We Are More by Shane Koyczan

One of the highlights of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games was the slam poetry reading by Shane Koyczan.  Here is there text of the poem.

When defining Canada

you might list some statistics

you might mention our tallest building

or biggest lake

you might shake a tree in the fall

and call a red leaf Canada

you might rattle off some celebrities

might mention Buffy Sainte-Marie

might even mention the fact that we’ve got a few

Barenaked Ladies

or that we made these crazy things

like zippers

electric cars

and washing machines

when defining Canada

it seems the world’s anthem has been

” been there done that”

and maybe that’s where we used to be at

it’s true

we’ve done and we’ve been

we’ve seen

all the great themes get swallowed up by the machine

and turned into theme parks

but when defining Canada

don’t forget to mention that we have set sparks

we are not just fishing stories

about the one that got away

we do more than sit around and say “eh?”

and yes

we are the home of the Rocket and the Great One

who inspired little number nines

and little number ninety-nines

but we’re more than just hockey and fishing lines

off of the rocky coast of the Maritimes

and some say what defines us

is something as simple as please and thank you

and as for you’re welcome

well we say that too

but we are more

than genteel or civilized

we are an idea in the process

of being realized

we are young

we are cultures strung together

then woven into a tapestry

and the design

is what makes us more

than the sum total of our history

we are an experiment going right for a change

with influences that range from a to zed

and yes we say zed instead of zee

we are the colours of Chinatown and the coffee of Little Italy

we dream so big that there are those

who would call our ambition an industry

because we are more than sticky maple syrup and clean snow

we do more than grow wheat and brew beer

we are vineyards of good year after good year

we reforest what we clear

because we believe in generations beyond our own

knowing now that so many of us

have grown past what used to be

we can stand here today

filled with all the hope people have

when they say things like “someday”

someday we’ll be great

someday we’ll be this

or that

someday we’ll be at a point

when someday was yesterday

and all of our aspirations will pay the way

for those who on that day

look towards tomorrow

and still they say someday

we will reach the goals we set

and we will get interest on our inspiration

because we are more than a nation of whale watchers and lumberjacks

more than backpacks and hiking trails

we are hammers and nails building bridges

towards those who are willing to walk across

we are the lost-and-found for all those who might find themselves at a loss

we are not the see-through gloss or glamour

of those who clamour for the failings of others

we are fathers brothers sisters and mothers

uncles and nephews aunts and nieces

we are cousins

we are found missing puzzle pieces

we are families with room at the table for newcomers

we are more than summers and winters

more than on and off seasons

we are the reasons people have for wanting to stay

because we are more than what we say or do

we live to get past what we go through

and learn who we are

we are students

students who study the studiousness of studying

so we know what as well as why

we don’t have all the answers

but we try

and the effort is what makes us more

we don’t all know what it is in life we’re looking for

so keep exploring

go far and wide

or go inside but go deep

go deep

as if James Cameron was filming a sequel to The Abyss

and suddenly there was this location scout

trying to figure some way out

to get inside you

because you’ve been through hell and high water

and you went deep

keep exploring

because we are more

than a laundry list of things to do and places to see

we are more than hills to ski

or countryside ponds to skate

we are the abandoned hesitation of all those who can’t wait

we are first-rate greasy-spoon diners and healthy-living cafes

a country that is all the ways you choose to live

a land that can give you variety

because we are choices

we are millions upon millions of voices shouting

” keep exploring… we are more”

we are the surprise the world has in store for you

it’s true

Canada is the “what” in “what’s new?”

so don’t say “been there done that”

unless you’ve sat on the sidewalk

while chalk artists draw still lifes

on the concrete of a kid in the street

beatboxing to Neil Young for fun

don’t say you’ve been there done that

unless you’ve been here doing it

let this country be your first-aid kit

for all the times you get sick of the same old same old

let us be the story told to your friends

and when that story ends

leave chapters for the next time you’ll come back

next time pack for all the things

you didn’t pack for the first time

but don’t let your luggage define your travels

each life unravels differently

and experiences are what make up

the colours of our tapestry

we are the true north

strong and free

and what’s more

is that we didn’t just say it

we made it be.

