"My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular."I find this quote rather timely given the fact that we're a week away from one of the most contentious federal elections in Canadian history. Although we're known as a rather peaceful, morally stable, always polite nation, the longer-than-normal 11-week campaign has exposed cracks in the Canuck facade that reveal a less-than-pretty cauldron of dissent under the normally placid surface.
Adlai E. Stevenson Jr.
At least that's what the European op-eds suggest. Whatever.
We voted in the advance polls today. I'm working in the newsroom next Monday - more on that in an upcoming entry - so it made sense to take care of the voting stuff early. Our daughter came along, as one month to the day after turning 18 she was able to cast her first-ever ballot. Proud moment? You betcha.
Lots of folks won't be popular after the final ballot is counted seven days from now. Lots of nastiness will continue to circulate in Canadian political circles, and the impact of this political process will doubtless imprint itself well into the future.
Which is why this matters as much as it does. And why, despite the exposure of our un-Canadian warts to a global audience, I'd rather be here than anywhere else. Popularity is overrated, anyway.
Carmi: I read this post with interest, as I tire of the nastiness playing out here in the U.S.A. Presidential Debates, with elections far off. It has reached Reality TV proportions at times! ;)
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