Checks and Balances

It’s pretty hard to talk about anything but the Olympics these days, so I’m going to bite the bullet and give into the urge.

The Olympic fever that is gripping the nation seems to be universally coupled with an expression of surprise at the nationalism Canadians seem to be readily embracing. Every interview with a Canadian seems to fit in a question somewhere pertaining to the unprecedented devotion Canadians are showing to their athletes and these games.

To put this in perspective, over 10 million people watched the Canada-US men’s hockey game on Sunday night. That’s not counting online hits and still amounts to almost a third of the country watching, making it the most-watched sporting event in Canadian history. TV ratings haven’t been like that in decades. The media is just loving it.

It’s so unlike us to show so much pride. We leave it to our American neighbours to hang their flags outside their houses and get crazy over pride-inducing entities like a war-mongering president or the half-time show.

But if anyone denies that having everyone in the country happy about something at the same time is lame, they’re full of it. Plop one of those angry protesters in front of the TV to watch Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue’s faces as they win gold and watch them try to hide their grins. Indeed, the Olympic naysayers seem to have shut up altogether now that the games are in full swing. Frankly, it’s a little weird. I almost want to watch Question Period to exercise my critical muscles. Oh, wait…

The talent Canadians are seeing and the beauty of the B.C. landscape is something truly deserving of our marveling. It took many billions of dollars and a hell of a lot of work to make us all ecstatically proud to live in this country, but I’m still glad it all happened.

Steve Podborski, a bronze medalist in skiing at the 1980 Olympics, in a CTV interview had some interesting insights into the shifting tide of Canadian sportsmanship. He said:

“It’s okay now in Canada to say, ‘I want to be the best.’ Back in my day, it was kind of like, ‘Well that guy is a little over the top.’ Not anymore. Canadian skiers made it okay to strive to be the best in the world.”

Certainly with the Nancy Greene and now Alex Bilodeau legacy, there’s some validity to Podborski’s comment, but I don’t think it means much for the Canadian identity as so many people seem to think.

We’ve always wanted to be the best, but we’ve developed a self-effacing complex to cope with our chronically underfunded Olympic team. Now that our athletes are actually coming home with some Olympic bling, we’re hungry for more. And even though we love to see our athletes win (what country doesn’t?), we still recognize the talents of others. And that’s what makes us Canadian. Apolo Ohno and Shaun White are right up there with the Canadian athletes featured in the news - just to name a couple. As long as we don’t turn blind to the rest of the world, I don’t see anything wrong with indulging in national pride and friendly competitive spirit.

Once the games are over and all the athletes return to their hometowns as gods, the nationalist excitement will die down very quickly. We’ll all still be wearing our Oprah-sanctioned mittens and can fondly look back on the inspirational games of 2010. But it will be a long time before we have another games like these. Deep down we know we’re not cut out to bring home the most medals in the world, and I think we’re okay with that. I don’t think it’s the medals we’re really excited about - and we never have been. We’re happy to see our talent competing and excelling on home soil. I don’t think any Canadian would admit that we’re the best or that our games have been the best without muddling it with caveats in good Canadian fashion. It’s nice to see Canada with such exuberance, but as my dad always says, this too shall pass. Enjoy the games for their last week, for our normal lives will inevitably resume.

The ever-controversial Newfoundland premier Danny Williams is in the news again; this time for slipping across the border to have heart surgery that he apparently could not get in his own country. Mr. Williams is currently in recovery in an unspecified location.

The press has fumed for almost a week over the debate of whether Mr. Williams was innocent in seeking the best treatment for his health condition. It doesn’t help that the American media is adding insult to injury (no pun intended) by using Mr. Williams as a prime example of the failures of public health care.

On the subject of Mr. Williams’ choice and the debate that has ensued, CBC commentator Rex Murphy last night quipped, “It’s his life and it’s his business.” He went on to criticize the ‘personal is political’ notion that has seeped into our discussion of Mr. Williams’ actions.

I normally agree with Rex Murphy on most things and I too believe that the division between the personal and the political must exist. But on this matter, the anger surrounding Mr. Williams’ use of private providers south of the border is justified.

I don’t believe Mr. Williams’s choice itself should be a target by privatization opposers because the surgery he required may have only been available in the U.S. And as someone who could obviously pay a significant sum of money to receive private care, it’s probably better that he chose to have his surgery somewhere else rather than add himself to the ever-growing list of patients in our exhausted public system. With him taken care of elsewhere, that’s one fewer patient we have to worry about on our side.

