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Oh Canada

Seeing our government in crisis is a terrible thing. At a time where the country needs to be united, it’s pulled apart by a partisan grasp for power. Given that the government has not even had a chance to announce their budget (which will be happening in January, if the Governor General grants the Prime Minister a prorogue of Parliament), I find it hard to justify what the opposition is doing other than saying it’s a grasp for power.

The thought that the future government would be composed of a “party” that no Canadian has ever voted for or will ever vote for in the future is nothing other than frightening. The argument that “this coalition has the true majority” is not valid in my opinion. Just because the numbers 2 and 4 add up to 6 does not make each of them greater than 5. This same simple principle works for governments as well as numbers.

This coalition believes it can govern the country better than the Conservative party is doing right now. However, one has to think about the three opposing components of this coalition. The Liberals plainly want power, next to similar “middle-of-the-road” policies like the Conservatives; the NDP want more social programs and spending on manufacturing sectors to keep this kind of work in Canada; the Bloc Quebecois only want what they believe is right for Quebec: more sovereignty. I don’t see how each of these three platforms will mesh together in the coming proposed 18 months of rule.

Is any of this really standing on guard for thee, oh Canada? Let the government do the job it was elected to do and save your grasps for power for the next general election.

Addendum (12/04/08): This article at the National Post raises some very interesting questions for Mr. Dion to answer about the legitimacy of his coalition government.

My favourite questions relate to the economy, the “hot topic” with those who believe this coalition is a good thing.

Number 6 asks: “Why is the coalition proceeding with a bailout when the Bank of Canada said Monday that Canada’s economy continued to expand, growing at an annualized rate of 1.3% in the third quarter, faster than expected, and the quickest growth rate of the year?”

Number 7 follows up with “How can the coalition claim the Conservative government has failed to adequately prepare for a recession, when the economy continues to expand? How can preparations for something that hasn’t happened be judged to have failed? How can they be judged inadequate when the extent of the difficulty isn’t known yet?”

Well?

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Relating to Don Draper

Throughout the first season of Mad Men, Don Draper is portrayed as a man of mystery with a very complicated and painful past. A man who’s good with the ladies and who gets what he wants. A man who has made his own way in life through hard work and dedication.

Being a young man in university with very little real world experience, I really can’t relate to many of these traits that make up Don Draper in a normal episode. However, during the final scene of S01E13, I related to him more than I could ever imagine.

Setting the Scene

“As he rides the train back to Ossining, Don imagines arriving home as Betty and the kids have finished packing for their trip. “I’m coming with you,” Don says. Betty, emotional, watches as he picks up the kids, kissing their heads. When he really does arrive home he arrives to find the house empty.”

During his presentation for the Kodak Carrousel earlier that day, Don realized that his family is what was most important to him; not the casual affairs he’s had with women over the past few years, not his job and partnership in Sterling Cooper, not getting away from his troubled past. All of these things were artificially put before his responsibility for his family. And, worst of all, he’d been taking the love and support they give him for granted. At the end of the episode, he feels utterly alone and hopeless.

But how does this relate to me?

This was exactly what I went through just over 12 months ago. I made unimportant things the most important in my life. And, most of all, I neglected the one I loved the most and took for granted the love that she was giving me. I must have figured that she was a burden - that she took time out of all the unimportant things that I wanted to do. I cannot stress enough how unimportant these things are.

And then I put her out of my life. I broke up with her. I didn’t talk to her for several months. And in all that time, I missed her incredibly. The main catch was that I didn’t realize I did. Something was missing, so I strived to fill my life with other meaningless things. I thought I was angry with her, but in reality, I was angry with myself.

I don’t know how Don’s story continues to unfold - that’s best left for the subsequent seasons of this terrific drama. But I do know how my story played out. When I realized the folly of my ways and I re-prioritized my life, I sought forgiveness. And I received it unconditionally. Again, she poured out love for me that I really didn’t deserve.

But I want to thank her. I want to thank you Holly. For not giving up on me. For not calling me a hopeless case. For not giving yourself up to justified anger. But most of all for loving me.

Here’s all that I am giving you all I have like I always should have.

I love you.

Being Content With Your Very Best

I often talk to fellow students and hear the cries of unfair grading or of the wrath of the awful bell curve, something I am guilty of myself. However, the binding tie to all of these complains is that these students aren’t satisfied with their grade - they’ve put all they could give into these essays and reports and feel they have been cheated out of something they rightly deserve. Maybe so. Fight for what you believe is yours.

But what if their work simply didn’t meet the benchmarks of the grader. Everyone has benchmarks for themselves, internal benchmarks if you will. These benchmarks directly relate to your expectations for grades - if you feel that you’ve put in enough work for a grade of 90%, you’ll expect 90%.

Then there are the benchmarks that other people have for you, external benchmarks. These are mainly based on prior work and past experience. These benchmarks lead to the expectations of the grader for your work - if they’ve seen that you’re capable of a grade of 90%, they’ll expect that 90% effort.

What happens when either of these benchmarks are set too high? Disappointments happen. You will expect your 90% and when you don’t get it, you’ll wonder why. The grader will expect a 90% effort and when they see less than that, they’ll wonder why.

Instead of constantly relying on your internal benchmarks to tell you when enough is enough, why not do your best and be content with it? Rather than saying “I’ve done x amount of work, I should receive x grade”, is it not more profitable to think “I’ve worked my hardest on this task, and I believe whatever grade I get will be a true representation of my work.”

This does not mean that one must simply lie down and take marks that one feels are lower than the quality of work. If the result is below my expectations and I feel that I have been unfairly graded, I will fight for what I believe is mine. But if the result is below my expectations and I feel that the grade is fair, I will learn all that I can from the mistakes I’ve made.

When doing work, I am constantly reminded of a section in 2 Timothy which talks about being an approved workman who does not need to be ashamed. Instead of doing work solely to achieve a good grade, why not do it to be an approved workman that does not need to be ashamed of the work you’ve done?