I AM CANADIAN

My last post got me thinking about something that has been quietly simmering for awhile now. I've been growing in my Canadian pride these last months. For years now, I've honestly been at a loss to describe any compelling reason to be proud of my country. Liberal governance has led to a host of non-democratic changes in our society's fabric. Our courts have abrogated the responsibility of deciding national policy, taking it from the hands of our elected representatives. I, for one, am not well-disposed to taking orders from a dictator, even a black-robed one who creates 'law' to use as his billy-club. Anyway, though the changes are many and often subtle, I am noticing small ways that I am again feeling proud to be Canadian.

I don't want to rub it in (well, maybe a little), but I'm wondering if those on the left can still say they're proud to be Canadian - as much as they used to be, I mean. I'm curious, because I remember a time in recent memory when those on the left would question the dedication those of us on the right have towards Canada, simply because we have a different vision for our country. To me, it's always been a senseless question - if we didn't care about our country, why would be bother to try to change its course?

Mulroney, in reverse?

Stephen Harper (and all players who have participated) has so far been successful in reversing the split that the PC party of yesteryear underwent at the end of Mulroney's tenure. I'll leave the effects of this to future ponderings. But I was recently thinking about the next obvious step in the process - the dismantling of the Bloc Quebecois, and the 'return to the fold' of those disaffected quebeckers represented by them. A recent poll in Quebec has the CPC (34%) out-polling the BQ (31%) in Quebec, with the Liberals a dismal third (15%). Certainly, some of Gilles Duceppe's calculations in supporting the CPC budget is that he stands to lose seats as the numbers now stand in Quebec. If the CPC support is sustained there, how long before BQ members decide separatism is a dead issue, and decide to fold themselves into one or the other of the truly federal parties? I'm definitely more to the right than Harper has shown himself to be on many issues (to be fair, he's probably more right than he's been able to express thus far in a minority parliament), but find the federal dynamics very intriguing, and I am willing to give him a lot of credit for it. What Paul Martin promised (but couldn't/wouldn't deliver on), it seems as though Stephen Harper is achieving (after what, 100 days?).

My Monthly Post ...

Yes, I've been quite lazy in the blog-world. I'd apologize, but that would indicate a firm resolution to change my habits. I'd rather either do it, or not apologize insincerely. I thought I'd continue with the 'health care' theme I chose a couple of posts ago.

I visited a chiropractor since my last post - one who was recommended by a colleague for his 'bedside manner', as well as his competence. In our first session, he spent close to an hour assessing and giving me an initial adjustment. The assessment left me with the impression that he is more aware of my overall health needs and gripes than my family doctor of the past 4 years. He really was thorough and a tremendous communicator.

There's just one thing.

Part way through the session he pulled out a laser-dealy thing that looked more or less like a check-out scanner. His assistant would hold it to shine the laser on my neck, presumably to return my body cells to their natural 'frequency' of 638 nanometers (yes, I'm a science teacher, and have never heard of anything like this, nor why a wavelength unit is being used to describe frequency. Okay, there's a loose connection, but the way he said it seemed to be to impress those with no science training). He would hold my arm up, supposedly representing my range of motion; then as the laser was shone on my neck he'd raise my arm further and exclaim the miracle of the check-out laser-dealy. He even pressed down on my arm, with me resisting the pressure; then repeated it with the laser on my neck (I'm not even sure it was turned on, to be honest), and made a big show of pushing down with two hands and one leg off the ground, and how much 'stronger' I was with my 638 nanometer-vibrating cells. I'm not making this up. I'm not allowed to make this up.

So, the long and the short of it was an exceptional medical visit, turned into a Twilight Zone experience with two grown adults in the same room trying to sell me the chiropractic equivalent of snake oil.