Underdogs??

I have a natural inclination to support the underdog in almost any contest whether it be political, business or even sports. It is such an overwhelming urge that a number of years ago when a political party that I had supported had finally been elected to run the province (probably the only time a party that I voted for actual won an election), I started to feel sorry for the Conservatives. In that case I did manage to control my tendency to support those on the bottom, but the temptation was far more powerful that I would have imagined. I was almost glad when my party lost the next election. I also generally avoid picking on people when everyone else is picking on them. It feels in some ways a lot like bullying. It also feels like it is too easy to kick someone when they are down.

So I am conflicted as to what to do/say about the Senator from Prince Edward Island. Even the Conservative media (such as the Sun News Network) are having a hard time finding anything good to say about Mike Duffy and his understanding of basic accounting rules.  According to all reports he has double dipped and manipulated his expense statements so that he could receive as much money for expenses (paid by us taxpayers) as possible. Libel laws prevent me from using the word "fraudulent" but it certainly seems that way. I normally would not bother to join the public outcry. It is being done by so many that it hardly seems worthwhile. Not only is my voice somewhat (or completely) irrelevant but it feels like I am ganging up on poor Mr. Duffy. Not my style at all. I could almost feel sorry for the guy. The last thing I want to do is to spend any more time thinking about the stories coming out of Ottawa. I, given my genetically endowed urge to support the underdog, may feel an irresistible need to defend him.

However during the At Issue Panel discussion on the CBC National News on Thursday, one of the participants suggested that one of the reasons why the shelf life of some of these issues is so short is that Canadians don't keep pushing for answers. That comment changed my mind about picking on public people who have done something wrong. It is not bullying to keep on demanding answers. It is, in fact, just good citizenship. We need to know that if people make mistakes (I am being generous here) that they can be held accountable. We need to know that the rules of how one manages one's life are applied consistently across the board. We need to know that those who refuse to follow those rules can be and will be punished. If one steals $5,000.00 - according to the Criminal Code of Canada - the maximum penalty could be ten years. While normally I would be happy with an honest answer and the loss of his job (and benefits), it strikes me that if we started to incarcerate some of our politicians perhaps they would start to obey the law. I am not usually a believer in the concept of deterrence as being an effective method of preventing deviancy but we seem to have tried everything else.

The real question for me is what to do. There was a time when I would have thought about writing to the Prime Minister to express my concern/displeasure. However the last time I did that, not only did I not get a response (except an e-mail from some low level staffer who promised that the PM would be informed) but I got on the Conservative's mailing list! Most of it is just junk mail but last weekend I was invited to sign the Prime Minister's wife's Mother's Day card because she is such a wonderful mother. Not quite the response I was looking for.

We don't need some special Parliamentary committee holding meetings for months and months. Can't we, as shareholders in this corporation called Canada, just give the information to the RCMP and suggest that they investigate?

Maybe I should start a petition demanding a trial for Duffy?

Hockey and On Being a Canadian

I am, to put it lightly, not much of a hockey fan. In fact with the exception of watching part of the gold medal women's game during the Olympics I do not think I have seen a game since the mid 1970s. I know that I have not watched a complete NHL game in 35 years. I think the last playoff series I watched was probably in the mid 60s when I was at UNB (University of New Brunswick) . Most of the guys in the residence were anyone-but -Montreal-Canadians' fans and  I felt somewhat obliged to watch and cheer for the Montreal team whenever they played. However in hindsight I suspect that watching those games had far more to do with not wanting to study as opposed to feeling any real loyalty to my home city.

When people ask me why I don't watch hockey, I usually say something about not being able to keep track of all of the teams. But the truth of the matter is that I don't like watching sports on TV. It is boring and I usually can find something more entertaining to do. Even basketball which may be my favourite TV sport, bores me after 15 or 20 minutes. You may therefore imagine that I am not particularly pleased by the hockey playoffs. The fact that there are Canadian teams in the playoffs does not engender one iota of civic, provincial or national pride.

I am always amused at what local television stations define as news. A few days ago the lead story of the evening news was the possibility of the Toronto Maple Leafs winning their series against Boston. There were interviews of fans in the street, mini documentaries of how long it had been since the team had won anything, and tours of people's basements where they stored their treasures of the glory days gone past. It was not news! It may be un-Canadian to say but who won, may win or lost a hockey game is not news. How people feel before a game or how they express their angst after a losing game has little or nor significance in terms of the country or the world. There are wars or rebellions to talk about, politicians making ( or not making) decisions, and a host of national or international events that not only could but should be discussed in some detail.

One has to wonder if  the garment factory in Bangladesh had collapsed on Sunday night - would it have been the lead story? If the story about RBCs use of foreign workers had broken this week would it have gotten any air play at all? Clearly the answer at best is that both stories would have got a lot less air time. As well because there are frequently two games being played back to back, one cannot even be sure when the news on CBC will be aired. Sometimes it is squeezed in between periods!  National news in 10 minutes. Anyone who suggests that there is not some sort of bias or self imposed censorship occurring within the national news is clearly not watching the same TV news stations that I am.

So paint me as being unpatriotic. Label me as being not a real Canadian. But hockey is not the be all and end all of the our national identity.  Cheering for players who may or may not be Canadian, who probably have little or no loyalty to a specific city and who get paid far more than almost all of their fans is not part of my Canadian DNA.  I can't wait for the season to be over.

P.S. Watching a live OHL game with my family is a wholly different experience. Perhaps if I went down to the local sports pub, had a few beers (or maybe more than a few beers) I would come to appreciate watching professional sport on TV. But then I would never know if it was the game or beer that I was truly appreciating. Which probably explains why Molson and Labatt, to name a few beer companies, have been such long term sponsors of broadcasted professional sports.