Sunshine Sketches…

The local Tim Horton’s Cafe is a hotbed of gossip in my community. There are a lot of us old codgers who gather there morning and afternoon to coffee and talk. The men talk about weather, machinery, and…much too often, about the negative aspects of anyone different from themselves. Lots of misogyny, lots of implied and expressed racism. Muslims, Aboriginal people (usually portrayed as lazy and/or drunk), women and young people are regular topics, Not every day, and not every one, but often enough that it’s depressing.

Also, whenever there is something new and unidentified happening in town, there are myriad rumours about what is really happening, and who is doing it. For example, a large parcel of land near Tim’s has been a vacant meadow for years. Suddenly, a few weeks ago, earth moving equipment moved in and began stripping away the topsoil and the clay beneath it. Al the earth was hauled away, and the vast hole got about five feet deep, covering an area as large as seven or eight football fields. They dug down deep enough that the water of the old swamp began to show at the surface. Then, overnight, the activity changed. Sand began to be trucked in, hundreds of tons of it. It was spread thinly around, and then methodically packed down, layer by layer, until the surface was at the original level of earth. It was clear that something was to be built there. But what? And by whom?

The men began sniffing around their contracting buddies to find out. The women surreptitiously canvassed their connection in the female world. Answer after answer came to the surface and then ran out of steam. Answer after answer poured out of the Biddy Crew Finally, one morning, a lady at the next table proudly announced that one of our local pharmacists had purchased the land and was building seniors housing on it. Duplexes, with double garages.. In the stunned silence that followed, on of the other old ladies, usually a heavy hitter in the gossip game, pursed her lips and announced, “I know,” in an attempt to trump her friend. The conversation rolled onto other topics. One winner, and a room full of losers.

On Thursday morning – yesterday – a school bus rolled into the parking lot at about two minutes to ten, and spilled out a load of sleepy teens. The Biddy Crew instantly began to chatter in an annoyed cacophony. “What’s a School Bus doing in the parking lot? There’s no room for it here! Someone should go out and tell him to move…and what are these kids doing here? The day has hardly begun at school and these kids are coming in here for coffee! Don’t they ever do anything in school? It’s not even Friday!”

Out of the milling crowd a woman in jeans and a cap emerged. She was much younger than the Biddy Crew, and somewhat older than the kids. Turned out, she was their teacher. She explained quietly, to the whole table that the kids were on a field trip to a goat and cheese farm, to learn where their food came from. It was part of their nutrition course. The teacher explained that some of the class had “chosen” to stay home rather than come, and as a reward to the attendees, she was buying them all coffee!

The silence was stunned and prolonged. In an instant, the wise teacher had take her kids and the bus driver out of the firing line, and shut down the Biddy Crew completely! I was laughing so hard into my sleeve that I had to leave the table. A whole morning’s gossip and complaining about ‘youth today’ was blown away in a second!

Going to Tim’s in the morning is such fun! I usually take a book, sit by myself and read…and listen. Now and then…like yesterday… I join a table and listen, throwing in the odd comment to egg on the speculation. Who needs TV? Who needs a job? This is entertainment at its best in small town Alberta!

…and running!

The “exciting days” began with this afternoon with the swearing in of Rachel Notley’s cabinet. Only twelve people, six men and six women, including herself. This is a whole new thong in Alberta – women taking the lead. The expectation is that by the time she brings in a budget in autumn, she will shuffle her cabinet and bring in some more people. But the message is clear: we will run a lean, mean and hard working government. The Conservative’s shredding of documents (how many skeletons in closets were destroyed?) was ended, and the work started this afternoon.

The swearing in was a public event on the grounds of the legislative building, with many thousands in attendance. There were myriad children, many of them frolicking in the fountain pool on a 26 degree afternoon. It was incredibly exciting to watch young people assuming huge loads of responsibility.  One article reminded people that when Peter Lougheed took over the reins of government forty three years ago, the press made the same doom-and-gloom predictions about his youthful cabinet. But his party remained in government for forty-three years! Another government that remained in power longer was that of the Soviet Union!

Ice cream was handed round at the end of the formalities, and the doors of the Legislature were thrown open for the public to get to know “their” legislature, as Notley called it. A great start to what we all hope will be a new and fruitful era in Alberta politics. Stephen Harper, shake in your boots. Rachel Notley in Minister on Intergovernmental affairs. You will face her soon enough!

They're off!

