The honeymoon is over

Political honeymoons often last for a while, but not this one. Trudeau's political honeymoon ended at precisely 9:30 PM Paris time, last Friday. Earlier that week, media reports were stating that the foreign press regarded him as a curiosity. His youth, good looks and surprise win in the recent election were their main concerns. Those lightweight topics are gone now. As he entered the international stage for the first time, he was questioned about the heavy duty stuff : will he really bring home the fighter planes and also accept 25,000 refugees by Christmas? Suddenly it's a whole new ballgame.

Is there anything original that I can add to the discussion of the Paris attacks? It is a scary, confusing time with no clear cut answers.  Thank goodness for CBC radio and TV and my parish of St Joes. It felt right to gather at St. Joes on Sunday and join in the prayers for peace and sing hymns like The Prayer of St Francis: "Make me a channel of your peace..."

I spent much of Sunday reflecting on the Paris attacks, with the help of the reports, reflections. interviews and  discussions on CBC radio.  The Sunday Edition, with Michael Enright, offered a very thoughtful program, interspersed with classical French music.

For many people, Sunday was a day for gathering and reflecting, whether in churches or in town squares, here in Canada, in Paris and all over the world. CBC radio's Cross Country Checkup provided an excellent opportunity  for Canadians to gather around their radios and share thoughts and feelings. I was so impressed with the variety of comments from across the country. How lucky we are to live in this country, with this weekly opportunity to connect on Sunday afternoons!

Here is a snapshot of what I heard on Sunday:
- The formation of ISIS was a direct consequence of the over-reaction of the U.S., after the September 11th attacks in New York.
- One person told of how it took three years for her background to be checked by Canadian officials before she was allowed into the country. She wondered how the backgrounds of 25000 people can be checked so quickly.
 - Many commented that there is so much coverage of the Paris attacks but little coverage of recent terrorist attacks in Beirut.
- People fear a backlash against Muslims
 - A young Muslim woman said she was tired of having to explain to people that violence has no place in her religion.

If the radio discussions provided me with a measure of consolation, that was short-lived. I found Wendy Mesley's section of The National to be more negative and fearful. After airing the Republican candidates' views, in favour of increased military action, she asked her guest panel questions like:
How worried should we be?
Is the threat coming closer?
Which is the bigger threat? the lone wolf or the  refugee system?
Should Canadians be worried that the Canadian (refugee) system could be infiltrated?

Yes, it is the job of journalists to ask tough questions. We need the facts. Call me corny, but I also needed to feel a bit better, I needed a bit of comfort. I was grateful that The National did include some moments of hope and optimism in that Sunday night show. They reported on a victim of the shooting who survived. When she thought she would be shot, she was thinking that she wanted her friends and family to "keep believing in the good in people"

For me, Sunday's shows were simply a reminder of the power of words. The tone that journalists choose to use, the questions they choose to ask, the slant they choose to go with, has such an effect on the final product. There must be some very interesting discussions going on, in newsrooms all over these days.

 On Tuesday's The National, there was a touching video of a father talking to his young son about the tragedy. There was also the story of the young men in a Montreal subway. If you have not seen their video, Love Over Fear, have a look. Right now I'm glad to see and hear anything hopeful at all.

"The times, they are a changin' "

So here's another election postscript. In my last post, Sunny Ways, I closed with a mention of my summer student days at the Lester Pearson Building here in Ottawa. Coincidentally, there was a news item about that building this past Tuesday. In this CBC report  you can read about the Queen's portrait being re-placed in the main lobby.

When Queen Elizabeth officially opened the building in 1973, there were a couple of large Canadian coastal landscape paintings installed there. The artist was Quebec painter Alfred Pellan. The paintings hung there until four years ago, when John Baird ordered them to be re-placed by a large portrait of the Queen. This was shortly before William and Kate's visit in 2011. The Conservatives planned to sell the paintings but there was a protest in Quebec, so that idea was dropped. Now they're back in their original location. This is perhaps not of great significance, but it does illustrate the subtle ways by which governments put their stamp on this city. (That department, which was External Affairs when I worked there, changed to Foreign Affairs and is now called Global Affairs Canada.)

There's another interesting CBC item about the change of atmosphere among the federal civil service. It was written about Justin Trudeau's appearance at the Pearson Building last week.

We have spoken to friends who work in a few different federal departments and the theme is common. They all reported a new, optimistic change in atmosphere.

Sunny Ways

Well, Justin Trudeau sure got a sunny day to start off his new government. Here in Ottawa, Wednesday was the most glorious fall day, sunny with a high in the mid-teens. Many would argue that it was a great day for Ottawa and indeed, the country.

Many years ago, on another sunny day (June 30, 1984) we went down to Rideau Hall to be there when John Turner was sworn in as the new Prime Minister. There has never before been a specific public invitation to be there. It is just a known fact that the grounds to Rideau Hall are usually open to the public, so you can line up along the driveway if you want to.

John Turner's first day as PM   June 30, 1984

Jean Chretien emerges from Rideau Hall

It was a more relaxed atmosphere back in '84.

