A Parlaimentary Dictatorship? Maybe, but...

This year I got into a huge argument with my American, college aged, niece, who, completing her first year at an ivy league university in the US, informed me in no uncertain terms that, according to her political science prof, Canada was a "parliamentary dictatorship". I begged to differ, although I did see her point re: Canada not having the same system of checks and balances that are embedded in the American Constitution.

However, what is happening now in Ottawa, demonstrates how Canada's system works to maintain some control on the party in power. Just in case the one or two of you who are reading this are not Canadians, the current parliament is headed by the Conservative party led by Stephen Harper. In our recent fall election, the Conservatives won more seats than any other party, though not more than half - the Liberals, New Democratic Party and the Bloc Quebecois hold the other seats.

Since every piece of legislation must be passed by a majority vote, this means that the Conservatives have to "play ball" with the other political parties. The Harper government already had a minority gov't going into the recent fall elections, but S.H. wanted a majority. By refusing to present legislation palatable to any of the other political parties he forced them to vote against the legislation - their vote of "non-confidence" automatically dissolved the gov't, prompting the fall elections.

By failing to give them their coveted majority, Canadians were telling the Conservatives that they want S.H to work with the other parties. But, no, the Conservatives decided to push parliament again - essentially using the electorate as a bargaining chip - elections are costly and will effect the economy badly due to the uncertainty of their outcome. The Conservative tactics are, either play the game we choose or we will toss the ball to the people again, and again until you do it our way. The threat is: "you don't want to be blamed for causing the gov't to fall, do you?" This cynical political move was meant to cow the opposition parties into complying with the Conservative agenda.

This time around, the other parties have called the Conservative bluff. Since the Liberals and NDP together have enough seats to form a gov't, they have made an agreement to do so, should the legislation before the parliament not be passed next Monday, which is very likely. This is called a "confidence vote" and if it does not pass, parliament will be dissolved. Once dissolved, one of two things could happen - the Governor-General could call an election OR she could ask the Liberal / NDP coalition to form a gov't.

The Conservatives are planning to spend lots of tax payer money on a massive ad campaign which is expected to accuse their opponents of ruthlessly plotting to steal power from the democratically elected Conservatives. Of course, they will gloss over the fact that the Liberal and NDP MPs were also democratically elected. They will also gloss over their own inability / unwillingness to "play well" with the other parties.

Unfortunately, there are right wingers in Western Canada who will see a Liberal / NDP minority gov't as a loss of voice for their region and will feel hard done by. They will likely, as a talk host did this AM, blame the Liberals, NDP and Bloc Quebecois rather than their own Conservative party who really have opened the door to this "coup" by pushing their agenda rather than trying to work with the other parties.

The sad thing is that it would be better for Canadians to have a solid gov't working together to support our economy in these uncertain times. A fact that Stephen Harper cynically used to grab a political advantage, hoping that by holding the Canadian electorate to ransom, he could force the other political parties to pass his legislation as is. Stephen Harper has proven that he is not fit to lead Canada. He was given the opportunity to provide true leadership by putting aside partisan politics and working with the other parties to guide Canada through this crisis. Instead, he took the opportunist's approach and tried to press the situation to his political advantage.

I hope that that S.H.'s efforts to have parliament shut down before the vote can take place next Monday fails and that the Liberals and NDP with support from the Bloc will have the chance to lead our country through these dark times. Much rests on the Governer General's head so we will see what stuff she is made of in the week to come.

If you've made it to the end of this bit of writing, then you are probably interested enough in Canadian politics to read about it first hand from the CBC .

A cat named Jaguar

Our cat is named Jaguar - I wanted to name her Smudge, but one of the disadvantageous of having a creative and stubborn family is that everyone had their own idea as to what her name should be and they were all dismissive of mine. So the names went into a battered black fedora and mine lost out.

