For dearjesse (askjesse);

Hey that was funny - what happened, while one blogger was complaining Americans don't report or "get" Canadian news... And then jesse's heartfelt letter... ah, that's so sweet... I honestly ignored the news about the election - we Canadians all knew it would come eventually - this non-confidence tactic had already been tried once this year and failed... so it's never a sure bet... And I also knew - no-one at MindSay would give any flying figs about it - to be sure... ha!

It won't have any ripple effects on the US - it won't affect your economy or jobs or border control. It is an internal thing and so-o-o-o underplayed even in Canadian media - let alone American. Hey if you don't believe me - try to pay attention to the campaign as it runs - you will see little coverage of it and few platforms will even be fully understood until a week or two before the election! Oh it's just a bother!

The discussions that followed the entries were quite interesting, well across the board in their scope and sometimes a little wild and woolly! But hey - we all have our opinions! Even Canadians like msdania!

I've been on both sides of the fence - not just to visit - but to live and participate in school and work and the like... and I'm glad to have this perspective.

I can say it's true there are people in the US who know little about Canada. Fortunately you're not all daft enough to believe we're still living in the 19th century - in igloos and longhouses, but that image is often brought to mind for some. No, we live in a modern world with all the modern conveniences you United States-men and women enjoy... We do have a lot in common, including that our country, which was once the exclusive home of indigenous peoples of all kinds, became the subject of territorial disputes, wars and negotiations between Great Britain, and France. So we are all of the same "stuff", historically and genetically. We each live in New World worlds, though that's only because historians forgot, when they coined that phrase - the land existed long before we ever got there!

Jesse - something you might love - We here in Canada have the opportunity to actually vote for the person that runs the country - unlike the US - your delegates are the ones who ultimately determine "the winner" and who will run your country. Similar to the US, each party elects a leader and each leader will campaign for leadership of the country... But - when it comes to the actual election each candidate runs in their own riding, including the party leaders and it is the number of seats for each party that - in the end - determines which party has the leadership. Whether in a majority or a minority the winning party gets the reigns and if a minority government - has to work very hard to find consensus among representatives in order to carry on the business of the country.

This system - you'd think - can ensure that governments operate on a more fair and equitable level and are more accountable, but, that is often not the case; we have our own scandals and tales to tell! So it's not a perfect system. What we do find here is that people vote locally for the most part because those local leaders, called MP's (Members of Parliament) have a hand in our day to day experiences... so Canadians are often not as attached to a specific party. Reality check says we all know that's really all there is in the end; Parties. It doesn't matter if there's 2 or 22 parties; if a party has to stick to specific lines of dogma, they still won't represent "the people"... life is more dynamic than that - why shouldn't politics be?

In the end we Canadians are just as disenfranchised with our government as the US population and while there are different rules to follow in the end government is still a machine that serves someone's interest but not the basic interests of "the people". Because - like in the US - most people don't vote -  elections and parties don't honestly reflect the opinions of the people... And in the end, people don't really care - not enough to make a REALLY BIG STINK about it - complacency has set in - "this is the way it is" is the comment... We are discouraged to say the least!

And maybe that's why we have such a different sense of humour up here; we know we have a beautiful country, we know we have an amazing supply of natural resources and if we don't get frozen over like the movie  "Day After Tomorrow" suggests we might; we're in a good position to actually take advantage of global warming! We live in the "shadows" of the Americans and we take great pride in being told we're "nice"... We accept we live in North America and that North and South America are called the "Americas" but just because we live on the same continent does not make us "all americans" (many of my US friends seem to think we should all just be known as Americans...because of the continent on which we live... ) !

Canadians tend to avoid that fact as much as is possible - we're so concerned about our image in the world... we don't really want to be thought of as American - somehow it doesn't sit right with us - we know we're similar BUT we KNOW we're different... And we know American elections will affect Canada - not the other way around, American economic policy affects Canada - ours has little to no effect on the US. We have our trade disputes - I thought trade was supposed to travel freely between our countries! And in some cases our countries and peoples don't trust each other at any time... RE: trade disputes and closed borders and apparently we're even responsible for letting terrorists into the US? (which is utter nonsense, by the way!) Now how can you fix a mess like that up between neighbours?

MindSay! And communities just like this, that give people an opportunity on all sides of all fences to come forward and say their piece and share their thoughts and let people know there's a brain attached to those fingers furiously typing... And they are incredible brains from a vast array of backgrounds and places of origin and passions - THAT'S community and sharing and that's us painting a lovely picture of people learning to play well in that little sandbox we all share called Earth!