But Mr. Williams had to know that Canadians would be angry that he was about to become the poster boy of public health care’s failure. He is, after all, the man who trumpeted the “Anything But Conservative” campaign in the last federal election. Perhaps that was just a vendetta against Prime Minister Stephen Harper, but surely he’s not one we’d expect to advocate open-mindedness towards private health care.

If we are to allocate our resources based on need rather than ability to to pay, as our health care system does, then Mr. Williams made the right choice. Instead of clogging up our sytem, Mr. Williams went elsewhere and let those who rely on the public system to be served. How much worse would it have been if someone on welfare was competing for OR time when Mr. Williams could easily afford to step aside and go to a private hospital?

Make no mistake, I am thoroughly opposed to privatization, but I’m also pragmatic. The fact is our public system is overcapacitated and the easiest way to fill in the gaps is to bring in private providers. Check out my report in the Journal from December to see how likely privatization is about to happen.

Mr. Williams has a lot of explaining to do when he gets back - an unfortunate predicament for someone who just had heart surgery. Either he’s going to have to make his surgery into a motivation for improving the public system or he’s going to have to face the wrath of Canadians as they point to his surgery as a signal for the privatization that’s going to creep into our health care system. Mr. Williams may have made the right choice to ensure the security of his health, but you’d be foolish to believe that this surgery was not political.

Since this is my first blog post, I believe a sincere welcome is in order. What an exciting time to be writing about politics, when we have no government working for us and an electorate growing more disillusioned and cynical by the hour.

This past weekend I attended the McGill Model UN conference where Montreal MP and son of the great former-PM Justin Trudeau was the keynote speaker. It’s very easy to get wrapped up in the oratory wonderment of gifted, affable politicians, but after hearing him speak I’ve come to the conclusion that Mr. Trudeau is a force to be reckoned with.

In times of political standstill, it’s usually the dashing, brilliant speakers who rise to power. We saw that with President Barack Obama last year and President John F. Kennedy before him. A fresh face that can deliver an inspiring speech typically does very well in times when people are deeply disappointed in their government. But where their effect is seen most resoundingly is among the country’s youth. Political figures like President Obama are the people who get the young off their duffs and to the poll stations to cast a ballot.

Some people thought Michael Ignatieff was going to be that guy for Canada, but he’s proven to be little more than an inexperienced political gambit. I respect many of Mr. Ignatieff’s ideas but his pathetic attempts at bringing down the Harper government through weakly snide remarks are not moving this country in any positive direction.

I may be going out on a limb, but I think Justin Trudeau may be our guy. He certainly knows how to attract younger generations since he himself is a mere 38 and his background is in education, having taught in B.C. high schools. He connects with Quebec and he knows the hot button issues facing the country, namely the environment and foreign relations.

I hate to make Justin Trudeau out to be our panacea, but I think he represents young Canadians far better than anyone else in power. Wouldn’t it be nice to have the young vote recognized for once? For the past few elections, our generation hasn’t received one iota of interest from the reds and blues. As comedian Rick Mercer said in a Rant segment on his show,

“If you’ve got one leg, two kids, you work on a farm; the parties, they have a pitch for you—unless, of course, you happen to be a student, in which case, you’re completely off the radar.”

Just look at the Facebook group “Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament,” which has over 222,000 members and is still going strong. Conservatives label this as “political chatter”, as the Globe and Mail reported.
Seriously? “Political chatter?” 222,000 people is more than twice the population of Kingston. Sure, a Facebook group does not constitute a vote (if they did, Heidi Montag would probably end up leaving the Hills and Spenny would declare an eternal forfeit), but it still reflects our interests, which our elected representatives are supposed to follow.

Young people have many forces working against them in Canadian politics. For one, our electoral system keeps out parties like the Greens and the NDP, which have overwhelming support from younger generations. Then we have a prime minister that doesn’t care about anybody who isn’t Conservative. We also are outnumbered by our parents and older generations who vote and have money.

This is why I think the only way we’re going to have our say is if someone younger and better comes along. Young people aren’t going to turn up at the polls otherwise, and probably justifiably. I wish I could say something motivational, but I’m just as stumped for ideas of effecting change as you are. All I can say is our time will come.