A little note from Pierre Lemeuix

Yesterday in the mail, we received a card addressed to Hudson Coleman.

When we opened it, it was a hand written note from Pierre Lemieux, our Member of Parliament for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell. The note was welcoming Hudson to the community and congratulating us on his arrival (with a copy of his birth announcement that my in-laws *must* have put in the local paper).

Two years ago, he did this when E arrived, and I was impressed... and today, I'm still impressed.

I work in Communications and more specifically Government Communications, so I know how easy it is for a government official to snap their fingers and have a correspondence unit draft up a standard congratulations letter and then have it come across the official's desk for signature.  So ... in this case, where the letter is hand-written (and the hand-writing matches the card we received for E in 2008), I think it speaks volumes about Mr. Lemieux and the extra little things that matter to him. The fact that two years later he is still keeping up the same practices is really refreshing to see (2008 when E was born was right around election time...which is not the case this time).

Am I a huge fan of the Conservatives? No, not really, but I have to admit, these little gestures come to mind at election time, and since the competition has sent us squat ... its fairly likely Mr. Lemieux may have our vote based on this gesture alone!

Change has come to America!

Today... I was proud to be an American! Oh wait... I am not an American, but if I was, I would have been extremely proud to see Barack Obama be sworn into the White House. As a Canadian I am extremely proud and almost envious of the Americans who have the opportunity to be led by such an incredible person.

I don't follow American politics, but I stumbled across Mr. Obama a few years back on Oprah when he was promoting his 'The Audacity of Hope' book, and at that time I was very taken by him... his charisma, his character... everything about him is something Americans and people around the world will no doubt love in a president.

I actually got chills today listening to a few of his quotes from the inauguration speech...

"We remain a young nation, but in the words of scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness."

"We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America. For everywhere we look, there is work to be done."

"To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."

I loved listening to his speech... I wish that Canadian politics could be that moving! I had the same chills today that I had listening to Obama's 'Yes we can' speech back in November - seriously, this man has a gift to deliver powerful, moving, and inspiring speeches and I think it will be an honour to witness his run in the oval office.

As a side note, I loved a little snippet of a story that was on CNN... about Barack's daughter Malia ...

"The pressure on Obama to produce a speech for the ages not is limited to the public, Obama said. After a family visit to the Lincoln Memorial, which has Lincoln's second inaugural address inscribed on its walls, Obama's 10-year-old daughter, Malia, turned her father and said, "First African-American president -- better be good."

If my Dad was the president of the country, I think I would still have that same sacrastic attitude - I love it!

Quebec as a nation... give your head a shake Steve!

What do Quebeckers and women have in common?
No matter what you do you will never please them!

Good old Stevie came up with the brainwave that in order to muzzle Quebec we shall indentify Quebec as a nation, within a united nation and this shall silence the argument that Quebeckers aren't consider equals in this country.

Bravo Stevie, Bravo.

Its no secret that I do not have background in politics, but I guess this is why I find this so amusing... even the least in-tune political person in this country can figure out that identifying Quebec a nation, within a nation, accomplishes nothing for this country.

Quebeckers will never change. They will always pose the threat of seperation, they will always want to have their own revenue system, their own laws, their own culture, and we, as the rest of the Canada, won't be able to do anything about it but sit back and let it happen, nation or no nation.

Even if we go as far to debate this, decide to agree that it should be its own nation within a nation, draw up the papers to say its a nation, and spend millions of dollars coming up with a new nation logo, and a framework for the nation to exist within a nation - at the end of the day you must ask yourself, what have we accomplished?

RIEN. Nothing. Nada.

Don't get me wrong, there are Quebeckers out there that I love and adore dearly, but in all seriousness, when these Quebeckers unite together with their pro-french attitudes they are hard bunch to please.

If you ask me, the only thing this idea of Mr. Harper's has done is create more discussion on Quebeckers and the importance (or unimportance) of Quebec in this country, and if our members of parliament really waste their time debating this issue for more than a day... I hope they are willing to offer the sane citizens of this country a 'its a load of crap' or a 'I told you so' tax-credit when this is all said and done! I will be at the top of the list for either of those reimbursements!

Of course this just my opinion. Perhaps you have your own views on this issue.. feel free to share your thoughts on the subject!