We went to the Sun and Salsa festival on July 24th - it was great fun as usual. Slather on the sunscreen, bring a bag of tortilla chips, and go walk around in the sun and eat salsa all afternoon - what’s not to like? 
We haven’t been to any festivals this summer. We saw a Wu Lyf concert, a cricket match and a production of As You Like It in Manchester UK, though.
Then again, most dragon-boat races are part of “Festivals” but I really only participate in the races!
We would have gone to Calgary’s annual Shakespeare In The Park festival this summer except they took a year off to get their house back in order following a coup (long story which I’ve heard bits and pieces of through a friend in the business).
The Sun and Salsa Fest was indeed excellent. We found one place down in Sunnyside with absolutely kick-ass salsa – so good that we even bought a tub of it for wolfing down at home. Mmmmmmm… salsa.
And what’s with all this PST/HST talk? We don’t have either here in Alberta – sounds like some sort of commie plot.
Ottawa: I’m at the Chamber Music Festival, and Julian Armour’s new “I’m starting my own Chamber Music Festival!” festival. Both had some top notch shows.
Anyone read about Diefenbaker’s “supposed” lovechild, raised as the son of a prominent LIBERAL treasurer?! Quel scandale!
It’s kinda sad. I mean, in Russia, every couple of years there’s a guy with a funny beard and mustache who says Czar Nicholas was his grandfather. But THIS? THIS is the best we can do in Canada…? Really? :mad:
I always enjoyed going to Shakespeare in the Park when I lived in Calgary. Saw some terrific productions there. I kind of wish we had something similar here–surprisingly, for such a small place, Lethbridge has a lot of amateur and semi-pro theatre, and some amazingly talented people, and I think we could pull off Shakespeare in the Park if we tried.
Locally, I’ve been to our Dragon Boat Festival, which (in addition to the boat racing) had live music. I’m not involved in the racing, but it’s fun to go for the music and the beer garden. Unfortunately, I did not make it to Whoop-Up Days, which is much like the Calgary Stampede, but smaller.
Your powers of observation are stunning. 
Clearly. The answer appears a resounding “None.”. 
Well, no. The wink tells me that you’re having a little fun, as were we. If you slog through the dense and thick single-sentence item I posted, you’ll get an answer to your question.
Perhaps the most telling lies in the last part of my item: paraphrased, “Parliament is traditionally selected by the citizens of Canada.” This is true enough; we vote for our representatives in the House of Commons. The House is the heart of the government, as it is where bills are debated and passed; while there is an appointed Senate, it rarely exercises its powers to send a bill back, and while every bill requires Royal Assent, that is (in practical terms), a rubber stamp. So we vote–that’s one aspect of our input. Naturally, during election campaigns, we listen to debates, we ask questions, we support some candidates and parties, and disparage others, and we do all kinds of other things that could be counted as “input.”
Another would include the fact that after our Members of Parliament (MPs) are elected, we are naturally free to contact them to ask questions, and if we do not like the answers, to let them know of our dissatisfaction with what they are doing in Parliament. This is included in, “but is also subject to [consultation] from … individuals…” Follow that part of the item through, and you can see where groups (for example, a political party, a special-interest group, an arts club, or whatever) and “other constitutionally-protected institutions” (paraphrased, but these would include, for example, the media) have the same abilities. Of course, we can also contact our MPs to ask that they put a stop to something somebody else in Parliament is doing; or for any other of a number of reasons, but the fact remains–we can and do contact our representatives in government, and they do listen and act as they can.
I referred to our constitution often in my item, and it guarantees us (among other freedoms), the freedom of expression. This is a wide-ranging freedom, which allows us to indirectly provide input to our government. So, instead of directly contacting our government, we can, for example, buy advertising space, provide op-ed columns to the media, or write letters to the editor criticizing or praising government policies. Here is input also; and of course, it is open to individuals, groups, and other constitutionally-protected institutions.
It must not be forgotten that a government can fall any time it does not command the confidence of the House. If a government does not command the majority of members in the House, and does something most Canadians don’t want, Opposition MPs will listen to Canadians and defeat the government. (See, for example, the minority Clark government in 1979, which fell on a vote of non-confidence; and was replaced by the Trudeau government, which Canadians freely elected.) As might be guessed, when a government falls, we then have an election; and we’re back to yet more input.
Perhaps the key to my item lies in what I referred to our system as: a liberal democracy, where “liberal” means “free”; and “democracy” means “we select our own government.” In this sense, we are not too different from the United States or France; both of which are considered to be liberal democracies also, within the sense that I have defined those terms. It is true that technically, we are a constitutional monarchy, but the monarch wields very little power; and what she does wield is limited to whatever our constitution (which we created ourselves) allows her to. Contrary to what many non-Canadians think, neither the UK government nor the Queen controls our affairs, or indeed, has any say in them (remember–the Queen’s input is limited to what we allow her to do); and as a result, if we are to remain a free, viable, thriving, First World nation; we must entertain input from Canadians in how the country is run. In short, Canadians are free to be the masters of their own fate: they elect MPs, they ask questions, and they criticize; and they can do all this through a number of means. In fact, I’d venture to say that if we did not have as much input as we do, and/or if the government did not listen to Canadians’ input, we would no longer be recognizable as the entity that the rest of the world currently knows as “Canada.”
