This is a "Repost" of something I put on Facebook a while back

My fellow Canadians, I have something difficult to say and I feel I must share regardless of consequences. Something has been troubling me. I don't like my country anymore. It's an ugly thing to admit. Initially it seems vexingly unpatriotic. It feels shameful and disrespectful. Ironically it's disrespect that has compelled me. It's not the beautiful landscapes, nor is it the wonderful people who claim this land that have ruined it for me. I'm proud of those things. I'm proud of who we are as a people. I'm equally proud of our history and culture. It's the politics. This country is sliding off the rails. Political discourse has lost any sense of dignity. There is a remarkable arrogance that is fixing to suffocating us all. To my estimation, things are out of whack. So very out of whack. I was raised a liberal. I voted liberal. When they became gross and corrupt, I walked away in disgust. Much like most Canadians, I believed they needed to be punished for their sins. They had become so odious and entitled. A decade later, and I'm still not happy with them. It really riles me up when I think about it. So then the Conservatives came to power. The sun rose the next day as it always had. The centre had sent it's message. Mr. Harper had gotten his shot. A minority government. So the Tories puttered along at first, and while I wasn't wild about them, they did seem to bring a balance back to the political scrum. That was at first. Things have changed. A lot has changed. Slowly, like a mistreated animal, the Canadian public began to trust this new government. We were pleased that the Conservatives promised us transparency. It seemed so novel after the Liberals had fucked things up. But something really weird happened. The promised transparency never materialized. The Prime Minister and his Conservatives shrouded themselves in secrecy. No press conferences, just statements. Initially I suspected it was fear of losing a mandate that created paralysis. I couldn't have been more wrong. It was callous raw manipulation. This served to Immediately betray the trust Canadians had placed in them. Ministers were reigned in. Dissension was met with swift, almost Machiavellian punishment. We let it slide. They were after all different that the Liberals. The honeymoon wasn't over. They condemned science. They worked overtime at condemning Science. Empirical data was disregarded as mythos. Facts, that are generally thought of as indisputable were spun as inconclusive fantasy. Conservatives waged an unholy political war on any scientist who didn't jive with their agenda. They strangled funding. Spin became the most useful tool in the Tory war chest. They became in effect, the neck tattooed, chest beating alpha dude bros that we secretly knew they were. We just let all that vacant charm and red whining go to our heads. Conservatives tainted our federal institutions, and insisted on gagging anyone who disagreed with their agenda. They somehow managed to lose nearly three billion dollars, claiming it got spent on programs, but were unable to account for which ones. It's much like a carny trying to make change for a twenty. The Harperites even managed to manipulate the media by creating advertisements for government programs that either did not exist, or had not had any actually funding attached to them. There's nothing quite as arrogant as tarting up an invisible pig, and then publicly demanding the blue ribbon prize. They lied, swindled and cheated their way into a majority. Every dirty trick they could possibly use was employed with gusto.Using ugly American style smear campaigns. They even stooped to using robo calls to misinform the electorate, and were even found guilty of it. Let slip the dogs of war. Perhaps a premonition of things to come. The senate scandal hit. It exploded like a nuke. But somehow Harper managed to coat himself in teflon, and dodge the shrapnel. Wallin, Brazeau, Duffy and the PMO payoff reeked of underhanded tomfoolery and total political douchbaggery. The honeymoon was over, yet the Tories managed to stayed on point. Keep in mind, these are the same shitty, selfish, and sneaky types of schemes that they were so quick to admonish the Liberals for. Things that were again a complete betrayal of public trust. This is what happens when you don't vet your candidates. This is what happens when entitlement discovers the trough of the public purse. Let's not forget the gross mishandling of the fighter jet procurement. A matter that has cost us millions and has literally provided us with nothing in return. At least lie and say you got some magic beans. Imagine if that money had gone to our veterans instead. Imagine if we had kept our promise to the people that fought for our national interest. But it's really no surprise, because Mr. Harper has proven that he doesn't give a shit about former soldiers and heroes. The near total dismantlement of Veterans affairs has proven this without any further debate required. The economy is looking pretty rickety too. It sure feels like a rickshaw on a rope ladder. Under the Tory regime our dominion has became little more than a petro-dollar fire sale. A one trick pony, now fully exhausted, and given the state of the global environment, likely headed to the glue factory. The Conservative Party has made this country hawkish, and turned ploughshares into swords. I fear Canada has been terraformed into a tiny Republican fiefdom. This is a path that will be remarkably difficult to retreat from. One need only looking to the south to see the kind of damage can be done by unfettered conservatism. Eight years of the Bush administration seems like the perfect magic mirror. I would never dare to presume to tell you who to vote for. That's for your own conscience. But I do ask you to think about a few questions. 1) Is this the country you grew up in? 2) Do you think our international reputation looks an awful lot like a shit hauled rental car? 3) Do you think this government has your best interests at heart? 4) Are you happier now than you were? 5) Are you any better off? I love you all. I love my country. I just can't seem to like it very much these days. Maybe it's that I just don't recognize it. I hope it becomes more familiar to me in the future.

