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Proud to be a Canadian

I can’t say I’m particularly surprised at the presidential election outcome. The most dynamic candidate has always won, and both Gore and Kerry were huge snoozers in terms of inspiring passion in their parties.

Nevertheless, I’m pleased the Democrats and Obama found each other, and that the American people chose them both.

In fact, I was actually a bit sad this morning that I wasn’t a part of the nation that Obama and McCain so passionately addressed in their acceptance and concession speeches. Canadian politics have, at least in my lifetime, been pretty ho-hum.

But then I look at things like the result of Prop. 8 in California, and I remember that, empassioned leadership or not, I wouldn’t sacrifice a single ounce of my Canadianness.

I’m proud to live in a nation where, depsite the personal beliefs of whoever the leader may be, it’s left up to the courts and the constitution to maintain that all people are equal, not up to the whims of a fickle and diverse population. Where not only is universal health care available and accessible, it’s a fundamental right.

And where, incidentally, our head of state has been thrice female. One of whom is Asian, one of whom is Black (Haitian to be specific).

Yes, it’s great that the US of A is finally taking a step in the right direction.

But if one of the most liberal states in the union still finds it more important to legislate the ethical treatment of farm animals, than maintain equality and basic decency to their fellow American? It’s a very, very small step indeed.

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5 thoughts on “Proud to be a Canadian”

  1. “The state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation.” Yay P.T. The US Supreme Court didn’t decriminalize gay sex until 2003, and heck, Alabama still bans the sale of sex toys. (http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-02-22-toys_x.htm)

    I know we’re on the right path with respect to gay marriage laws, and I hope that the US will eventually follow suit. However, if the timeline to this realization follows that of the “what happens in your bedroom is your own business” timeline then I’m afraid there’s a decade or two left for our gay neighbours to the south.

    Being Canadian is highly awesome.

  2. Well, this Californian was extremely disappointed with the outcome of Prop 8. I think the government shouldn’t be involved in what happens in our personal lives, with very few exceptions. I had really hoped Prop 8 would fail; it looked so close there that I thought we really had a shot. I even had a No on 8 sign proudly displayed in my yard these past few weeks, which was a risk living in a conservative neighborhood but it was important to me to teach my 7 year old son what discrimination is, and why it is wrong. Too bad you aren’t a citizen down here in California…we could have used your No vote on Prop 8 on Tuesday! At least Obama won, so it wasn’t a total loss on election day.

  3. Michaëlle Jean isn’t our head of state; that’s Queen Elizabeth’s role. But even the Governor General position isn’t really all that important, and it’s appointed. I definitly don’t think appointing women in powerless positions can be counted as moving towards equality in government. Only one woman that I know of has been Prime Minister, and she wasn’t elected. Leadership in Canada is still pretty much male dominated, like it is in the United States.

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