Columnists
Be prepared
My grandparents used to say “Don’t cast a cloot til May is oot”. Which simply meant “don’t go without a coat until May is over”, to be prepared. Or in our case, if the grandparents were around, it meant no matter how warm it was outside we were expected to wear a jacket or a coat or a sweater, along with a hat, until the end of the merry month of May. If our grandparents happened to visit us, or we them, the Durning kiddos always moaned or groaned over what we perceived to be excessive outerwear. But our grandparents were strong people from a generation that didn’t have a lot of science and health care in their corner. Staying warm was the one thing they felt could make all of those winter ailments go away. Along with warm clothes, they also believed in the use mustard plasters, leeches, putting onion slices in your socks, chewing garlic cloves, drinking hot tea, strategic placement of hot water bottles, and to feed a cold and starve a fever. Let’s just say, I’m glad I don’t have to contend with mustard plasters, poultices, neck scarves, some mystery tonic etc. But, just to be clear, I am very happy I didn’t put the winter outerwear away at the first sign of a heatwave this year.
And, speaking of my grandparents (and I’ll throw the parents in for good measure), I kinda, sorta wonder what their generation would have to say about the current political atmosphere we are living in. Ours may have looked like sweet little old grannies, but they lived through two world wars and The Depression. Who would my grandparents have voted for? (And, just to be clear, they were voters and kept up with current events.) From what my brother and I remember of our Grandparents, and of our parents, they tended to vote the same way, most of the time. What they never would have supported was a government that took away rights, services and social supports. Our grandparents, and parents, were immigrants. My mom’s family fled from the devastation of World War I, from the significant social and political unrest, the violence, the suppression of rights, the poverty and the rising Fascist Regime of Benito Mussolini. They came to Canada to have a better life and more opportunities. My mom, and her sisters and brothers, finished high school and all of them went on to post secondary training of some kind. My dad’s family came to Canada to escape Scotland’s economic hardships, poverty, widespread unemployment and rising civil unrest. Dad and Mom’s family never would have tolerated even a hint of rights suppression, Fascism or feathering the nests of huge corporations and the legacy wealthy. Both sides of my family believed in quality health care, social benefits, fair treatment in the workplace, a sense of peace and well-being and dignity. While I don’t really know for sure who our grandparents and parents supported politically, I do know they always did their homework before heading to the polls.
It’s time to do our homework, you and I. Like we were told when we were young, “Don’t leave it until the very last moment”, be prepared. This election, as snappy as it is, will be one of the more important elections in recent history. Most of us are watching as our “great” neighbour to the south is struggling to find a toehold in reality. All of their safeguards have either been destroyed or are being dismantled. We Canadians can’t pretend it’s not going to affect us just because there is a “Les Nessman” wall separating us from them. We have had a symbiotic relationship with the US of A. It’s been close and reasonably neighbourly and fairly long-term. For the most part, the relationship has been mutualistic with a soupçon of commensalism. We, as voters, have an obligation to do our homework on the candidates who are on the slate, not only in our locale, but as regards the leadership of this country. We need to be prepared. Who will best serve the population in the argy-bargy that is our current relationship with the USA Who will best serve the population with regard to the social safety nets that are currently in place and who will not be dazzled by the American government’s dismantling of their social safety nets and services in the name of efficiency and at the expense of those in need?
I’m not telling anyone how to mark their ballot. I am asking you to do the research, listen to the candidates, look at their track record and make an informed decision. I’m asking you to be prepared. And, I am telling you it is of the utmost importance to actually get off your tuffet and vote. You have the right to vote. You have an obligation to yourself to exercise your right.
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