Edmonton

Last week I trundled off to Edmonton for a handful of shows. I like going there. It’s a city that generally gets a bit of a bad rap. The hated Oilers exist there, and that’s definitely a knock against them, but the city seems to have a sense of humility, and a pretty great sense of humour. (If not a pithy understanding of irony.) Truthfully, I feel almost at home there.

Rexall - Home of The Hated Oilers

Edmonton and Calgary are as close to Cain and Able as two cities can be. Calgary has the brains, Edmonton the brawn. Together they are the titans that rule western Canada.  While there is certainly a rivalry, they appear to have reached a Mexican standoff. In truth, they need each other, partially in a yin and yong fashion, and partly because they fuel each other’s civic neurosis.

The folks I know in Edmonton are truly fantastic people. Some of my longest held and most cherished relationships are with Edmontonians. I think if you live in Alberta’s capital city, you’re generally made from the salt of the earth. Coming from Newfoundland, I think I just sort of “get them”. I like the no bullshit mentality, and Edmonton has that in spades.

While Calgary emboldens a real “can be done” attitude, Edmonton has historically shown its moxie in a more metered approach. Edmontonians are much better at “should it be done?” There is no sense of paralysis here, just a willingness to provide sobriety to decision making processes. (With perhaps the exception of that new hockey edifice…)

The typical comedy audience in Edmonton, can be a little on the rowdy side. I like that a lot. Rowdy is my group of people. I know how to conduct them. Getting a big rowdy group whipped into a percolating frenzy is just about the most fun I can think of. I want to shake the walls, and Edmonton never lets me down. I feel like Samson in that town.

The Comedy club is located in a casino in a rougher part of the city. I find that lends well to the rowdiness, although, I find it a curious trend that casinos are cropping up in rougher neighborhoods. I would hate to think it’s by design. Seems like a cynical way to vacuum cash from the pockets from people who likely need it most.

As far as cities go, it’s a clumsily constructed, often meandering mess; as if someone just kind of heaved it into being. Edmonton seems to have evolved (perhaps mutated) rather than been planned. It can be maddening to try and navigate. Triangle intersections, weirdly dangerous traffic circles, and a seemingly almost bigoted aversion to left turns leave me cursing at every visit.

But I digress…

I had sometime to kill before knuckling in to some jokes, so I decided to head to K-Days, and happily waste the afternoon on Edmonton’s answer to Stampede. I discovered Its a much smaller affair, less of the nauseating food, and significantly fewer of the equally nauseating “over the top” trappings it’s southern cousin insists on revelling in.

Me - Tweeting to the masses while waiting for a lunch companion at K-Days

I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of local businesses participating in K-Days. It’s a refreshing change. It gave the event a community festival feel. I liked that a lot. I have always preferred spending my money locally. I like knowing it goes into the pockets of real people.  I like my capitalism homespun, and not rigged into filling the coffers of some shady multinational monolith.

At the end of the day though, it’s still a giant carnival, complete with shifty games of chance, and even shiftier carnies. It’s funny how we’ll pay money to knowingly get fucked over.

I got there just as the gates opened. It's weird seeing a near vacant midway.

Sure there was a stabbing or two, but that’s hardly an Edmonton thing.

These days, you can’t have a mass social gathering without the odd random act of violence. (Which is a sad comment, best left for another post I suppose…)           

Midway goodies