Sixteen years with a name like Jaguar has taken its toll on the cat who developed into a bossy, high-handed (high-pawed just doesn't have the same connotations) huntress. A spayed tortoise-shell cat, unmellowed by motherhood, she is still a formidable mouser after all these years. I am sorry to have to tell you that she also kills birds, at least she eats what she catches, leaving the remnants where someone is sure to step on them. All that activity has helped her keep her kittenish figure - in fact the vet thought she was only six at her yearly check up.

If she were only marginally larger she would hunt down and devour our poor dog, who, due to his lack of seniority, has been in her thrall since puppyhood. Hobbes is a big, furry beast who barks ferociously at all who stand in our foyer, but little Jag can still terrorize him just by sitting nonchalantly in a doorway he wants to pass through, say to get a bite to eat. I have happened upon this scene numerous times. Hobbes frozen in fear watching the cat with the whites of his eyes showing, while Jag sits pretending that her sole purpose in taking up the doorway is to thoroughly wash herself. As soon as I arrive Hobbes' gaze shifts to me piteously pleading for deliverance from his formidable dominatrix.

Jag is her nickname, and this too has had a less than desirable impact on her character. Like the sleek, expensive car she is imperious and assumes we humans are there to cater to her every whim. This includes being fed at the crack of dawn, a fact she unhesitatingly reminds us of as soon as she hears that shift in breathing that means we are close to waking. Most mornings I am greeted by her increasingly querulous yowling.

Another drawback to being named after a finely tuned racing car, is that, though very affectionate, she can only tolerate being petted for limited amounts of time before her refined nervous system goes into overdrive and she lashes out by biting the hand that pets.

Despite these flaws, which have gotten worse as she ages - a fact I take note of as I approach old age myself, she is unstinting generous with herself when I most need solace. I am positive that had we named her Smudge, she would've developed into a kindly queen mother-ish sort instead of the fierce despot she has become.

It's all about me

Well, today I woke up with a wicked headache - I get them occasionally and, being a frustrated doctor, naturopath, homeopath or herbalist (depending on the year), I always self diagnose. If I am feeling optimistic, the headache, as painful as it is and as regular the onslaught, I determine it must be a migraine. When more melancholic, I figure its probably a brain tumour that will get me in the end. When being analytical, I am positive it is an aneurism, seeing that both my maternal grandfather and uncle were plagued by them.

I've had them off and on since 1989. I remember vividly the first one I had - it woke me up out of a dead sleep with intense pain. I was terrified - pale, alternately throwing up and having diarhea, I would've gone to ER if I hadn't been in such pain that I couldn't bear the thought of going anywhere. I suspect that onset was due to hormones, since I was perimenopausal at the time.

Since then, I have developed a strategy to outwit the headache, thanks in large part to my friend Anne, who, a sufferer of migraines herself, gave me the first truly meaningful explanation of them. The short version - people predisposed to migraines have blood vessels that, after stress induced constriction, do not return to their full, normal diameter. Long periods of stress result in the blood vessels becoming so narrow that the brain feels shortchanged in the blood department and sends an SOS to the arterial blood vessels who in response open wide, all of a sudden. However, no one told the veins, responsible for draining blood from the head, and besides they have to wend their way through the tensed up muscles of the neck. So the whoosh of blood to the head without an equal egress, ends up being a migraine.

Armed with this explanation, I now have a strategy - when I wake up with a whopper I:

1. down either aspirin or ibuprofen (acetominophen does not work as it is not an anti-inflammatory) and hope I don't throw it up again (it doesn't always take away the headache, but it usually will dull it),
   
2. drag myself to the couch, prop myself into a sitting position (gravity helps the veins empty the head),
3. place a heat pack on my neck to losen and relax the neck muscles,
   
4. put a cold compress on the painful site (always my left temple), and
   
5. do my best to not resist the pain. Resisting pain only intensifies it.

Sometimes this strategy will get me back to normal within a few hours. Sometimes it doesn't. Today, it worked alright. I'm up at the computer, but the headache is still there, subdued by the aspirin, but still annoyed.