Happy Phew! Year

Well, may I first wish a Happy New Year to all three of our readers!

In Friday's Montreal Gazette column, Mark Abley printed a United States Parish Hall weekly programme : Monday: Alcoholics Anonymous; Tuesday: Abused Spouses; Wednesday: Eating disorders; Thursday: Say No to Drugs; Friday: Teen Suicide Watch; Saturday: Soup Kitchen; Sunday Sermon: America's Joyous Future. The future can't get much better than that!

To lower the bar a tad, have you noticed the people of Somalia described as "pirates"? For some time, boats from all over the globe have been robbing the seas around Somalia of their livelihood, i.e. fish. Secondly, those same countries have been disposing of nuclear, and other, wastes in the waters around the Somali beaches. When their fishermen got a little upset and finally started to grab anything, or anyone, they could and hold them to ransom as a last desperate attempt to halt this travesty, the United Nations, and many other nations, censured Somalia for this "crime" of piracy. How would you react if the USA started dumping their garbage into Canada? More than they already do, I mean. NIMB! (Not In My Backyard!)

Finally, our experts have looked into our trust of professionals. Most categories are in decline except for Canadian soldiers. They have improved in our trust level by 11%. Pharmacists are down 25%; airline pilots down 19%. Accountants, at 47%, are still more trusted than church leaders, and national politicians, at 25% trust, are only ahead of car salespeople by 5%. Accountants more reliable than politicians, you say? Perhaps if the conscientious Auditor-General Sheila Fraser became Prime Minister and Amazon.ca ran the civil service, maybe...just maybe...we could have a trustworthy and efficient democracy!

Beer Bashing Canada!

Canada's standing in the world is rising! Not long ago Pat Buchanan, the U.S. presidential candidate who brought a new record to losing, called us "Soviet Canuckistan."

Now, the British journalists at the Olympics are berating us because we sell cold beer. Now, be fair, when I left the UK in 1956, my family did not have a fridge. We had a pantry and I can't remember where the beer was kept because my parents didn't drink and I wasn't old enough. But we must forgive them for finding warm beer drinkable. They came by it naturally!

When there was a British Empire, the Brits were seldom popular. Now it's the Americans' turn. As Canada receives more criticism, it is a good sign. Dislike often includes envy. We are a wonderful country - just listen to "Tom Brokaw Explains Canada to Americans". The whole world would love to live here. Until recently, we were democratic, in spite of Buchanan's implication that we are Communists.

Our present Prime Minister doesn't understand the rules of democracy but he will learn. So let's open up "a cold one", and here's to us, Canada!