suppose.

And the defections continue...

Conservative defections that is. Not only among those close to Harper, but in the population at large. Jay Currie, a Conservative blogger published this very astute post on why Harper has already lost the next election. And he's right too.

The idea underlying the current CPC is that the libertarian and socon elements (as well as the "progressives") could unite in their desire to defeat the Liberals. It turns out that they can't. Nor is there much chance of the urban and the rural strains of conservatism meeting halfway in somesort of ideological suburb.

He's spot on here. Canadians won't vote for social conservatives. Or not enough of them anyway. (There's always a few like this guy.) Canadians don't like the rhetoric, and they DO like the Charter. Harper, given his virulent outbursts on this, and his promise to revisit the issue is heading in exactly the wrong direction. It might play in the States, but not here.

On the other hand, Canadians might vote for a party made up of fiscal conservatives (see: Common Sense Revolution), even if they are socially progressive. But since the Progressive Conservatives disappeared, they don't seem to have any outlet for that but the Liberals, who have been clever enough to stake out that ground in their absence. How ironic-- seems like the ProgCons should of held out afterall.

I bet Peter Mackay is just sick about this.

So, I um, scored 19 out of 20....

...but then again, I had better have gotten something like that on a Canadian Facts Quiz, given all that time spent with my nose buried in history books.

If anyone wanders by here, see if you can beat the national average of 40%.

Conservatives celebrate Canada Day

Well, the boys and girls over at Free Dominion are a little unhappy. Which is perhaps not surprising, given recent setbacks to the Conservative cause in Parliament. So, instead of celebrating Canada Day, they are predicting the end of life as we know it. To quote:

Unless something major changes in this country, Canada as we know it will not exist in twenty years. That is a stark reality that many Canadians don't want to face up to, they would rather put their heads in the sand and pretend everything is all right. That is clearly not the case.

This is not an uncommon sentiment these days by conservatives, especially those over at this site. This only amuses me really-- Canada, it appears, is about to end because we aren't American enough. Here's the best part:

This is a failed nation state with no real reason for continued existence. We are wasting 15% or more of our GNP on patronage for people who contribute and produce nothing of value. In return, we get a big red and white flag. Enough already. Let's join the United States and then we truly can say we live in the best country in the world.

One is tempted to respond with something like, "Canada, love it or leave you conservative creeps!" but that would be uncharitable of me. Without this sort around, where would my thesis be? In any case, I had best watch what I say, because apparently the Revolution is coming. Or, erm, would be, if only the Liberals hadn't introduced the gun registry.

I swear. How do these people keep getting in here?

Cruise acting like a dork pays off

War of the Worlds had the biggst Paramount Picture opening ever. And the critics seem to think the movie is okay too. So I suppose the combination of free publicity and decent reviews means that Cruise's antics paid off. Any publicity is good publicity I guess.

But I still don't like Scientology. It's a cult. So add to my list of movies I won't be going to see.

Interesting Coinkydink...

I've been thinking a little more about the North American Security plan and one thing that's occurred to me is that the timing is mighty interesting. Just at the point where we pass a bill on SSM, something that the Bush Administration (and their supporters) are clearly not in favour of, we also sign off on a Security plan that is something the Americans have wanted for a while. A bit of horse trading perhaps? Not only, but the Liberals do realize that at the end of the day, what keeps their business supporters happy is an open border. Delays, even for tourists, will mess with our economy. It's not good to put all our eggs in one basket, true, and I hope we continue to diversify. But right now, trade with the U.S. pays for a lot of social programs. If Bush decides to slap something like the Nixon 10% surtax on Canadian imports due to the trade deficit, things could get messy.

I haven't read through all the agreement, but I suspect that the issue of common regulations might move a little less quickly then sharing intelligence. I don't really object to the latter, so long as it goes both ways and no Canadian citizens get messed with, like Maher Arar.

I think, so long as we cooperate here on Security, Bush has other things to worry than picking fights with Canada. Now, right-wing fundamentalists (are their left wing fundamentalists?) in the U.S. are another story. The fact that they are funding Canadian religious groups in the fight against SSM in much more objectionable to me. But I think that if it happens during the next election (especially if they get caught funding Conservatives) that there will be a pretty big backlash.