Provincial Elect

 

Provincial Elect

The sun is red, and the air is smoky. I remember many years ago fires that did that. Every few years, we would see a red sun like that. It would be the talk of the town as much as floods or earthquakes are. Now I have a hard time finding out where the fire is since there are so many of them. All I know is that insurance will go up for those of us who are lucky enough not to be where the fire is. We all pay for it. Since my pension is not increasing, soon I will have to go without insurance. To solve the problem, we need leaders who will work for a long time solution.

The party in power in my province is having an election for a new leader who will be the premier. I watch and read the promises that the leadership candidates make and I fall asleep. They are not speaking about my problems, but about beating Trudeau or Notley. They promise some good jobs for a duration. Just enough to elect them. Here jobs are mostly in the energy industry with a minor improvement in agriculture.

Sorry, I am not interested. The candidates are talking about saving taxes but not much at my level. If they take more of my pension, they will have to give me welfare or deal with a hungry angry me, which is not pretty. I gave all I had to build the province and I will fight if they try to make me homeless in my later years. They talk about “efficiencies” in Health Care and they are effectively destroying the system when we need it most. Again, I am not interested. Pay our home-grown professionals enough so they will not leave us high and dry. That is Capitalism. Let the Market dictate prices. Quebec has an $18 minimum wage and no oil.

I assess the last few years’ successes of the government. They are delighted by investors bringing industries like plastics factories. They will do it with minimum staff and use labour from China for the labour-intensive parts. No benefit for our unemployed, low-skilled people. The bragging about tabling a balanced budget leaves me smiling like an idiot. Where would we have been if Russia didn’t go to war using energy as a weapon, doubling the price of oil, I wonder? At the end of the “debate”, I have only one candidate I would consider making a premier. Rajan Sawhney (Canadian-born) is talking about leading the province based on Peter Lougheed’s principles.

At this point in my life, I no longer believe that ambitious young politicians with English-sounding names (i.e. Smith) will fight for what I care about. They will try to shove me into a shared room in a private care home and save money on my health care costs unless I and others like me will fight the best we can.

In days gone by, people were busy making a living using their muscles and wits, as they still do all over the world. They looked after the young, later after the old, while contributing to the social fabric. The church institutionalized the services and the government took it over. A spoiled society was the result, demanding that governments will provide services without spending money. We became soft and whiny.

This happened with every empire in history. The next step is revolution or a takeover by the less fortunate. If a war happens involving the third world, China, India, and possibly Russia, we will lose our dominating position. The time to act is now while we can.

There are lots of good jobs for all in serving each other, developing alternative energy sources, and advancing humankind to the next level in human evolution. Those who will not contribute will remain at the bottom and not be listened to. What’s needed are good, well-intentioned governments. The time to decide is at an election. We need leaders who build things, not sugarcoat the existing world order.

People must not be tempted to win ahead of others but led towards improving the country. Our goal is not to be better off than people in Quebec but to show Quebecers how to build a country that cares about all its citizens. We don’t wish to live the lives of the rich and famous, but to have a country where no one is homeless. We care about the sick, old, and young and work to improve health care and reduce crime.

Lately, all the talk about fighting with politicians is showing results. Politicians are attacked, their families are intimidated and they need protection. I am watching my country deteriorating. I wish to see an end to the talk about fighting. I will vote for someone who offers hope, not promising to win against the rest of the country or to “beat” the opposition.

I watch the red sunset in the west and the wind change direction. Fast the sky becomes blue, and the grass looks green again. The smell of smoke is gone as if it never was. Change is possible. We must dare to work with and not resist change. I know we can.