Just as the Texas Rangers made all those unexpected errors in Wednesday's seventh inning, we have witnessed a couple of errors on the election field as well. Trudeau's performance has shown nothing but improvement throughout these seven weeks, but then his campaign co-chair sent that inappropriate email, to Trans Canada, tossing Mulcair an unexpected gift. Will this help Mulcair? And then there's Harper, consorting with the Fords. How desperate is he, to do not one, but two events with them this week? Surely this is a huge tactical error. How can a law and order PM associate with criminals?
Along with these major stories, I heard an interesting local piece on CBC radio last week,
about Ottawa's summer sound and light show. Now this is not a huge story, but it demonstrates how things have been done in Ottawa, during Harper's regime.
Back on Oct. 24, 2013 I wrote my first Harperland rant, about living in Ottawa under Harper. In that post I complained about how Parliament Hill's summer Sound and Light show had been "Harperized." By that I meant that the show's content had been altered to include many more references to the military's role in Canada's history.
You may ask why I keep going to this show every year, if all I do is complain about it. The fact is the visuals are great. It's a short, free, entertaining tourist attraction. It's a lovely way to spend a summer evening with out-of-town visitors. Tourists love the use of the Parliament Buildings as a screen for the show. However, this past summer's version was even more objectionable than ever. Many of the cultural highlights from past year's shows had been dropped in favour of even more military content.
Anyhow, I feel slightly vindicated in my criticisms by last week's news report, which shows that it was Heritage Minister Shelley Glover who dictated much of the final content of the show, over the objections of her deputy minister and other government staff, who wanted less military content and more references to women.
I've got nothing against the military. Of course I recognize the important role they play in Canadian society. I simply think that under Harper, their status has been elevated unnecessarily. Take sports, for example. Has the military always been intertwined with professional sporting events? Is it my imagination or has that partnership not strengthened over this past decade?
On the night of our local candidates debate, Pat left the meeting early and was walking home when there was a sudden roar overhead. He said it was alarming and he was not alone. Many Ottawa residents, especially those downtown, were frightened by the noise of the CF-18 fighter jets that performed a flypast at the Ottawa Redblacks football game that night. It was Canadian Armed Forces Appreciation Night. (Would they ever dedicate a doctor appreciation night? How about nurses or social workers or farmers night?)
The next day both The Redblacks and the Air Force apologized...sort of. "Folks, we regret that anyone was unaware of the flypast in advance" tweeted the Air Force. That "anyone was unaware?" Are we all supposed to read the Air Force's twitter feed on a regular basis?
Redblacks CEO Bernie Ashe stated, "All teams hold one such ceremony once per season and our focus was on doing our best to let Canadian Armed Forces members know that we support them."
In Montreal, residents' reaction was similar after their flypast. CBC reported that, "Two CF-18 fighter jets streaking low across Montreal Sunday afternoon left many downtown residents wondering what was up. Turns out the jets were doing a flypast as part of the Montreal Alouettes' pre-game show. Many Montrealers didn't know it was scheduled, however, and were caught off-guard by the screaming, darting jets overhead."
I would love to know just how much we Canadians are paying for these flypasts at CFL games.
Another popular Ottawa summer tradition is the RCMP's Musical Ride Sunset Ceremony. We are lucky to have the opportunity to attend this free two hour show, held at the RCMP stables for four nights in late June every year. This year though, there were complaints about an added feature. The RCMP Emergency Response Team put on a demonstration before the Musical Ride portion of the show. As Kelly Egan reported in The Ottawa Citizen, many in the audience were stunned by the mock takedown at a family show. In his blog, Frank Koller wrote, "Is there no place now where Canadians can be spared the Conservative Government's jingoistic militaristic bleating with its conjured up images of dangers lurking around every corner, nurturing the fear that others are out to rob us of our freedoms?" Egan wrote that the EMR mock takedown is only added to the Ottawa version of the Sunset ceremony. No other Canadian cities see that demonstration. It was added about ten years ago. Ten years ago? A coincidence? I think not.
Will the atmosphere in Ottawa change under a new government? Here's hoping.
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