Snowed Under - on the Sunshine Coast and in Ottawa

We have received a lot of snow here on the Sunshine Coast and, depending upon the type of vehicle you have, you may have been snowed in for awhile - an important reminder to keep a few extra supplies on hand just in case.

It's been a tough time for retailers, too, as shoppers were already contemplating cutting back on buying presents this year and then the snow kept them from shopping at all.

But throughout it all we have been snowed under with rhetoric from Ottawa, each of the parties claiming they represent "real" democracy and claiming to be the ones that earned the bona fide confidence of the voters.

And what do we, the voters, want - we want them to stop posturing and claiming precedence and practice real leadership in dealing with the economic situation - now!

One party accuses the others of making a "power grab" and then, itself, appoints 18 senators and a supreme court justice without any opportunity for consultation or confirmation citing the need for speed. Looks like consolidating power to me.

The area in which we needed speed was the economy, not the appointments to the enate. Seems priorities have gotten reversed - from my perspective.

Messy Democracy

Stephen Harper went to see the Governor General and I followed the story avidly while driving up to Powell River. It was odd because when I went onto the ferry and lost the CBC radio signal, he had not emerged yet and by the time the ferry docked and I picked up the signal again, it was all over and they were talking about the impact of her decision - but they didn't say what decision so for 20 minutes I wasn't sure what had happened - that parliament had been prorogued.

There were several possible options and for awhile we didn't know which one would be chosen. For a lot of people, it has been an important lesson in how our parliamentary system works.

I was surprised at how many thought that in Canada we vote for the Prime Minister. And surprised by how many thought that the opposition wanting to form a government was undemocratic.

It's hard to imagine that there is value in the parliamentary chaos we are experiencing but if citizens have a better understanding of how their government works, perhaps they will take a greater interest and participate more and when the time comes for an election, perhaps they'll come out and vote. And that would be a good thing.