"Politics would be a helluva good business if it weren't for the goddamned people." – Richard M. Nixon
Firstly, yesterday was Canada Day and also the eighth anniversary of my arrival in Canada, I trust that a good day was had by all Canadians around the world. This is the first Canada day for me that I celebrated it as an actual Canadian citizen which gave me just a little more sense of belonging to a country I believe has great possibilities and opportunity.
It has always an interesting observation that because of its diverse culture and population Canada to many Canadians is not a 'true home' but for many different reasons an adopted homeland. Many of those same people introduce themselves as Something Canadian, me included, I quite often refer to myself as English or British Canadian, its not normally something I come across when I meet citizens from other countries.
Being a Canadian also means that this week I got to vote for the first time and took a keener interest in the results as they came in. Only time will tell if a minority government will be effective for the country, let us hope that the country is the primary focus and not personal agendas.
This election resulted in a record lowest turnout, just above 60% – meaning 4 out of 10 Canadians cannot complain about anything the government does because they did not even bother to have a say. It disappoints me that just a few weeks after the 60th anniversary of D-Day many chose not to honour the fact that we have the freedom to vote due mostly in part to the sacrifices of a few. 45,000 Canadians (close to the number of voters, who voted, in a typical riding) died in WWII, it is much greater that just a civic duty to vote.