Happy Birthday, Canada, you're 137 years young today.
I just read an interesting article by Matthew Mernagh. Below is an excerpt.
Only in Canada would burlesque dancers from Romania be granted work visas to take it off here. A few hundred no less! Apparently there is a stripper shortage, which means the government is issuing burlesque permits to those who can prove that they are qualified dancers. Most of the girls come from such sexy countries as Romania, Poland, Ukraine, earn a tidy sum and then pack it up when the visa expires. God bless Canada!
It's good to know there's a shortage of dancers here, because this possibly means that Gen X has continued to build and develop a knowledge based economy that has created this vacuum. Granted, the beginning of the knowledge base economy hasn't been the best for some Canadians, which has fueled a new Quiet Revolution that began with Canadians freely talking, accepting and permitting (to some extent) social faux pas that are making Republicans cringe. Gay marriage, recreational/medicinal marijuana, war resisters, no this ain't Haight Ashbury it's C-A-N-A-D-A!
The U.S. Constitution?! Bah! That ratty old thing is falling to pieces. Let's talk Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Still in its infancy this document has been the lightening rod to punching a social conscious into a government that avoided gay marriage, marijuana and the newly arrived war resisters. None of the aforementioned issues came about by mass protest, these battles were fought in the courtroom, not debated in the House of Commons.
With a large schism between the two countries from our objection to War for Oil, War on Drugs and War on Human Rights, Canadians should push to further distance ourselves from U.S.A. A testy minority government is the perfect time to debate and pass social policy laws that everyone can live with. American influence on Canadian policies has taken a hit by so many gaffs. Such as forgetting to thank us for taking in the bulk of the re-directed flights during 9/11, Condoleezza Rice claiming that U.S. does more trade with Mexico and the Drug Czar threatening to some how shut down the largest undisputed border in the world.
Canada must continue to be a guiding light, safe haven and peace-nic so that our wayward friend can find its way home.
Vive le Canada!
