Expat Texan

Look, there’s rednecks in Canada, too.

One of the most interesting things to me about my move to Canada is that a fairly large number of people assume that I am here escaping the evil Bush regime. These folks are often taken aback when I point out that I am, in general, a Bush supporter, although I think his take on illegal immigration and fiscal irresponsibility are both huge disgraces.

It is not at all unusual to have a completely random Canadian make some snide comment about the current White House administration - with the obvious assumption that I must agree with them. Why else would I be seeking safety in the welcoming busom of Canada if it wasn’t to get away from the neo-fascist regime of Bush? An equally interesting phenomenon is that these people invariably believe they know everything there is to know about the American political landscape - and are more than happy to share with me exactly what is wrong with America (hint: pretty much everything), how we need to go about fixing things, and especially how Canada is a “civil society” while America is peopled with ignorant savages relishing the death of anyone that stands in the way of our pursuit of empire. OK - perhaps that last bit smacks of hyperbole - but not by much.

My favorite encounter of this variety came during our first foray into Canada looking for housing- shortly after hurricanes Katrina and Rita had savaged southern Louisiana from east to west. We were in a store called Northern Exposure, trying to buy some clothes for my Canadian wife (yes, the real reason for my immigration) since our stuff was still missing/in storage post hurricane(s). The elderly salesperson who was assisting my wife struck up a conversaton with me during a dressing room lull in the shopping action. When she found out that I was originally from Texas, and most recently from Louisiana - she immediately assumed that I was a political refugee from the horrors of Bush’s America (or is that Amerikkka?), escaping the bungled federal response to the hurricane emergencies. When I replied that no, in fact, I supported a lot of the President’s policies - she became absolutely incredulous and just a wee bit condescending. “Really?” she said, “I can’t stand the bastard”. At this point her supervisor came over, took her by the arm, and with a “That’s enough, Miriam”, gently but forcibly moved her to the back of the store.

The thing that perplexes me the most is that Canadians have a strong sense of national identity and take great pride in being Canadian - yet they somehow expect me to be ashamed, even apologetic, for being an American. I guess we’ll just have to see if an evil American can somehow integrate into polite Canadian society.

Read this story about a rather appalling murder by train affair in Calgary. What part of it strikes you as the most odd?

For me, it’s this passage:

His eyes still red from emotion, the father said he felt little pity for Pasqua, who faces an automatic life sentence without parole for at least 10 years.

So, an automatic life sentence without possibility of parole for 10 whole years. She killed some poor slob over a 10 dollar drug deal, and now may have to wait an entire 10 years for parole. Unless, of course, you get time off for good behavior - or does the wording “at least 10 years” suggest that she must serve that amount, regardless?. Even so, is this really punishment fitting the crime? I suppose you could argue that the young man shares some culpability for the series of events leading up to his death, but that would seem to be an exercise in moral equivalence and trying to give Pasqua the chance to claim victimhood.