Trying to organize my thoughts on Canadian Politics

Today was election day in Canada...yep, in case you didn't know we were in the process of possibly electing a new prime minister. It had an interesting outcome. For the first time in a long time, Canada elected a Conservative Prime Minister! I find this so interesting. I remember VERY CLEARLY the outrage of many Canadians after Americans re-elected President Bush in the last election. They couldn't believe it, and they couldn't understand it. I don't even want to tell you how many anti-American conversations I have had to get into up here and how many times people ask me-as if I know Mr. Bush personally-why Bush did this or that. I don't understand the strong hatred toward the United States...especially from people that truly know me. One of the things I hate the most has been the generalizations like, "America is..." or "All Americans are stupid because..." or "Americans think..." In fact, I have had some interesting conversations with my own students over different generalizations that they chose to make. If nothing else, living here has made me more aware of the stereotypes and generalizations that we all make in life. I now think twice before I say "Canadians think..." or "Republicans feel..." (Let me make sure to note here that not ALL Canadians are like that. I don't want to be guilty of my own gripe! I have also had some great conversations with people that want to learn about my government as much as I want to learn about theirs...thanks to those people!)

This election campaign took some interesting turns. One of the biggest issues that the Liberals chose to present as a campaign point was that Mr. Harper, the leader of the Conservatives, is a close friend of Bush. They tried to paint the picture that a vote for Harper and the Conservatives would mean that Canada would become a mini-America stating that he was the most Pro-U.S. leader in Canadian history. Whatever happened to us just being friends?

It has been interesting for me to be a part of this entire process. I did not have the option of voting, because I am not yet a Canadian citizen. Had I voted I'm not exactly sure who I would have voted for, because there are interesting viewpoints on both sides, but I was very interested to see how it turned out. Tonight as I was driving home I learned that Canada had elected a Conservative Prime Minister...basically the same thing they had been outraged about America doing in their last election! I can't wait to see how the next year shapes up. I think having just spent the last year under a Liberal leader and then switching to a Conservative leader will teach me even more about Canada's government and the way that it works.

I definitely cannot say that things are always black and white. This election has only strengthened that view point. My faith leads me to believe that Harper will be the better choice...let's see if I am correct.




Stephen Harper: Canada's New Conservative Prime Minister