Tuesday Tidbits

A little bit of this, and a little bit of that today.

We are heading towards an election in Canada. The big day is May 2. The 'minority' Conservative government is seeking a 'full' mandate.....in other words they want a majority this time. We'll see.


For the past five years we have not had a majority government here in Canada. That would be OK if the parties involved could work things out and get things done! But they couldn't. All that happened was bi-partisan bickering, and not much was accomplished.

You see in Canada, we do not vote for the Prime Minister directly, like they do in the US. We vote for 'seats' in Parliament. Whichever Party gets the most 'seats' forms the government. And the leader of that Party becomes the Prime Minister.


Everything we do is political, I feel. That's OK. We can't escape that nowadays. I have never had a problem sharing my political views over the years. I am not one who keeps it a secret for fear of offending some one or some one might think lesser of me.

I have supported the New Democratic Party (NDP) for years. In Canada this party is probably equivalent to the Labour Party in the UK. There is no equivalent in the US........maybe the 'left' in the Democratic Party.


The NDP have never had a majority status in Federal politics here. Mind you here in Nova Scotia, my province, we elected a majority NDP government two years ago. Yeah!

The thing is that in this upcoming federal election if I vote for the NDP again and since they will in all likelihood not get a enough seats to form a government anyway, and because of the fact that I do not want the Conservatives to gain a majority, I will have to vote Liberal.


The last time I voted Liberal was for Pierre Elliot Trudeau back in the 70's.  He was a very dynamic leader and won three consecutive majority elections in a row!


Of course I could vote for the Green Party. They are trying very hard to get their first seat in Parliament. They have a battle ahead of them. This is not Europe!

Then of course there is the 'other' Party.....the Bloc Quebecois. This party is one that supports the separation of the province of Quebec from Canada. They have quite a few seats in the federal parliament but only 'run' in ridings in Quebec. That is a whole other story.


Still with me? I better switch it up....fast!


Ron and I have been 'looking after' Dad for the past month and a bit. We alternate days (Monday to Friday) and spend the mornings with him. The family was going to hire a stranger but he didn't want this. We were 'hired' instead.

It is working out very well. We take him to appointments, do a little 'light housekeeping', buy groceries and are there for 'company'. I am getting to know him so well now. Finally understanding 'what makes him tick' and appreciating him so much more now and all that he has done for his family.

Spring is so close to settling down here! Croci  are up and the Snowdrops have been here for over a week. We've been in the garden cleaning things up.....raking up leaves and twigs. We do not rake int he fall. We want the leaves to settle around the plants and protect them over winter. So our raking, and there is lots of it to do, is done now.


We have a family meeting coming up this weekend to plan Dad's 95th birthday party. My brother Fred from Calgary, Alberta will be here as well. Lot's to get done and relegated. But there are lots of us, so it won't be that difficult to get going. Not that we haven't done this before!