This, while a little longer than my original item, is still very brief; but I hope it helps to answer your question. 
Spoons, your patience is impressive.
We hit the Friday of the Calgary Folk Festival. Yes, the one day it poured. And poured. And poured. But Nanci Griffith is my favorite singer, ever…
We all came home soaked, but the kids (boy almost 2, and girl, almost 5), appeared to be having fun.
Like many a Calgarian, I skipped the Stampede this year. Did make it out for a few pancakes, and a visit to Rope Square. (my mom fell in with a crowd of line dancers, and I was seeing their show).
I miss Shakespeare in the Park. As a teen, there was a year my friend Ellie and I hit every single show. Meaning, every performance of every show. Accidentally cracked up one of the leads when he realized we were mouthing the words along with him.
MPs are very accessible. Want to speak with your MP? Meet with him or her, email him or her, or call him or her. It’s that simple.
Want to run for Parliament? Just put your name in the pot. Look at how many young, newly minted MPs there are in Parliament.
Want to participate in government decision making? Just put your name on the list for public consultation concerning whatever issue it is in which you wish to have a say. Then join in the discussion with the government representatives in one-on-one meetings, email correspondence, telephone conversations, and formal verbal and written submissions.
If anything can be said about Canada, it is that we run our own show in a system that is solidly rooted in participation by Canadians.
Heck, there is a Canadian Doper who ran for Parliament!
[sub]Hint: he speaks Esperanto*.
**Hint: he’s not me.[/sub]
Another demonstration of the fairness of the Canadian system of representation - despite our very different takes on the results of the last election, is there a single one of the Canadian Dopers who feels that their point of view was unfairly excluded or marginalized by the system in the last election?
My guys lost a lot of ground, but it has only made me want to muck in and help in the future.
My source within the theatre community assures me that Mount Royal will have SITP back up and running for the 2012 season. The houseclearing that is currently ongoing was apparently a long time in coming and required the whole thing to shut down for a season to reset all the dials back to zero.
Ironically, the results in my riding were exactly as I expected (ie. a house plant running under the Conservative banner would have won in a landslide), making me even more disinclined to participate in the national political scene. On the other hand, being on a first name basis with our city’s mayor has made me much more invested in the local political scene than I have even been before.
In my riding, I recall saying that the local Conservative candidate could strangle kittens, kick puppies, and streak down Third Avenue, and would still be a shoo-in. Mind, as I recall the actions of our (now) Tory MP during the election campaign, he wasn’t nearly that exciting. I’d have to categorize him as “house plant”.
I guess I’m somewhat more interested in participating in the future…who would have thought a bunch of people voting NDP would unseat Gilles Duceppe?! It was a rather curious outcome, IMHO. Up until now I’d more or less been planting my vote based on who I wanted to get $2 or whatever the subsidy was, or just voting NDP on behalf of the cat when I didn’t know what else to do (I tell you, she really liked Jack Layton…she never looked at the TV at all unless he was on!)
I guess this gives a feeling that if enough people forget about the “this riding always votes X” mentality and just go out and vote already, things might actually go your way, or at least away from X if that’s not what you want.
The problem I’ve found with this historically in Alberta is that the vast majority of people in this province, for reasons I’ve never fully grasped, are loathe to vote for anything other than the status quo. This is why Rob Anders is still an MP, in spite of the members of his riding trying to have him deposed before the last election. Those same people still voted for him in that election rather than kick his incompetent, embarassing ass to the curb and live with Liberal representation for a few years. :smack: Winning the mayoral election in Calgary means becoming mayor for life, or until you get bored with it and retire. I can’t honestly recall the last time an incumbant mayor lost (I don’t count Don Hartman, who took over as mayor for a few weeks after Ralph Klein defected to provincial politics – Hartman was never elected to the mayoral role, so the people didn’t seems to treat him with the same reverence). I have never once voted for a Conservative candidate in a provincial election and the Conservatives running this province are as close to a sure thing as there is (talk to me again about that following the next election, though). It was considered an upset here in town when Joe Clark actually beat an Alliance Party incumbant in the 2000 election, in spite of Clark being well known and liked in his home town and his being a party leader and a former Prime Minister. Nope, people 'round these parts don’t take to no newfangled things and strange political parties. They like things just the way they is. It’s all very disheartening.
Another oddity about Alberta politics is that Albertans have never returned a party to power once it’s lost office. There have been four parties which formed office in Alberta:
Liberals: 1905 - 1921
United Farmers of Alberta: 1921 - 1935
Social Credit: 1935 - 1971
Progressive Conservatives: 1971 - present.
It’s obviously time for the NDP. Or the Greens.
The more likely party to make some gains this upcoming provincial election is the Wildrose Party, for Albertans who think the Conservatives are too left-leaning. Oy vey.
At the risk of sounding partisan - and that’s really not my intent - it seems to me to be a remarkably easy thing to grasp, really. Alberta is, by far, the wealthiest province in the country, per capita. It has high social spending with low taxes, too.
Whether that’s the result of government efforts or oil revenue, obviously, is an interesting discussion to have. But surely it’s not hard to grasp that people are disinclined to change governments when the status quo appears to be working?