Archive for the ‘Personal’ Category
Levant on a Rant
Ezra speaking at the Economic Club of Canada
Ezra Levant, author, raconteur, political observer and staunch defender of all things Western Canada, took his case for ethical oil to the podium of the Economic Club of Canada recently.
In his speech to a friendly crowd of oil, gas and energy executives, he noted that the Alberta Oil Sands are a target for, what he calls, biased environmentalists, political and media types despite the fact that it is the single largest contributor in North America to energy self sufficiency and in Alberta to job creation.
He referenced his latest book ‘Ethical Oil’. He further noted that many detractors for the Fort MacMurray oil sands are simply agitating for blatant political purposes. His more vitriolic diatribes were reserved for US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who while here in Canada, held talks with a star struck audience of politicos and journalists, as was reported in recent media. Some of her comments railed against the oil sands include calling it a ‘Black Eye’.
His style is both humorous and insightful.
His message is very credible and his arguments make it easy to understand the rationale for those who are detractors to the oil sands given that no one seemingly wants to make those kinds of comments against Saudi Arabia, Nigeria or other such ‘secretive’ countries.
The book ‘Ethical Oil’ is a prompter for thought and to hear him speak and rant live is equally as thought-provoking.
The Real Captain Canada
K&A was a proud corporate sponsor to a wonderful evening this week to celebrate Canada’s new Governor General David Johnston.
The event was in Kitchener Waterloo, and the crowd was as Canadian as they come. Former Prime Ministers, federal and Provincial Cabinet Ministers, provincial members of parliament, local politicians from across Canada, actors and myriad other celebrities made up some of the crowd of almost 1200 who came to honour the man who has inspired many Canadians.
David Johnston has touched the lives of so many in Canada and really is the essence of what a Head of State should be – selfless and for and of the people. The Prime Minister made a wonderful choice for certain and it was evidenced by the exuberance of those who attended the celebratory event this week marking it as an event for the ages.
Local businessmen Tim Jackson and Rob Caldwell dreamt up the event and in less than two months it was a sell out with a waiting list of another 400 people who wanted yet could not get tickets.
Celebrating David Johnston is easy – he is such a worthy candidate for accolades. More importantly, though, it’s his love of Canada and his remarkable energy towards young people that inspires them to strive to do the best that they can to make Canada a global powerhouse.
David Johnston is now the Governor General and I now know the Governor General. This is personal for me. David Johnston and I worked together on a Board, we conspired on fundraising efforts and we hang (or until recently hung) with the same crowd. He’s always been an inspirational role model to and for me.
To all of us, the Governor General will now be more than ceremonial. In fact, the role, in practice, has the constitutional gravity to allow the Governor General to weigh in on important issues framing how we are governed as Canadians. The Governor General is our link to our own history as a nation founded on a constitutional monarchy and ensures that as a constitutional monarchy, we can rely on appropriate advice by a learned head of state – the GG. David Johnston is an expert in these matters and, as such, is a choice we will all learn to appreciate given the fragile nature of our parliament today.
Captain Canada is a moniker we give to those who more than wrap themselves in the flag and who instinctively promote all the good Canada has to offer – and with Canada there is much to celebrate. David Johnston is a terrific choice, it’s a terrific honour for Canada and a terrific celebration of a Canadian who typifies all that IS Canada in the twenty first century. What a guy!
New G-G the picture of health
The appointment of David Johnston has certainly attracted opinion from Canadians. I am one Canadian who heralds his appointment as progressive. David Johnston represents energy and dynamism. He represents the adage that 70 is the new 50. After all he spends the greater part of his waking days hanging around thousands of young people in a university setting — that keeps anyone young and current.
One need only spend an hour or so with David to gain an appreciation of how regimented he is about his physical fitness, his love of Canada, its people and its future. I’m sure when Canadians get to know David as they most assuredly will — they will acknowledge that this governor general will likely go down in history as the most energetic. I hope we can keep up with him.
There is much to celebrate as Canadians.
This past Canada Day “weekend” was marked by several significant events that marked clearly the fact that Canada is a significant player on the world’s stage.
Consider that the reigning monarch Queen Elizabeth II came to Canada to celebrate Canada Day at the same time that she is celebrating her 60th year as the Queen of the United Kingdom and Canada and to celebrate the 150th year of the running of the Queen’s Plate. Bravo Your Highness!
The recent G8 and G20 Summits were significant milestones for Canada. Despite the media’s propensity to report on the activities of a few zealots who wanted media attention by rampaging and then agitating further public enmity against law enforcement, the outcome for the Summit was nothing short of a slam dunk for the PM. Consider that the world’s failing economies, to wit, the United States and several other G20 nations, deemed it appropriate to tax major financial institutions to cover the costs of poor public policy our PM (love him or hate him) stood firm and almost single handedly against that onslaught to rail against a poor public policy decision and – beat them down. It was a pivotal moment to have the President of the USA publicly embrace his admiration for Stephen Harper. Forget this “fake lake” business, forget these black bloc hoodlums, why don’t we collectively take a breath and consider the achievement of Prime Minister Harper’s leadership on the world’s stage. A great Canadian moment.
This weekend also marked the annual Pride Day parade. It is an event that captures the world’s attention for one thing only – the rights and freedoms of people. Point Finale. Pride Day is a celebration for all people regardless of their sexual orientation, colour, religion or race. It is another example of how Canada is leading the world. I noted with my own personal pride that Americans and others from all over the world came to Canada to celebrate Pride Day – with over one million spectators – some even venturing to marry here because they are not allowed same sex marriage in their own state or country.
These are but a few examples of the Canada the world is coming to know better.