This year however, there was an invitation issued to the public, to be there to watch the PM and cabinet arrive.  And so we set off, to be there when the grounds opened at 9 am. We thought we'd go in by the side gate, rather than the front. We foolishly thought that most of the crowd would enter by the main, front gates. Wrong!

For the first time ever, we went through security to enter the grounds at Government House, so that took a while. Once we were near the main driveway, it was evident we would be about 4 people deep from the edge of the driveway. Was it really worth it to get up early and rush downtown to catch only a glimpse of Trudeau and his cabinet? It was.

 It was simply wonderful to be there on that historic day. RCMP estimated the crowd to be about 3500 people. Parents took their kids out of school, grandparents were there with their grandchildren and teachers were there with their students. The crowd was friendly and enthusiastic.

After the wait, everyone was excited as Trudeau and his team walked past. After the secrecy and speculation of who might have been chosen, it was exciting to catch a glimpse of the ministers, recognize some of them and know that they had made it.

Our new MP, Catherine McKenna

 After they entered Rideau Hall we moved away from the driveway and got as close as we could to the screen where we watched the ceremony. Call me corny but it was fun to be there in that enthusiastic crowd. When Trudeau took his oath there was not just the polite clapping inside the building. Outside, thousands of us clapped and cheered. When has that happened before? That people were so enthusiastic at a swearing-in ceremony of a Prime Minister in this country?

And then we stood some more. Again it demonstrated the interest level among the crowd - that so many people would stand still and so quietly, while each minister was announced. As the names  and then the portfolios were announced, the crowd again broke into applause. There was a lot of cheering when Stephane Dion's name and his title as Foreign Minister was announced. Clearly I was not the only person there who feels this man deserved another shot in the limelight. (see my April 17, 2013 post - Trudeau Revisited, for more thoughts on Dion.)

Dion waves to the crowd on his way into Rideau Hall

The whole experience left me with such a good feeling about the state of democracy in this country. People cared enough to come out and stand and cheer as these ministers were announced. They were not cheering at a sports event. This was the start of a new government. After a decade of not really knowing the members of cabinet, this was such a refreshing change. Over the past days we have been introduced to them and their individual stories. As in past years, once again we are going to become familiar with these people. Trudeau is not going to be calling the shots alone. As he said on Wednesday, "Government by cabinet is back".

As we biked home, along Sussex Drive, my mind drifted way back as we passed The Lester Pearson Building, home to the Foreign Affairs Department. Many, many years ago, I was a student, working at a summer job in that department, which was then known as External Affairs. Somewhere in my Dad's home movie collection is my record of the day that the Queen, alongside Pierre and Margaret Trudeau, officially opened that building. And now his son is Prime Minister! How quickly life flies by.

Of course I realize that this is only the honeymoon period. There will be rough days ahead for this government. However, they really did get off to a very good start.

Election Postscript

Well, almost two weeks have passed since election day but the airwaves are still filled with post election talk and cabinet predictions. Around Ottawa, anyone you talk to, who works in the federal civil service, is talking about the difference in atmosphere, already evident in their offices. After that climactic election night,  political junkies like me have been savouring the discussions and analysis of the campaign. There was an entertaining discussion on CBC radio's Sunday Morning last week, comparing Justin to Pierre. Macleans had a great recap of the entire campaign.  In it, writer Scott Feschuk comments on Harper's decision not to mention he was stepping down as leader, during his concession speech. "Did Steve deign to mention this minor factoid during his final high-profile speech to the people he served for a decade? He did not. It seems logical to conclude he wanted to deny the media the clip they desired - one last, little spiteful gesture. Classic him.
A Conservative spokesperson saw it differently. He said Harper simply "chose to speak about other things". Makes sense. It's reminiscent of when Neil Armstrong placed a boot on the surface of the moon and announced to the world, "Can someone please check if I left my car lights on?"

Anyhow, for what it's worth, here are my final (I promise) thoughts on this election. Everyone is talking about how long and how hard the Liberal party worked on this campaign and that is true. What is also true is that there were so many organizations involved in getting out the vote. Feelings against Harper were so strong that various groups worked for years sending out emails, gathering supporters, raising money, identifying and targeting swing ridings, encouraging supporters to work and to get out there and vote. A lot of the credit for the high voter turnout rate must go to Rick Mercer's first show of the season and groups like leadnow, avaaz, Friends of CBC,  native activists, environmental activists and so many others.

I find the increase in voter turnout and of, course the election results themselves, very hopeful. Sometimes hard work does pay off. It is also heartening to realize that even though the Conservative Party spent so much of our money on ads to promote themselves during non-election times (think Economic Action Plan) and then spent millions of their money on attack ads during the campaign, that the little guys still won. The Conservative money and their tactics (the wrap around newspaper ballot-like ads, the ka-ching ka-ching money demos, the rallies with the Ford family, were no match for ordinary hard-working Canadians working together for a common cause.

One last word about the losers. There was a touching interview on CBC Radios' Ottawa Morning with Paul Dewar. Paul was our MP for the past nine years. As the interview demonstrates, he is simply a fine, classy person and will be missed on Parliament Hill.