 

Thoughts on the Canadian Political Crisis – Stephen Harper You Need to Resign

Canadians are waking up to the mind boggling possibility that may be going into a worst recession in a generation led by a government comprised of politicians who either want to break-up the country or turn it into a socialist worker’s paradise and led by a prime minster who had not more than weeks ago vowed to resign because his party had gotten trounced in an election no more than 2 months earlier. What the hell is going on at home?

To paraphrase Chris Nolan, I can’t help wondering if Canada is getting the government it deserves as opposed to the one it truly needs. In looking at the possible outcomes, they all seem to be lose-lose.

 

Handicapping the Coalition Government

A coalition government would be inherently unstable and leave the country essentially run by a 3 person committee with a lightweight serving as a figurehead prime minister. I don’t believe it will enact the right economic policies to get through this current economic crisis and leave the country in worst shape.

Worse is the uncertainty of having the separatist Bloc in the government. Despite whatever public commitments to the contrary they may make, it is simply to risky to let the Bloc in a government where they would have every opportunity to undermine the unity and territorial integrity of Canada.

If Stephan Dion were a stronger leader, I might say this ‘team of rivals’ approach could possibly fly by having the separatists in government as a sort of ‘keep your enemies closer’ type of strategy. However as it stands, I don’t have confidence this will work – and the recent debacle of the whole ‘tape incident’ and subsequent back-biting amongst the 3 leaders has done nothing to instill confidence in this government.

 

Assessing Stephen Harper – Good Manager, Bad Politician?

On the other hand, Stephen Harper has not helped his case since breaking his promise and calling an early election in a gamble to secure a majority.  This gamble almost succeeded until an election gaffe related to Quebec funding for the arts.  This cost him votes in Quebec and ultimately the majority in Canada.

And while he has actually been a reasonable manager of the country and its economy he has not been a very good politician – his heavily partisan approach to parliamentary politics has only put off the very people he needs in order to maintain the good standing of his minority government.  Backing the opposition parties into a corner by removing the vote subsidy was final straw.  Rather than dividing his opponents in order support his rule he has rather remarkably united them. That two of the main leaders of this potential liberal-socialist-seperatist coalition (Dion the Federalist and Duceppe the Seperatist) in a previous life were mortal enemies who battled quite literally for the very future of Canada speaks volumes to the degree of animosity Harper has engendered.  They really hate the guy.

From his speech last night, Harper seems intent on fighting to very end, asking for a suspension of Parliament (to avoid a no-confidence vote) and taking his arguments straight to the voters.  Unhelpfully, he has played up the divisive issues of the Separtists in Government and raised the spectre of protests and demonstrations in the street.  Should Harper decide to  go to war on this front, I can only think Canada is going to emerge from this episode with its unity severely frayed.  It would be interesting to see how voters will eventually react to this episode, which parties will be eventually punished at the polls, but in the end the whole country ends up a loser.

 

The Government Canada Needs?

A reasoned approach then would be to have Mr Harper step down for the sake of his country.  This could be positioned to signal to the opposition the end of the Conservative scorched earth partisanship and remove, argueably, the biggest animus for the opposition revolt.  Conservatives could hopefully then get back to the task of fixing the economy.   Economic stimulus, infrastructure building, streamlining regulations which keep the cost of doing business high, diversifying the economy beyond natural resource extraction and not frittering away money in auto bailouts – but instead acting judiciously after seeing what US government does.

This strategy is not without risks and probably a little too far removed from reality.  It assumes that the Conservatives would be able to find a suitable replacement leader which, given the outsized role Harper played in the current Conversative government, may be a cause for concern.  Peter Mackay, the former leader of the PC’s which eventually merged with the Canadian Alliance to form the current Conservative Party might be a viable alternative – but that’s mere speculation on the top of a hypothetical scenario.

Regardless of what happens, here’s hoping the politicians come to their senses and pull back from the brink of this political crisis so they can get to work helping the country pull back from the brink of this current economic one.