We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes

I have the feeling that quoting the Death Cab album title above is more than appropriate for this week’s blog since I’ll likely be sympathizing with disenchanted emo Death Cab songs a great deal now with the advent of the new government. Fortunately, Harper has a pretty narrow majority, and will have to cooperate with the more moderate parties at least for the sake of optics. My primary concerns for this new government’s term are health care, childcare, environmental issues, and education funding, all of which have the potential to be severely harmed by the Conservatives. This is the first non-Liberal Canadian government in the duration of my real political consciousness, and I certainly feel trepidation as to the plans that it has for Canada. However, change was apparently fated after more than a dozen years of Liberal rule, and it definitely demonstrated that Canadians will not accept corruption and waste. My sister and I were cheering for the NDP to get enough seats to allow a coalition with the Conservatives with 155 MPs, but that didn’t quite happen, and it will be interesting to see what support Harper can garner from the other parties for his platform issues and promises.

Yesterday was a crazy day, exacerbated by the fact that I was facing the consequences of staying up until 4:00 and 3:30 on Friday and Saturday nights respectively at the C&C retreat (details to follow!). I had classes in the morning, work until 6:00, voting as soon as I got home (at least the NDP get $1.75 a year for my vote), and election coverage to obsess over in the evening. When I was walking home from work along Whyte, it struck me that while everyone might not be registered to vote, almost every person I saw on the avenue has their name in government records somewhere, and no matter what party won last night, each one of us has been protected, cared for, and educated by a Canadian government. While the parties might have their own group of citizens of a certain socioeconomic status whose interests they most concerned for, every MP who was elected last night does care. Although an MP’s salary is not ridiculously small, all of these elected officials could be making far more in whatever field they were once employed in, be it business, law, or civil service. Thus, their motivation to run is their desire to stand up for their beliefs, and whether I agree with those beliefs or not, that’s something to be respected.

Perhaps the greatest disappointment of the night was the loss of Ed Broadbent and Anne McLellan as strong voices in Parliament. I have so much deference for both of these individuals, as they have often stuck out like sore thumbs in Canadian politics. McLellan has been a strong voice for Alberta in the Liberal cabinet, despite being the only non-Conservative in Alberta this past term, and Broadbent has supported and initiated numerous shrewd ideas for this country throughout his political career. Despite not reaching a Broadbent-level of seats (43), the NDP have enough MPs in the House to make a strong case for the most important aspects of their platform. In Martin’s minority government at least, Layton was able to have a real impact on the policies that were enacted, and some compromise will be needed on the part of the Conservatives for the extent of Harper’s government. I’ll just have to stay über-positive about whatever happens in the next stage of politics, and write Rahim whenever I take issue with his party’s actions. I subconsciously even wore a green hoodie with an orange ponytail holder (NDP colours for those of you who somehow don’t know) when I went out to vote last night, as my sister noted before I set off. I suppose that in addition to bleeding my Eskies’ green and gold, I’ve got orange running through my veins. Some analogies are so odd! Anyways, as I was walking back from voting at St. Paul’s, I was filled with a sense of contentment and gratitude. Though I was quite sure that my dear Linda couldn’t take Rahim out (although it was close), it’s a beautiful thing that I have a voice in politics (albeit a small, one twenty millionth proportion of the electorate’s voice). It was heartening to hear that voter turnout was up a few percentage points this year to 64%; I was anxious that it might drop below 60% with the election being held in January and the previous election being only a year and a half ago. All of my friends but one who I talked to yesterday got out and voted, so perhaps there is hope to quell voter apathy after all, particularly the indifference of young voters.

As aforementioned, I just got back from the C&C retreat on Sunday night. It was a total blast, despite the deficiency of sleep and my face and eyes having a atrocious reaction to the chlorine in the pool on both nights (I’m severely allergic to it, even though its element symbol is the same as my initials). Not only did I get to hang with Crystal the whole weekend, but I also got to know some of other C&Cers better, and was able to spend some quality time with God and be encouraged that genuine Christian relationships can form outside of the small congregation at Zion (shocking, I know). Jess’ youth pastors were the speakers for the weekend, and really urged us to be real with others in the group and be serious about our commitment to it. There’s a ton of things that God said to me this weekend, and it was a truly rich time. Crystal and I had an incredible amount of fun eating two-bite brownies, acting like complete (and I mean complete!) goofs in the pool, discussing the pros and cons of various animals and foods, stamping, staying up late with some other folks, and enjoying the sessions. I feel seriously blessed that God placed my family in the wider church family of McKernan, and while I had totally trusted what He was doing in our lives when we made that difficult transition, I believe that I’m beginning to see His plans.

After I got home from the retreat on Sunday afternoon, we had dinner and a birthday bash for my auntie at my grandma’s (see the pictures--the rest of my family is too bashful to have their pictures posted). While it was nearly impossible to stay awake, I did it, and had a terrific time. Sunday dinners are almost always among the highlights of my week, with transcendentally delicious food, completely asinine games on exercise balls, and great conversations with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. My family is absolutely one of the chief reasons that I love living in Edmonton so much, and why it would be tremendously difficult for me if I ever moved away. The unconditional love that a family has for each other totally mirrors the love of God, and there’s nothing like spending time with people who have both known me forever and know me sometimes better than I know myself.

Next weekend promises to be equally busy with Break Forth coming up (hip hip hooray for Break Forth!). I’m especially ecstatic to hear K. P. Yohannan, Tim Hughes, and Joyce Heron, all of whom I’ve really appreciated in the past. Jess and I are going to the Kutless concert on Friday night with some friends, and while Kutless is absolutely not my style, it should be great. When we went to the Newsboys concert last year with some friends from Zion, I was almost delirious from all the dancing and inanity by the end, despite Kevyn stuffing salty confetti in my mouth and chucking empty water bottles at my head. I can’t wait to spend those three days hanging with my family and friends at the Shaw and enjoying the speakers and worship. It’s a gorgeous day outside, so I’d better get out there for a walk. My hopes for snow are almost completely dashed at this point, but at least there should be some puddles to splash around in. At times this winter, it has certainly seemed as if spring was just around the corner, and now there are officially less than eight weeks before the vernal equinox!

Toodle-oo!