For those of us fortunate enough to have a family cottage at a lake – which appears to be many given the traffic this past weekend, another part of Canadiana played out this past weekend. The celebration of the family unit and children was a key part of our weekend. We celebrated the Canada Day holiday in the confines of our weekend retreat surrounded by family and friends, the droll of the waves on the shore, the cicadas, the loons , the sounds of a bottle of beer or can of pop opening, the ever present buzzing of a boat and watched the World Cup! We argued over what country would win – Germany, Argentina, Paraguay, Spain, Netherlands, Uruguay, Ghana … and none of us are from any of those countries. You gotta love Canada!
Father’s Day and the importance of being Dad
I’m fascinated by recent media articles celebrating Father’s Day and the things Dads do (or should do). One story I read was particularly moving – it described the Bruce Feeler story. The author cum founder of the Council of Dads. In it he describes how his life threatening illness put him in the delicate position of facing death and having to find surrogate ‘Dads’ for his twin daughters. He invited a half dozen of his friends and they all said yes to his invitation to help raise his daughters should he die. The story is important because it underscores the real need for a father and how this figures in the lives of children.
Having worked hard over the years to help raise awareness on the issue of access for non custodial parents – the greatest percentage being male, I helped to change the laws on custody and access for non-custodial parents in the mid-nineties and am proud to say that many Dads benefitted from this. The truth of the matter is that non custodial parents (mostly Dads) tend not to be not a fruitful part of the their children’s lives as a result of the turmoil of their marriage breakdown and then the emotional upset as a result of the battle between divorcing parents. The loss of Dad in these scenarios is often the case and the real losers are the children who are robbed of the benefit of Dad. I met a fellow the other day who will be doing business with us and his story was so sad. He painfully detailed the hardship of not being able to see his two boys. He made an interesting comment wherein he said that the ‘system’ (as he calls it – which is the courts and/or mediators) often makes mom the custodial parent and he described it that he moves out of the house and out of the children’s lives and mom is ok with that. “Just get rid of me”, he said, “they get on with life as if I was never there in the first place and they seem to think that’s ok – but it’s ripping my heart out”, he said.
It’s awful to hear stories like this, but there is help and there are good stories, I would venture to say.
Men have a hard time openly addressing the issues they have and face at the best of times. We’re not taught to emote well. Add in the pressure, stress and emotion of a family breakdown and it’s worse. It’s not good for the children of these situations either.
Another story that is equally moving is Dan Hill’s story in the National Post “Rallying Cry for Real Fathers”. In it he details is relationship with his own father and other strong father figures including CFL football legend Pinball Clemons , with whom I have had the honour of interacting over the years . What Hill’s essay outlines is the power of strong father figures. In any culture or race or economic situation – it’s important and necessary to have Dad as part of their children’s lives.
My wife and I talk about the importance of being a father often and my role in our children’s’ lives. Our children rush to the door every time I arrive from work, but in a few short years they may not even lift their heads to say hello when I come home. She and I want to make certain that doesn’t happen. Our vigilance in making sure that Dad is always present and a major force in their lives is what’s going to make the difference in our childrens’ lives.
At the writing of this blog, I am in Northern British Columbia with several dozen men at a remote fishing club. We are all fathers and there are two very important things that I have experienced here. There is a Dad who has brought his 13 year old son here to have a week of fishing with him for the boy’s birthday. This Dad has done this with his other sons when they turned 13 and it’s this Dad’s way of bonding with and being a major influence in his sons’ lives. The other interesting thing is that all the guides (men of course) have other professions that they do in the off season. Our guide, a macho stoic on the water, who can balance himself in 12 foot high waves while setting our deep sea reels on a 25 foot Boston whaler that I am sharing with two other men, is a gem. Dan is his name, he’s a grade three teacher in Nanaimo when he’s not a fishing guide from June to September way up here near Alaska. He’s a hero to me – the kind of hero that should be ‘lionized’ like Dan Hill has described in his essay. Dan talks openly about wanting to help shape the lives of young boys and girls who need a strong male leader in their classrooms.
Maybe a Council of Dads, more Dan Hills, Pinball Clemons’ and more Dan the fishing guides are what our fast moving society needs or maybe every family should take Father’s Day and reflect on Dad! The point is being a Dad is a privilege and one that should never be discounted, over-looked, treated casually, thrown away or denied – by Dad, Mom, ‘the system’ or anyone.
The Waterloo worriers
I’m not shocked that the University of Waterloo Warrior Football team has caused a yearlong suspension over this recent steroid kerfuffle. Neither should any followers of Canadian University football.
Over the past several years, the increase in the talent and the style of play in CIAU football has increased enormously. Any casual observer of Canadian inter-scholastic football can see powerhouses emerging. Football mad fans in the province of Quebec love their teams in Laval and the Eastern Townships. Once horrible Ontario based teams (unfortunately like my alma mater U of W) are now becoming home to really good football players. New football stadiums are springing up and programs are getting better fan base here. The western teams have always had the support of their universities and fan base and we’ve seen a huge boon in Atlantic Canadian university football programs with those behemoths that play at St. Mary’s for example.
So, it’s little wonder that a scandal would eventually break – the stakes are high. Prospects for CFL drafts notwithstanding, many Canadian football players can see benefit in post graduate opportunities as a consequence of football in universities and potential professional playing opportunities in other leagues in the US and Europe post graduation.
Here’s the rub though, the football program at U of W, for example, is a costly venture for the university. The university doesn’t have the fan support or donor support that, say, McMaster University or Western or Queens have – so the prospect of the complete loss of the program at Waterloo could be a realization that may occur as a result of some idiotic players who decided on their own that enhancement by nefarious means might have worked. Wrong!
I love my football at Waterloo, I love the program and the coaches are extraordinarily dedicated to the craft. Let’s hope this year on the sidelines gives pause to players to manage their skill through legitimate means and not off the street – or that’s where they’ll stay.
