I HEART BELINDA

Didn't post yesterday because I was stupidly busy. Or maybe I was just too giddy about this to concentrate. Oh Belinda, you had me giggling and squealing and jumping around the office like a suburban schoolgirl at a Britney concert (back when Britney was at her peak I mean, pre-Federline).

See, here in Canada we have this thing called the Sponsorship Scandal and the opposition (Conservatives aligned with the Bloc Quebecois) wants to bring down the current government (the Liberals) for it.

It's quite depressing, but my jaded take on it is this. $100 million is a shockingly huge amount of money to waste/steal/launder, yes, absolutely -- but it's still just a tiny tiny fraction of the government's purse. Sure, the Liberals have squandered tax dollars, and this particular scandal is completely unsavoury, but 1) don't all governments squander tax dollars, just some disguise/hide it better than others? and 2) I am just too pleased with some of the things they HAVE managed to do with tax dollars, including supporting Kyoto, same-sex marriage, decriminalization of marijuana, etc etc., not to mention NOT GETTING US SUCKED INTO IRAQ -- even though these things haven't always been handled in an ideal way, at least there's serious movement/action in the right direction. What I'm saying is that the Liberals have been very bad, but they've also been pretty good -- and anyway, the most likely alternative is just so much much worse.

I just want to stomp off and throw a screaming tantrum about voter stupidity when I think about the possibility of this man, who my friend insists "looks like a serial-killing alien with a bad-fitting rubber face", leading this country. There was an excellent article in the Walrus Magazine about Paul Martin a while back (long-winded but good -- that man should be watched carefully) and then a much more unsettling one about Harper a few months later, which I would encourage every Canadian to read, and which, (beyond the fact that he backs policies that I just can't support), also gives you an idea why I dread the idea of Harper in power.

Here's a creepy quote from that article for you to enjoy:

But Shadia Drury, a member of the U of C department until last year, accuses her former colleagues of harbouring a more sinister mission. An expert on Leo Strauss, the philosophical father of the neo-conservative movement, Drury paints the Calgary School as a homegrown variation on American Straussians like Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who share their teacher's deep suspicions of liberal democracy. Strauss argued that a ruling elite often had to resort to deception – a noble lie – to protect citizens from themselves. To that end, he recommended harnessing the simplistic platitudes of populism to galvanize mass support for measures that would in fact restrict rights. Drury warned the Globe's John Ibbitson that the members of the Calgary School "want to replace the rule of law with the populism of the majority," and labelled Stephen Harper "their product."

Something to think about anyway, don't you think?

I don't object to holding an election over the sponsorship scandal -- absolutely Canadians should go to the polls over it. But like many Canadians, I do think that the Gomery inquiry should be allowed to finish before an election is called so that voters are properly informed about the whole story and can see how the government responds to its conclusions. I also really really want to see a few of the very important Liberal initiatives (same-sex marriage being top of my list) go through before things all go to hell.

Back to the sugar that is Belinda Stronach's decision yesterday, I delight in three things:

1) Reassuring myself that the Bloc/CPC alliance won't be able to bring down the Liberals/NDP just yet -- or at least, it's much less likely.

2) Imagining Stephen Harper's reaction in private when he found out -- supposedly FROM PETER MACKAY for God's sake! Does it get any better!?!
(Update at 3:10 PM -- When it gets down to it, I'm too squishy and therefore feel a little regret about gloating when PETER MACKAY IS IN REAL PAIN, romantic pain, and admitting to a flock of reporters that his heart is "a little banged up".)

3) Not even really caring what her motives are, because at least it means I can sleep without the looming specter or a Harper/Bush North America!!! I mean, that would mean I'd pretty much want to just leave the continent. And there's just way too much good canoeing here for that to be easy for me, and summer's just getting started.

Thank you Belinda, for almost guaranteeing me at least one more summer of being pretty darn happy to be living in this imperfect but beautiful Canada!!