Albertan Election

Sometimes I feel sad - not depressed - just sad. We all have feelings of sadness on occasion but I am most aware of that feeling when, during my morning perusal of the news, I am once again reminded of how incredibly naive or gullible are my fellow Canadians - especially around election time. One would think that after a lifetime of voting, most if not all voting Canadians would stop believing in the continual lies, misrepresentation of the truth, wild exaggerations and outright impossible-to-deliver-on promises made to us by the want-to-be leaders of our provinces/country.

For example - something possibly quite frightening is happening in Alberta. Within a week or so, Albertans will go to the polls and vote for a new provincial government. According to all of the polls and pundits I have seen it is likely that Jason Kenney and the UCP party will handily win the election. It should be no surprise that a conservative party will win in Alberta. The NDP only won four years ago because the political right was so divided. Now that the conservatives have all united under one leader, it is hard to imagine an Alberta not run by conservatives. But they will be elected because the voting public either don't care or don't believe what has been reported about at least some of the candidates.

Starting at the top, Jason Kenney, or at least people working for him in his leadership campaign, appear to have broken a number of rules both legal and ethical. The examples clearly discussed and not denied by the people involved were at best, the crassest manipulation of party members I could imagine. It does not appear to be something the public wish to react or comment on. It apparently does not matter how a leader got to be the leader.

There are a number of candidates running on behalf of the UCP who have a history, some of it quite current, of making homophobic, Islam phobic or racist comments. The leadership of the party have chosen to neither condemn of bar these people from running for election. This lack of action makes one somewhat suspect as to the party's agenda on these issues. On one issue at least the UCP's policy is quite clear. Legislation to protect LGBTQ students in both public and private schools will be done away with. What will be next?

The reason why so many Albertans will vote for the UCP parties in not because they are all social conservatives who are only concerned with a particularly narrow definition of "family values". It is because they want to believe that someone can ride into the legislature building in Edmonton, on their glowing white horse and reverse the economy. They need to believe that someone new can fix the decline in the oil business and that the boom days can just be around the corner. They are desperate to believe a new premier can force the Supreme Court to approve the pipeline and that a new pipeline to the west coast will solve all of their problems. Such an assumption ignores the fact that the oil the Albertans want to ship is of the least desirable quality, the hardest to ship and the most expensive to refine. If it is not worth as much as it once was - it is because there is cheaper and better oil available.

The UCP will be elected on false promises and unfair blaming of the previous government. They might be the right party to change the province's direction but given the record of both the leader and some of his candidates, I think it is highly unlikely that anything will change. I am willing to bet that the newly elected UCP government will in the next month break half of their promises. They will do so by blaming the present NDP government for leaving things in such poor shape or Canadians in general for not understanding or caring about Albertans.

It is unfortunate that Kenney will cement to the image of Albertans as red-necked yokels (which is definitely not my impression of any of the Albertans I have met) while at the same time stomp around the country blaming others. In that aspect, he is not different than those who elect him. Everyone wants to blame someone for their problems. It is easier than accepting responsibility for fixing them.

Cultural Appropriation

There is an interesting conversation happening amongst some Indigenous artist. In the past 15 or so years, I think most artists have become aware that it is profoundly inappropriate to use another's cultural symbols in their art form - especially if it is for commercial reasons. While clothes designers have been a bit slow in learning this lesson, most of us accept that certain types of symbols, rituals, stories or even music belong to specific cultural groups and should not be used by others. I am not always sure if I agree that such use is always disrespectful, but I respect the wishes of those who have for so long, had so much stolen from them. The waters about who can use what are about to get even muddier as politicians, authors and singers start to claim that their sometimes minuscule amounts of First Nations heritage allow them to claim status and cultural rights.

More recently an Indigenous singer was nominated for the best folk album at the Indigenous Music Awards (IMA). She was accused of cultural appropriation because she uses Inuit style throat singing in her music but has no Inuit cultural roots. Other musical artists have withdrawn from the awards in solidarity for the protest until Inuit representation is added to IMA board.

I suspect that many of us, although we should know better, would have assumed that Indigenous people would have seen themselves as all coming from the same colonial oppression and therefore not be as concerned about cultural appropriation with the broad spectrum of a First Nations heritage. But it does remind us that we need to be aware of everyone's differences and more importantly how those individuals interpret or respond to their differences. It is difficult to always know the answer until someone tells us how they feel.

We also need to be aware that there is some flexibility in the definition of such phrases as cultural appropriation. For example the group - A Tribe Called Red - who use hip hop and reggae-influenced dance music combined with elements of First Nations music, have withdrawn from the IMA presentations. No one questions their use of a music form that derives from the black experience in the Americas because both groups (indigenous and Black) have experienced oppression. But if a group of young black men from some inner city in the USA used elements of First Nations music - there would be some loud cries of cultural appropriation.

I understand that it will not ever be okay for me to take something from another culture and claim it for my own. But surely there are some gray lines. I have attended a number of Gatherings of the Rainbow Family. On occasion sitting around the fire, I tell one of two stories that I was told by a man named Blackie - an individual from the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory - at a camp when I was 9 or so. Like all storytellers, the stories have been embellished, adapted over the past sixty years. But the theme has remained true to what Blackie said and I always at both the start and at the end of the story, tell the group listening who Blackie was.

If there was an Indigenous individual around the fire prepared to share a creation story from his Nation's culture, I would not tell my story - but there never has been. So I share what I know - in respect and in gratitude. Is it cultural appropriation? Probably. Is it wrong - I do not know.

As I said the waters are ever increasingly getting muddier.