I’ve spent the better part of the morning trying to write something about how Alberta handles political adversity and gets things done whereas the rest of Canada just seems to whine and cry and blather on about how hard done by they are without affecting any change. I was on roll, too, I thought… (maybe I’ll work on it and publish it tomorrow). Something caught my eye that made me realize I was writing a piece intended to show the divide among Canadians. But when the world needs us, we tend to unite and do the right thing.

I’m talking about Haiti and how Stephen Harper has deployed the DART to aid in recovery efforts, just as Paul Martin did for Thailand after the Tsunami struck in ‘04.

I got to reading the comments on a G&M story regarding Michaelle Jean’s teary address yesterday. You can do the same by clicking on this link. While I find it generally appalling that some people can be so ignorant, I don’t find it surprising. We’re not nearly the nation of enlightened and progressive peoples we sometimes choose to believe we are. In the midst of all the ignorant comments on the G&M story questioning the validity of Mme. Jean and her post, there lies an attempt at forwarding the proroguement discussion.

Some people (disrespectfully) choose this as a time and venue to point out that Mme. Jean should have as much sympathy for the death of democracy in our own country. Obviously, there’s no likening the two and, obviously, the GG’s home nation is devastated. I’d suggest her reaction is human which, if my opinion counts for anything, is a pretty good value for our Governor General to possess. As for the argument that democracy is dead… allow me to remove my gloves.

I’m getting so sick of the lengths and petty places the left will go to try and prove a point. Democracy is dead in Canada? Dead? Never to return? Is that what you mean? Don’t get me wrong. I understand that proroguing parliament disrupts all committee hearings including the Afghan Detainee situation, which the Liberals care about as long as they stand to gain from it somehow. I understand that the PM did the same thing last year to avoid the firing squad. The issue I have with all this is the extremism to which the left will go. Democracy didn’t die the first time Jean prorogued parliament for Harper. If you don’t mind my saying, thank God that proroguement went down. For some reason, Liberals claim the coalition was a good idea despite the major changes that the party has undergone since. Now we have a split left and democracy is dead… until March.

Do me a favour. Drop the rhetoric and start spouting off about what you want for Canada, because here’s what I know for certain. If the tables were turned and the Conservatives were grilling the Grits on this torture fiasco, you lefties wouldn’t be nearly as broken up about the inhumanity of it all. I hazard to say that, if the Liberal government was hanging in the balance, you’d put your own party’s interest ahead of the skulls and skins of some insurgents we picked up on the road to Kabul. Instead, you’d rally the troops to discredit the opposition. Of course Harper doesn’t want to talk about it for reasons ranging from embarrassment to concern for the mission in Afghanistan. But don’t go pretending that this whole inquiry is anything other than strategic activity to diminish the approval of the opposition for your own party’s gain. Elementary, yes, but the concept is so totally lost on the kind of idiot who will use the comment section beneath an emotional Haitian-born Canadian dignitary’s national media address to spout that democracy is dead because this woman has no guts.

Democracy in Canada isn’t dead. I assure you. It is, however, in a Terry Schiavo stage. This is because most people are too stupid to understand how to make it work. Here’s a start. Think about what you want for your country. Pick your leader according to your values. Quit picking “the guy that isn’t Harper.” Pick the guy who will give you the Canada you want. And, please… PLEASE don’t tell me that between Jack Layton, Michael Ignatieff, Bob Rae, or, for you wildly imaginative youngsters, Justin Trudeau you have a good answer. Stop trying to pick the horse that can win the race and start trying to pick the horse that can pull the whole load of the wagon. (That may only make sense in Alberta.)

Here’s a good Churchill quote: “The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.” Translation: “You’re probably too stupid to understand and respect the magnitude of the vote.” Everytime I see the power plays and political games in parliament, I have to agree. We’re too dumb to figure out how to make them stop.

Tags: Afghan Detainees, Haiti Earthquake, Michaelle Jean