Doug Ford & Ontario - Scary Times Ahead??

If I had thought about it, when I was younger I would never have realized that the election of certain people would cause me to feel profound sadness. The elections of such people as Mike Harris in Ontario in the mid 1990s, Steven Harper as Prime Minister or Donald Trump in the US have developed within me with a sense of loss that has left me, for a brief time, feeling almost overwhelmingly helpless and sad. I am not too sure why - I know politics is a strange affair with frequent shifts in the public's perception of what is needed . I know that in reasonably stable countries such as Canada, the election of someone completely wrong will have limited long term impact upon the country. Except most of these individuals seem to get elected for at least two terms. and eight years is a long time - changes made during that length of time can affect the country. If programs or systems are changed or even destroyed, it frequently becomes impossible to build them back up again.

Last night as I was watching the results of the Ontario election, I had that feeling again. There was no doubt that Ontarians were ready for a change but the extraordinary shift to Doug Ford's PCs was just downright scary. It is quite clear that those who voted for Ford were the same sort of voters who chose Mike Harris. People living in reasonable affluence (in style if not in income) who want to/need to protect themselves against rising costs. Most of the people have reasonably well paying jobs, frequently shaped by union pressures, who more than anything need to believe that it is possible to lower taxes while insuring that services for them will still be available. People who on one hand want schools to provide more and more of the attention that young people need while at the same time demanding that specific groups of parents control the curriculum.People who want to be able to maintain their present lifestyle while not caring if others ever achieve that same state. People who are committed to the belief that as long as they are happy, there is no need to worry about theirs' or anyone else future.

The sad thing is that we all know how this story ends - the pundits to the right wlll be dancing in the streets, those in the middle will shake their heads and wonder how they can drag their parties to the right and the few remaining on the left will, if they are honest, just cry. Hang on to your hat - fellow Canadians in Ontario - and your wallets. You are about to be lead by someone who has little comprehension of how things work - in fact the only thing he may understand is how to promise things that can not be delivered on.

I am glad I am heading back to BC soon where I can watch the disaster evolve At a safe (at least for a while) distance.

On the Road Again 2018

The trips that I made 15+ years ago were an adventure. I, certainly on the first ones, had no idea as to what to expect.  When I was working, for most of my trips ,I spent more time trying to get to Duncan and then back again than I did on Vancouver Island. My pack was impossibly heavy - it towered over my head, I walked for far too many miles looking for the perfect spot to stand and various parts of my body hurt for most of the trip. But they were fairy impressive trips - thousands of kilometers in a few weeks. I ended most of my trips with the comments "not to shabby for an old man".

Things have changed - in part because I am older and I no longer feel the need to show how tough I am but also because I know where I am going  and usually it is only just one way.  I have reduced the size of my pack significantly, I walk far less than I use to and while I am not in better shape than I use to be,  because my annual trips are over almost before they begin - there is not sufficient time for me to damage my body. Whatever sense of adventure that may exist, is greatly reduced.

This is all a somewhat convoluted way of saying that at least technically I am on my summer trip but it does not feel like it. I flew to Sudbury. Other  than my pack arriving 12 hours after I did, the trip was uneventful. I will hang around here for a week, catch a train to Winnipeg and then hitchhike west from there. Not very exciting. I will have a good time hanging out with my daughter and hopefully on the way back - I will meet a few interesting people. However, compared to some of my earlier trips , there is less opportunity for adventure. Not that I want anything really weird to happen - but just a small adventure would be nice.

There is, of course, some satisfaction in being 69 and even considering taking a 3-4 day hitchhiking trip. It is a great country populated by interesting and generous people. Perhaps the last 15-16 years of cross-country travel have left me just a little bit jaded, too comfortable in my travels across the country to get really excited. But as I typed those words, I realized that that was not true..... I am looking forward to being on the road again., even if it is only a short trip.