Once our election was behind us, it’s as if I collapsed, or rather scuttled into some kind of hiding. Consciously, I was trying to return to a more orderly and “habitual” life. Calmer, routine…the sort of life I like most of the time; the life of a tired elderly person. Oh, I renewed my morning walks, and managed well in my adjusted swim plan – snorkel mask, hands on float board, kicking like mad for close to an hour.

The outcome of our election has produced a very youthful ND caucus, much more in line with the demographics of our province. Of course, the white-haired PC crowd are lamenting “these kids have no idea what to do.” We’ll see. No Cabinet named yet. Exciting days ahead!

Free at last!

Finally, a moment to catch you up on the last couple weeks of election fever. Being the Official Agent for a candidate sounds pretentious…important…powerful. The job consists of accompanying the candidate to all-candidate forums, helping people find out where they vote, paying bills, and responding to requests for lawn signs. Mostly, it’s busy! Surprisingly, I found attending the all-candidates forums the most stressful activity. Crowds of people, lots of questions, interaction, talking, handing out literature. Although I don’t often appear to be an introverted person, this kind of activity underlines the truth of it. So much interacting with strangers wipes me out. Of course, age could have something to do with it.

The election, for the first time in forty years, was exciting. Anger at the current government (Progressive Conservative) for financial decisions and personal arrogance, couple with the charisma of a fresh, new female leader for the New Democratic Party, kept the pundits guessing. Some thought the ND’s would win; some thought the Wild Rose Party (distant right; main slogan, “We will not raise your taxes.”) In fact, the final result gave the ND’s – a moderate left of centre party, a majority of 20 seats over its nearest rival, and a clear majority in the legislature.

This was a profound shock for the Conservatives, who have been in power for a continuous forty-three years! Shock…and dismay. Immediate cries of, “Business will flee the province!” “Modified communism will shatter our democracy!” And so on.  In fact, the new legislative government presents a very strong mirror of Alberta society. Almost half its members are female; there are Aboriginal members, one woman is from the Middle East originally, and the median age of the group is just under forty…exactly the same as our province! The rule of the old white boys is over for now!

A number of long-term Conservative cabinet ministers were tossed out with very few votes to their name. The Premier, who’d been parachuted in to “save the country” was soundly beaten in his riding. He resigned as party leader, and resigned his newly won seat before all the ballots were counted! So the once-mighty Conservative party has 10 sets in the house, and is leaderless to boot. They face a bye-election and a leadership convention in the next year. They face possible suicide, or some other form of disappearance. All because the arrogant Premier called an election a t=year earlier than he needed to – cost $40 million – and brought down a budget that introduces 59 new taxes, and fees on the voters, while not raising an extra penny from the corporations who fund him (and clearly call the shots).

As a life-long member of the New Democratic Party, I am ridiculously ecstatic, and excited to see what creative legislation Rachel Notley, the Premier elect, will introduce. First caucus meeting was today, and a cabinet will be forthcoming shortly. All “green” members. In opposition to the Conservative gloom and doom, I say, “You can’t strike a new path with old ways.” Carpe Diem!

Once more into the breach…

It’s been quite a few days since I have written here. Election fever. For the first time in two decades there is an actual race going on in Alberta. The NDP (slightly left) has been leading, the Wild rose (far right) has been second, very close, and the Progressive  Conservative (right wing also, emphasis mine) has been third. Currently, the Cons have been gaining a bit, getting a boost from the Federal Conservatives and some very aggressive advertising. The ND’s are still in the lead, but it is much closer now. However, I keep reminding myself that polls are often quite inaccurate. Last election, they had the Wild rose winning a strong majority. In fact, they elected just over a dozen members.

I have been busy delivering signs, banking money and paying cheques…and going to candidate forums…’for a, I guess. Three in six days, in three communities, plus a rural one…quite small. We have done well in these. Our support seems strong, but our budget is small –we have no corporate support – and we do the best we can with what we have. Our candidate did some research and found that our Cons opponents receive millions in corporate support, headed, of course, by an oil company and a pipeline company. The Wild rose gets considerably less, and we don’t accept any corporate sponsorship…not that we are offered much. One of our platform points is that Corporations and Unions not be allowed to donate to parties. He who buys your vote, gets the gravy. We believe support should come from the people of the Province, and they should be served.

Anyway, a busy two weeks. Election day is Tuesday, after which all signs have to be gathered up within 48 hours. I voted in the Advance Poll, so who knows what I will be doing on Election Day.